City Library Relocating to North Terrace | Early 2026

The City Library will soon have an exciting new home, bringing together the city and the state’s remarkable collections in one stunning location on Adelaide’s cultural boulevard.

The City Library’s friendly and knowledgeable staff and its collections will relocate from Rundle Mall to the State Library of South Australia on North Terrace in early 2026. The two libraries will remain separate entities co-located within the same building, providing convenience for regular library visitors.

After more than a decade at its Rundle Place location, the highly-anticipated move is set to improve accessibility, increase visitation and incorporate a new $2 million state government funded children’s space.

City Library visitors and members will continue to enjoy all existing services, including book and multimedia lending, membership benefits through the One Card Network, access to public PCs, digital technologies, creative programs and more while gaining seamless access to the State Library’s extensive collections, research services, exhibitions, programs, events and facilities.

Despite the large size of the City Library collection, all of it will fit seamlessly into the expansive Spence Wing space at the State Library without impacting any existing collections or requiring extra storage to be established.

Public access to the stunning Mortlock Wing – voted the second most beautiful library in the world by a global ranking in 2025 – will be unchanged, with thousands of first-time visitors set to experience its rich history and unique atmosphere.  The collaboration will create a truly diverse and complete experience for library visitors, with everything at their fingertips.

City Library visitors will have seamless access to the collections, exhibitions and research services, while still enjoying all the City Library programs and borrowing they rely on.

The new children’s space will play an important part with a warm, inclusive environment that supports families, welcomes young readers and helps nurture a lifelong love of stories.

Behind the scenes, preparations for the big move are well underway at the City Library.  An official opening date will be announced in due course.

Read our review of the State Library’s Mortlock Wing

For more information and all enquiries please visit the City of Adelaide website

What:   City Library Relocating to North Terrace

When:    Early 2026

Where:   State Library of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide

Who:   Everyone

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

Image Source: Libraries SA

SUBSCRIBE

Follow Play & Go on Facebook and Instagram

Want to get all the latest events and activities straight to your inbox?

Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter below to keep up to date with our latest posts and find out all the best events & activities for Adelaide families. Newsletters are only sent once a week, and you may sometimes get a special offer exclusively for our subscribers only!