The Opera House is spectacular, but it’s not Sydney’s best building

There’s a hallowed spot in the grandiose Mitchell Library Reading Room of the gorgeous State Library of NSW. With the books floor-to-ceiling around the giant room’s circumference, you’re immediately struck by a sense of occasion, heft and spaciousness.

Writers like me can pitch up, free of charge, flip open our laptops and – in the serenity – fire up our imaginative flair.

“Surprising splendour”: The Mitchell Reading Room at the State Library of NSW, which recently had a facelift. Credit: © State Library of NSW. Photo by Cameron Etchells

That hallowed spot is two desks back from the breeze that sweeps into the solemn silence as the entrance door opens. Far enough back to avoid the breeze’s gush; far enough forward to spot an hourly wonder. The door will swing open and in will walk a first-time visitor. Invariably, the same delicious scene unfolds. Before the door has closed, jaws will fall open. Eyebrows raise; faces beam. Then their hand automatically reaches for their phone, to capture photo evidence of such surprising splendour.

It’s their sheer surprise that’s so delightful to watch. It reminds me of the first time I walked in and gasped the shocked beauty-sigh. I remember thinking: “Why did nobody tell me about this?”

The most famous building that I, and countless others, associated with Sydney before arriving here was the Opera House. In all its well-deserved glory, it gobbles up oxygen to such an extent that other wow-factor buildings don’t get the credit they deserve.

Exhibit A is this, Australia’s oldest library (equally impressive are the state libraries of Victoria and SA, both absolute stunners).

The Darling Square library is housed in the striking Exchange Building.Credit: Edwina Pickles

This is one of Sydney’s most breathtaking landmark buildings – yet tourists rarely name it as a highlight. Many Sydneysiders I’ve spoken to have, shockingly, never visited. Visit NSW should make it central to any new campaign to attract fellow library fanatics like me. We used to be a niche cohort of cardigan-wearing nerds. Now, we’re part of a much broader (and cooler) library-loving clique.

Libraries and librarians – once seen as stuffy and stuffier – are enlivening the imaginations of the next generation. Electronic music artist Boone recently created a viral music video with a beat set to the insistent typing sounds heard in the silent Mitchell Reading Room. As I watched, I felt the world cottoning onto a secret I’ve long suspected: libraries, long underrated, may be Sydney’s best buildings.

Once, people visited places like the NSW State Library to pore over dated print archives; now they go for dirty martinis at its rooftop bar or to view a groundbreaking queer exhibition. Libraries are evolving with the times.

Few inside are reading books; most stare at computer screens. But they’re still reading. Ironically, I read most books on my Kindle. As a loquacious type, the calm of the library settles my quasi-ADHD brain from overstimulation and distraction. The Mitchell Reading Room is as sacred as any church: full of quiet contemplation, complete with stained-glass windows.

As a library obsessive and digital nomad, I’ve worked as a writer in national or state libraries globally: the UK, Argentina, Mexico, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide. Australia’s are, hands down, the best: less crowded, more grandiose, better designed, with worthier exhibitions and more nooks to work in peace.

London’s famed libraries, whilst impressive, are frustratingly packed. If you’re lucky enough to get a seat, your elbow will brush your neighbour’s arm as you type. Plug sockets are rarer than decent coffee. Outside London’s centre, the UK’s shabby libraries are a metaphor for the nation’s rot over the past decade.

Public libraries reflect what a city thinks about the importance of its public service users. Neglected ones speak volumes. Writer Neil Gaiman observed, libraries are among the “few places you’re allowed to exist without the expectation of spending money.” A 2019 report found that Tory austerity saw the closure of almost a fifth of the UK’s libraries: 800 of them.

We’ve got it good here. I honestly rate Sydney’s public libraries as the best in the world. I library-hop across the city’s beautiful bibliotheques, to keep my visits fresh and interesting. Once you move past the queen bee that is the NSW State Library, there are surprises to discover.

Woollahra Library has a hidden slide to transport you between floors, accessed by a clandestine door. Customs House Library has a handsome reading room of understated debonair chic with secret, titillating Harbour Bridge views.

Sydney turns on its trademark glitz for two of its newest. Darling Square Library looks like a cross between an exotic bird’s nest and a giant spiral waterslide covered in kindling; Green Square’s like a partially submerged geometric glass palace.

As libraries evolve; tourist boards should too. Everybody knows the Harbour Bridge and Opera House; few know there are free buildings of awe and wonder which, once better publicised, could be the envy of the world.

Gary Nunn is a freelance writer.

The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.