Giving Appeal The stories that shaped us deserve to be heard
Help share the voices from our oral history collection and double your impact.
Some of the most powerful stories in our collection are not found on a page. They are found in the voices of Western Australians themselves.
The State Library's Oral Histories collection contains more than 18,000 hours of interviews with over 7,000 Western Australians, capturing personal stories, memories and experiences that have helped shape our state. Yet many of these remarkable stories of war, migration and diverse lifestyles remain hidden within our collection.
We are seeking support to produce a curated selection of these stories to share with the over 500,000 visitors to our building each year through future exhibitions and public programming. Your donation can help us unlock these stories and make them accessible to everyone.
And thanks to a very generous donor, every donation to this appeal will be matched dollar for dollar, up to the value of $25,000. This means your gift will go twice as far and every dollar you donate will result in double the impact!
Make a Donation
Every donation helps us uncover, curate and share more stories from our Oral Histories collection. You can choose to support a pre-set amount or select your own amount. All donations are tax-deductible.
Donors contributing $500 or more will be acknowledged as part of our Giving Circles and receive invitations to exclusive State Library events.
Donate 1 hour ––>
enable 2 hours of Oral Histories curation.
Donate 4 hours ––>
enable 8 hours of Oral Histories curation.
Donate 8 hours ––>
enable 16 hours of Oral Histories curation.
Donate any amount ––>
Donate towards my chosen amount of time.
What will your donation fund?
Making oral histories accessible requires much more than digitisation.
Each recording must be researched, reviewed, carefully edited and prepared, so it can be shared in meaningful and engaging ways. This work requires specialist skills and significant time investment.
Four hours of oral history curation cost us $500, and we require at least 200 hours of work to start the process of bringing more of these stories into exhibitions, programs and public experiences.
Your support will help us identify, curate and prepare oral histories for future visitor experiences in the State Library. Your donation will directly support this important work and help ensure all Western Australians can access and discover the stories that shaped our state, including those from the oldest living culture on earth.
Why is this support needed now?
For years, the State Library has worked behind the scenes to rescue and preserve these vulnerable analogue recordings, protecting them from deterioration and permanent loss.
With much of this preservation work now completed, we have an exciting opportunity to focus on the next step: helping people discover, experience and enjoy these stories.
Our Dialogues 2029 suite of exhibitions and public programming will run through to the bicentenary in 2029 and presents a wonderful opportunity for people to connect with our state’s history through oral histories, including exciting plans for an oral history listening station within the State Library building.
Why is this important?
The State Library's Oral Histories collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind held by any Australian State Library. Established in 1961, it contains more than 18,000 hours of interviews spanning over 130 years of Western Australian memories.
These recordings preserve the voices of people from diverse communities, backgrounds and life experiences.
Whether it's a veteran reflecting on wartime service, a migrant sharing their journey to Western Australia or a personal story of everyday family life, every recording provides a unique window into our shared history as Western Australians and informs our collective future.
Explore oral histories
Stories
Podcasts
WA history
Scrabble boards, cookbooks, war medals, fishing lures, trinkets and tools. Why are these items so important to the people that hold onto them? Short podcast series about the stories behind peoples family treasures and keepsakes.
Rare Women of the West
Podcasts
Rare Stories from the West
Rare Stories from the West - Part 2. A podcast exploring the lives of Mary Ann Friend and Fanny Balbuk, who had very different experiences of colonisation. Their stories describe life along the Swan River.
The WA women shaping the orchard industry
Podcasts
WA history
Podcast revealing the hidden backstory of the Lady Williams apple - hear from cultivator and innovator Maud Williams, Maud's family, Newton Orchards Director- Nic Giblett, author Jon Doust, Gina Pickering and Professor Susan Broomhall.