Commentary
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The National Library of Australia’s Treasures Gallery, launched in October 2011, is the latest in a series of ubiquitous ‘Treasures’ exhibitions and is the final and definitive step in the Library’s evolution into an exhibiting institution. Is this blurring of its traditional responsibilities a problem for the Library? Its toughest challenge, having decided to compete with all other cultural institutions via public programs and exhibitions, is to do something other than produce even bigger blockbusters. Perhaps it is time to explain anew its differences in a distinctive voice and reassert its core identity, curatorial discipline and mission.