The gallery’s head archivist Steven Miller said the children’s art library will launch with about 1000 titles.

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“The books we have selected are ones that we want children to use freely so we will incorporate some of our rare and older collections in programs and displays, such as books that artists themselves made as children.

“Like all the Art Gallery’s library collections, the Children’s Art Library is not a borrowing library. We’d like everything to be enjoyed, read and handled in the space - not for children to come and find that something they really like is out on loan.

“The Children’s Art Library is not a traditional reference library, which can sound intimidating, but there will be staff nearby for children to ask questions of and engage with as they want and need. And of course children are not confined to this space. If they want to browse and use any of the other collections, we welcome this.”

The library is modelled on the Nolen children’s art library at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the children’s art library at the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur.

TZG director Peter Tonkin, said: “In designing the library for kids, we imagined engaging, child-scaled spaces that could ignite their natural delight in art.

“We created child-sized ‘cubby houses’ for reading, tables for engaged learning, and a really big comfortable lounge for parents to read with their kids, and older children to relax with a book.”

Across the Domain, the State Library of NSW’s children’s library was opened in 2019 to great acclaim, part of efforts to open up the library’s collection of art, manuscripts, and rare books to the public and especially families.

Art Gallery of NSW deputy director Maud Page said the gallery’s children’s art library has been designed to provide a sense of wonder for children and their families.

The library will cater for children living with disabilities and include books by Indigenous artists and writers and in languages other than English.

Page said it would program sensory and tactile experiences from the archives, performances, and new artist-led art-making experiences.

“In addition to exploring our gallery spaces or exhibitions – or as a dedicated visit to the library – this will be a place where above all children can be inspired, and look, read, learn and imagine,” Page said.

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