NSW Library's Birthday Bash: Quirky Treasures

0:00It's April 18, I'm Corey, with the story. This is Sydney News Today, driven by AI. The State Library of New South Wales is celebrating its 200th birthday with a fresh exhibition pulling over 200 quirky items from it's 6.5 million piece collection. Think fruit stickers gather from Sydney's northern beaches, Victorian era jewelry, woven from human hair to honor the dead, and a tiny book smaller than your pinky nail holding the Lord's Prayer in multiple languages. Literaturator Elise Edmonds handpicked these to spotlight everyday Aussie treasures alongside the rare stuff. You'll also spot early Australian wine labels like Kui Port, colorful wax bread wrappers from the 1960s that screen local bakeries. And big hitters such as the UNESCO listed first-fully journals, Frank Hurley's Antarctic Photos, and Effleturner's manuscript for 7 Little, Australians, staff love mixing grand historical tales with personal snapshots from regular folks, showing the library's softer side beyond maps and manuscripts.

1:01Visitors get a g-rated peep show through a microscope for that mini-book, and hairward pieces spark reactions, need ones intrigue, while messy ones. Feel a bit creepy. Conservation teams even tested weaving hair themselves under microscopes, calling it real artwork tougher than it looks. Highlights include locks for Mary Shelley and Captain James Cook's wife Elizabeth, turned into necklace chains. The exhibit kicks off this Sunday during the library's open day, proving history hides and the stuff we toss away every day.