Stacks of possibility: discovering State Library of Queensland

Tucked into Brisbane’s Cultural Centre at South Bank, State Library of Queensland appears modest from the outside. When I applied to complete a 2-week placement with the Schools Engagement team as part of my study for Masters of Education: Teacher Librarianship, I wasn’t sure what to expect, mostly because what State Library offers is vastly different from my cute and colourful school library. Through my placement, I’ve discovered a wealth of knowledge, resources and information that’s freely available for students and educators in every corner of Queensland, and I’m eager to share what I’ve learned about their programs for schools. 

If you’re looking to provide your students with real-world study and research experience or just want to make learning a little more interactive, a trip to State Library would be well worth it, especially if it’s just a 50-cent train fare away! With many schools dismantling theirs, the five levels of library are pretty awe-inspiring, especially as they’re staffed with expert librarians and resourced with extensive free-to-use collections and online offerings. Options are available for schools wanting to bring students to the Library including research strategies workshops, space for independent study, and the opportunity to tour their exhibitions. 

The most common association with libraries is their books and State Library does not disappoint. Unlike my school library, their collections aren't built around Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Baby-Sitter’s Club or even authors like Freida McFadden and Emily Henry. Instead, their collections are curated especially to highlight works by Queensland authors. Most of the books in the stacks are non-fiction and other titles can be found online, available as ebooks. When exploring what is available, I also discovered that many popular and literary texts are accessible through the library’s subscription to ProQuest Ebook Central, and they can be highlighted, annotated and downloaded, which would be incredibly useful for teachers looking for resources to use in class. My English teacher colleagues can borrow and peruse anthologies of some of our most respected Queensland poets through the Library, too, and use the links provided to search the catalogue for resources about QCAA prescribed texts. Additionally, CloudLibrary Language Collection is brimming with eBooks and Audiobooks in 25 languages and various reading levels and interests for Languages specialists and learners–all fabulous resources for your own personal preparation!  

A highlight of my placement was watching the Schools Engagement team deliver their Live at the Library online workshops, from both sides of the camera! Run by Program Officers Troy and Jack, who are both teachers themselves, these 50 minute workshops are live-streamed to your classroom and tailored to your students, sharing extraordinary items from State Library’s heritage collection as well as research tools and strategies to engage and encourage your students in their learning. They unpack history using primary sources as unique as Ned Kelly’s walking stick and a stretcher-bearer’s diary account of the 25 April landing at Gallipoli. Perfect for Humanities classes, research sessions can also focus on the skills and resources that are transferrable across subjects. 

Alongside Live at the Library are a bounty of classroom-ready resources for students and educators to support their own learning and preparation. There are research guides for a number of secondary subjects, including Business, Economics and Accounting, English, Geography, Legal Studies and Science, providing a jumping-off point to guide students in using State Library's resources including databases. These guides can be used independently or as tools to remind them about what they’ve learned during an online or in-person workshop. For educators, Curriculum Connect provides classroom-ready resources for a variety of different topics, across core subject areas (English, HASS, the Arts, Science and Technologies) along with recordings of professional development sessions, learning modules for students to work through and lesson plans linked to curriculum descriptors. There’s a student research module to support using the library resources, and lots of content for teaching First Nations histories including teaching First Nations storytelling through Ali Cobby Eckerman’s Ruby Moonlight and primary source content about Frontier Violence in the Australia’s Black History module. 

If you and your class can’t make it to Brisbane to explore the Cultural Centre, exhibitions are made readily available online. A virtual tour of The Anzac Square Memorial Galleries includes over 250 markers, connecting virtual visitors to stories from the World War I, World War II and Post World War II galleries. You can also view the plaques, read the associated blog posts, place a poppy and chat with Charlie, the Virtual Veteran, from the comfort of your classroom. 

The current exhibition The unbroken spirit of the Kalkadoons recounts the oral histories of Colleen Sam and her family through artworks and personal narratives that depict their resistance to colonial violence in Queensland, and it can be visited in person and online. 

It might seem that all the focus is on research and history, but storytelling has a deeply significant place at State Library. Ever-changing exhibitions share the stories of Queensland, serving as a powerful tool for cultural preservation, education and community connection. English teachers can draw on this to engage and inspire their students to develop their own identities as writers. The Young Writers Award accepts short story submissions each year, which would be an effective real-world application for the Literature IA3 task. Previous runners-up are posted online and the winners are published by Griffith Review and Kill Your Darlings—excellent examples of creative writing to deconstruct in class. I can already think of some student-writers who I’ll be tapping on the shoulder to enter next year.

Did I mention that all of this is free? State Library membership is available to all Queenslanders and it’s easy to sign up online. Membership will give you access to a wide range of services from books to research databases and newspapers, even LinkedIn Learning. When you visit in person, membership allows you to request and use collection items, meeting rooms, computers and much more. The Schools Engagement team can help you and your class sign up during their onsite or online workshops! Just another reason to book a workshop in with them.

Whether you’re a teacher, librarian, or simply passionate about education, State Library of Queensland offers opportunities for deeper learning, cultural understanding and creative inspiration. For me, my placement at State Library has cemented my belief that libraries are far more than repositories of books—they’re dynamic learning environments that connect students to real-world resources, expert guidance and stories that shape our communities. So, if you haven’t yet explored what’s possible through State Library, now’s the time to check it out! I know that I’ll be booking my students in to Live at the Library sessions next term to brush up on their research skills and discover, as I have done, all that State Library has available to support their learning journeys.