World music and cultural heritage at State Library
By Elizabeth Torres, Librarian | 14 January 2026
Music has a unique ability to connect people across cultures, languages, and generations. It carries stories of migration, memory, celebration, and identity, and often preserves traditions. These stories can be found woven through State Library of Queensland’s world music collections.
State Library’s music collections are broad and dynamic, and include scores, sound recordings, digital resources, and ephemeral material.
Score collections: music across cultures
State Library’s extensive score collections include classical, jazz, folk, and popular music from around the world. In the collection are complete works of major composers, as well as folk traditions and community music that reflect Queensland’s diverse population.
Some multicultural scores and songbooks from the collection include:
- Pacific Islander hymnals
- Greek and Cypriot songbooks
- Italian folk song collections
- Liturgical music in Chinese
Selection of multicultural music scores from State Library’s collection
Audio collections: voices and sounds from many cultures
State Library’s sound recordings span commercial releases, field recordings and oral histories. The collection encompasses recordings from various cultures and communities, including
- African
- First Nations Australians
- Greek
- Italian
- Latin American
- Middle Eastern
- Pacific Islander
- Polish
- South-East Asian
Small sample of world music sound recordings in State Library’s collection
Online databases: global music at your fingertips
State Library members can access a range of online music databases from home and onsite. These databases contain:
- Streaming audio collections
- Score libraries
- Music encyclopedias and reference works
Tune in to music databases using your free State Library membership and enjoy endless hours of listening to world music.
Here are the State Library music databases with a specific world music focus.
- The Garland encyclopedia of world music is a fabulous resource for studying music from cultures around the world. It explores different regions and their musical traditions, genres, and performance practices, with a strong focus on sound recordings that let users hear the music itself. The site also includes photos, maps, and musical examples that add cultural and historical context.
- Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries provides access to sound recordings from cultures around the world, including Smithsonian Folkways and historic field recordings. Users can browse the collection by cultural group, region, or genre to explore world music and spoken traditions.
- Contemporary World Music offers 50,000 sound recordings from every continent, spanning traditional and modern genres like reggae, Bollywood, flamenco, klezmer, and world fusion. It complements Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries with a broad mix of contemporary and traditional recordings from labels worldwide.
Festival & event collections
State Library also holds ephemera, posters and recordings from multicultural festivals across Queensland, including:
- Australian Italian Festival
- BrisAsia Festival
- Buddha Birth Day Festival
- Chinese Festival
- Harmony Day
- Mackay Maltese Festival
- Paniyiri Greek Festival
- Woodford Folk Festival, including global and diaspora artists
These collections help document how multicultural music has been performed and celebrated publicly in Queensland.
Selection of multicultural music festival posters from State Library’s collection
Collecting Queensland’s multicultural music: A living archive
State Library plays a vital role in acquiring, preserving, showcasing, and expanding its multicultural soundscape. As a result of State Library’s past initiative Multicultural Music Collection Drive, we have been able to expand our music collections, ensuring that the music of all communities is recogniszed as part of Queensland’s story.
Membership and borrowing
State Library membership is free for Queensland residents. Amongst other perks, members can
- borrow scores, songbooks, performance sets and sound recordings
- access online databases for music research, scores, and sound recordings
- book the piano practice room on level 3 for up to 1 hour per day
Become a member and start exploring the world’s music through State Library’s collections.
More information
Music collections - https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/collections/information-collections/music
Borrowing for individuals - https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/borrowing/borrowing-individuals
Ask a librarian - https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/ask-librarian
Book spaces and equipment - https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/book-spaces-and-equipment
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