State Library of New South Wales

And, um, you know, definitely seeing the work that previous labs such as, you know, New York Public Library Labs did in terms of their sharing of resources and code, so much has been built off the back of that.

Same with DX Lab up at State Library New South Wales.

So I guess, yeah, that was really a, a core part, and that's really lovely to hear that that too was a big part of, um... has been a big part of innovation, too, in the labs you've worked at.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That was Sinead Boucher, appearing as part of Mumbrella Publish in September 2026 at the State Library of New South Wales.

Thanks for joining us on the MumbrellaCast.

This picture book was recently awarded an honour in the CBCA, that's the Children's Book Council of Australia, 2026 Book of the Year Awards in the Early Childhood category.

And as partners with the CBCA, it was so wonderful for us here at Learn Play Thrive to attend this event, which was held at the New South Wales State Library.

It was such a joyous occasion celebrating the creation of quality children's literature here in Australia.

And joining me today is a talented illustrator herself.

Thank you, Jamie.

The State Library of New South Wales is the latest institution facing controversy.

This is over a description of Sir Joseph Banks, the famous botanist who sailed with James Cook on the Endeavour.

Banks was one of the most important scientific figures associated with the early European exploration of Australia.

2GB breakfast exclusive coming today.

The State Library of New South Wales smearing one of the most respected figures in Australian history.

We're talking about Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist who sailed with James Cook on the Endeavour.

And if you read a brand new description beneath his portrait in the State Library of New South Wales, you'll see the following words, dispossession, invasion, cultural theft and colonial violence.

These are the slurs that have been added recently to the Joseph Banks portrait in the State Library of New South Wales.

And they started appearing in April this year as part of the library's 200th anniversary program.

And someone has brought this to light after visiting the State Library this week.

And we'll have that exclusive story for you this morning.

David, do you have any any personal experience with Kurzweil or BAUM yourself?

I actually got my hands on the original Kurzweil reading machine for the State Library in Sydney.

Geez, I want to say back in about 1986 or something.

Maybe it's not quite that time.

Take a person's convict heritage, for example.

When the State Library in New South Wales opened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the index cards became public, and apparently people ran in and removed index cards of convicts that they were related to, so no one could identify... local sort of prominent people with their convict ancestry which I find just absolutely fascinating you know as the convict kind of stain became less of a stain and more something to be sort of connect certain people with a longer legacy of Australian identity that no longer became a sort of a feeling of shame.

And now connecting with other forms of historical identity, such as First Nations or even early Chinese members on the gold fields, for example, there's a sense that the legacies of history change with how we feel at a moment in time.

And that goes back to what I was saying earlier, that history isn't actually what happened.

Yeah.

So I sit on the board of the State Library.

And a couple of years ago, the State Library received an unexpected bequest in the order of millions of dollars from someone that the library didn't know.

And so we kind of did some research to work out who is this person who has left their estate to us.

And it ended up being a beautiful story about someone who, through the pandemic, was possibly sleeping rough or at least living a very, very modest life.

And the library was his home away from home, so to speak, or his anchor.

And I don't know what experiences he had, like he would have met maybe a couple of staff.

We were all obviously wearing masks and hardly anyone was in buildings at that time, or maybe security guards, but whatever it was, he was made to feel welcome enough that he gave his estate to the State Library.