2023 Appeal: Local History Collections

Thank you for being part of the Trove community, which brings amazing content online for everyone to discover.

Since the beginning of 2023, we have been overwhelmed by the passion that our community has shown for Trove.

I am delighted that the government has committed to ongoing funding for this important national resource, securing Trove's digital infrastructure for the future.

But with only ten per cent of the National Library's physical collections available on Trove, your help is still vitally important in enabling us to digitise and share more extraordinary content online.

That is why I write to you today to ask for your support in making the National Library's local history collections available on Trove.

Find your place on Trove; help others find theirs

From Cairns to Canberra, Darwin to Deniliquin, Perth to Port Arthur, the McLaren local history collection spans the length and breadth of the nation.

Wherever you live, you can find your story here.

The McLaren local history collection consists of thousands of printed pamphlets. The original printed items are so fragile that the National Library cannot make them available to people visiting the Library building in Canberra.

With your help, we can digitise this material and make it accessible to the world.

We know from speaking to so many of you that Trove is a powerful resource for connecting people to their stories and the places they live.

By helping us to raise $200,000 to share the National Library’s local history collections on Trove, you will be empowering countless others to find their stories, and yours.

Our collection comes to life when it is used; thank you again for supporting Trove.

Warmest regards,

Dr Marie-Louise Ayres FAHA 
Director-General, National Library of Australia

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.