The Australian Subscription Library was the first library to exist outside of private collections in Australia. Started in 1826 as the 'Sydney Australian Subscription Library and Reading Room' it shortened its name to the 'Australian Subscription Library' in 1834, and then in 1853 changed its name to the 'Australian Library and Literary Institute’. Its assets were brought by the Government of New South Wales in 1869, and it became the 'Free Public Library. As the collections and services provided by the 'Free Public Library' expanded it became the State Library of New South Wales, which includes the Mitchell and Dixon library collections.