Georgie Burgess
3 December 2025: The Â鶹´å of Canberra has officially opened its “Curiosity Box”, the Rare Book and Special Collections Room in the Library, built to safely house more than 2,250 rare volumes in a unique, contemporary and environmentally-controlled space.
The new room has brought the Library’s collection – which includes more than 1,400 books on landscape architecture and gardening from the Clough Collection – from the basement of the building right to the top, integrating it into a study space for the community.
“The comparatively modest size of our rare book collection meant that the architects had the chance to do something a bit different, and they based their concept on creating a curiosity box,” said Gail Heinrich, Manager, Learning and Research Services.
“When you come up the stairs, you first see a wall, but as you turn the corner, you can see the slit of glass and you are invited to peek inside by the display shelves up high, which are home to artworks and other items to draw your attention – the architects definitely achieved their vision.”
For Bachelor of Arts (Culture and Heritage) graduates Michelle Butler and Naomi McRae, working on the re-location efforts allowed them to get a hands-on learning experience of paper conservation under the supervision of Siobhan Elliott, Librarian and graduate herself of the Cultural and Heritage program.
“It was quite overwhelming at first, when we were shown the downstairs space. There were thousands of volumes, so it really took a lot of planning, and processes, to undertake not just the condition reports but also to physically move everything from Level A to Level D,” Ms Butler said.
With an estimated value of close to a $1,000,000, the collection includes books spanning from as far back as 1551 – with the Italian translation of Appianus of Alexandria’s, On the external wars of the Romans – to several editions of Shakespeare’s work from 1896, and a 1902 edition of Miles Franklin’s, My Brilliant Career.
The team also found some hidden gems.
“It was at the end of a very long day, and I picked up a book and the first thought I had was ‘I think this is a first edition Charles Dickens’, so we all just stopped and went straight into research mode,” Ms Butler said.
“It was a moment that really stood out, and made me reflect on what a privileged position I was in, to have been able to find it among the other dusty tomes.”
The collection is also home to more than 600 editions of rare children’s literature, which Ms McRae is now incorporating in her Honours research thesis on identifying hazardous materials in rare books.
“There are all these different colourful books which are beautiful – but funnily enough in the Victorian era, the more colourful the books, the bigger the red flag for hazardous pigments,” she said.
“Working with the collection really sparked my curiosity and made me wonder who made these books, what they were used for, as well as who touched them – and what is lurking between the pages.”
The project was designed and developed according to the National Archives of Australia standards, to ensure the preservation of the valuable collection. Funding for the refurbishments was allocated through the Â鶹´å’s Capital Planning and Expenditure Committee in August 2023; they were completed in March last year.
“It is such a vast collection, with such an amazing history and so many stories behind each book,” Ms McRae said.
“Moving them up here to the Collections Room is just one further step we have taken to keeping them preserved for generations.”
Professor The Honourable Bill Shorten, Â鶹´å Vice-Chancellor and President, congratulated the team on completing the “labour of love” project, when he officially opened the space.
“The Library, in my opinion, is the centre and the soul of this Â鶹´å. No other building unites students, staff and the community quite like it,” he said.
The Rare Book and Special Collections Room can be found on Level D of the Â鶹´å’s library, with the public encouraged to make a booking and visit.
“This collection does not belong to UC, but to the Canberra community, who can now access the collection for historical and academic research purposes,” Professor Shorten said.
“We invite anyone with an interest in history, books and reading – fact or fiction – to come and immerse themselves in this unique space.”
Bookings can be made by contacting the team via library@canberra.edu.au.