Welcome to Jessie Street National Women’s Library
“To keep women’s words, women’s works alive and powerful”
— Ursula K Le Guin
Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.
Jessie Street National Women’s Library is a unique specialist library dedicated to the preservation of Australian women’s work, words and history. The Library was established in 1989 and is named after Jessie Street, a lifelong campaigner for women’s rights, the peace movement and the elimination of discrimination against Aboriginal people.
The Library’s charter is to collect, preserve and promote knowledge and understanding of the cultural heritage of all women; social justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; international friendship and peace. Patrons are The Hon Quentin Bryce AD CVO; Elizabeth Evatt AC; Dr Beverley Kingston; Clover Moore AO, Lord Mayor of Sydney; Nadia Wheatley.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide for the Australian community a specialist library which collects, preserves and promotes the awareness of the cultural heritage of Australian women, facilitating learning, research and communication.
Our Aims
- To collect the published and unpublished materials which document the lives and experience of women of all ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds and of all socio-economic classes.
- To ensure that documents relating to Australian women’s lives and activities are preserved and made accessible.
- To highlight the contribution of Australian women to this country’s development.
- To support the field of women’s history.
Professor Marie Bashir AC, Governor of NSW
Topic: Jessie Street’s Legacy Her Excellency spoke about the legacy of Jessie Street, a lifelong advocate of human rights, for birth control, sex education and equal pay as well as her contribution to the mounting of the 1967 Referendum. She also acknowledged women...
Faith Bandler AC
Topic: Jessie Street for Peace Faith spoke of the many and varied campaigns Jessie instigated but the most important was the one for the 1967 Referendum. She provided an overview of the campaign process which began almost a decade before the day of the Referendum with...