State Library of Queensland 2025 Highlights publication

We are excited to share our annual Highlights publication, filled with stories about our collections, programs and amazing Queenslanders. Highlights is a snapshot of State Library's work to inspire and connect Queenslanders through knowledge, storytelling and creativity.

Message from State Librarian and CEO Vicki McDonald AM FALIA

Libraries are ever-present in the lives of Queenslanders. From State Library’s hugely popular First 5 Forever play-based program for babies and young children to programs and talks for seniors – libraries remain places where everyone is welcome, ideas flourish and people connect. 

Our successful How do you library? statewide campaign encouraged deeper engagement and participation at Queensland libraries by highlighting the diversity of services, programs, resources and surprising things people can do at their local library. Libraries often feel so integral to society that it is hard to imagine a life without them.

That’s why the opening of Indigenous Knowledge Centres (IKCs) in Kowanyama and on Mornington Island in 2025 has been so meaningful to the communities they now serve. In partnership with local councils, State Library is helping to create jobs and boost digital literacy in some of the most remote parts of the state through access to technology, the preservation of cultural knowledge and the creation of new creative opportunities. 

As outgoing President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), I have also had the privilege of getting to know library practitioners from around the world. It has been inspiring to discover what unites us, and equally fascinating to learn from our differences. At one of my first IFLA World Library and Information Congresses, I heard of the Gates Global Libraries initiative, which brought electricity to a rural African community so young students could read at night. Stories like these remind us to think more broadly of our responsibilities as global citizens – and the privileges we often take for granted. 

One of the great joys of working at State Library is connecting with our generous donors. Beyond their valued financial gifts, donors entrust us with remarkable items that enrich our collections. In 2025, Brisbane-raised contemporary artist Cj Hendry donated two of her ‘inflated’ Pink Chairs – 130kg sculptural works that now sit proudly on the lawn at the front of State Library. 

We also welcomed material from the Home to Bilo campaign – posters, placards, correspondence, photographs, artworks and clothing – documenting the community’s tireless advocacy for the Nadesalingam family, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who were granted permanent residency in 2022. This deeply moving material now forms part of Queensland’s living history. 

Queensland families can look forward to a new children’s space in 2026. The $4 million transformation of The Corner will feature spaces informed by the latest thinking on children’s neurological development. Through First 5 Forever, delivered in partnership with local libraries and IKCs statewide, The Corner will continue to nurture curiosity, creativity and early learning. Like all spaces at State Library, The Corner offers a world of exciting possibility.

I hope you will visit soon and experience all that your State Library has to offer in the year ahead.

Read more in Highlights

State Library membership is free. Join today.