JCU Library

04/09/2026

🥇BOOK WEEK POTLUCK WINNER 🥇

Your votes were counted… and here are the results! Thanks so much to Ankers espresso for the coffee voucher, and thanks to everyone who cast their vote in our Instagram Story polls.

What would you have brought to our literary potluck?

03/09/2026

What cost of knowledge have YOU paid?

Maybe you’ve spent hours reviewing papers without recognition.

Maybe you’ve wondered who benefits when publicly funded research sits behind expensive paywalls.

Maybe you’re questioning how researchers’ work is being used to train commercial AI systems without compensation.

If these issues matter to you, this year’s Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Open Access Advocate Competition is your chance to speak up.

To mark Open Access Week 2026 (19-25 October), JCU Library and the Graduate Research School (GRS) are once again pleased to invite entries addressing this year’s theme: The Cost of Knowledge.

Entrants are asked to produce a poster, similar to one they might present at a conference, that is persuasive and inspires others to seek change in research and publishing systems.

We recommend that HDR candidates seeking to enter undertake poster training provided by Professor Liz Tynan from the GRS on 10 September, bookable through SkillsJCU.

The competition is open to all JCU Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates, with the prize awarded for the best response to the theme as above. All entries should be submitted by noon on Tuesday 29 September 2026 and the winners will be announced during Open Access Week.

Read more about judging criteria and enter via the link in bio!

31/08/2026

18/08/2026

With Book Week coming up next week, the JCU Libraries might be a little more lively than usual... swipe to see what's coming!

10/07/2026

Honour the stories, voices, and histories of First Nations creators this . 🖤💛❤️ Swipe through to discover your next great read, available now online or at the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library on our Bebegu Yumba campus. Which one are you adding to your hold list first? 👇

03/06/2026

Staff at the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library wish you a Happy Mabo Day! On this 34th anniversary of the Mabo decision we remember the man - Eddie Koiki Mabo and his work and achievements. Everyone is welcome to visit the Mabo Library and see our current displays on level 1 which showcase materials from the Special Collections with a focus on Australian Indigenous peoples and matters. Go to the Library website to check the opening hours and visit when services are available.

31/05/2026

National Reconciliation Week continues until this Wednesday - Mabo Day.

A great way you can take a simple step towards reconciliation is to increase your understanding of Australian Indigenous people’s history and culture. We invite you to do that by exploring the resources held by JCU Library. Pop into the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library on the Bebegu Yumba Campus in Townsville to view the Special Collections displays on level one. If you would like to know more get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Artwork Credit: Kassandra Savage, 'Coming Together and Respecting Difference', 2014. © Kassandra Savage, reproduced with permission of the artist. JCU Art Collection.

28/04/2026

The Clock is Ticking! Creative Research Residencies available now.

Opportunity is knocking for researchers to win one of three Creative Research Residencies on offer from Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts in partnership with JCU Library Special Collections.

Applications close at 5pm AEST this Thursday - 30th April, 2026.

Read more about this opportunity and get your application in today at https://buff.ly/EUROtLh

Reach out to the Special Collections team if you have any questions about your research topic. Email [email protected]

Image credit: Victorian Lady's Sketchbook pages photographed by Michael Marzik

10/04/2026

Castaways – Unintentional migrants as featured in the JCU Library Special Collections Origins Displays

Shipwrecks producing castaways may be familiar tropes in fiction, but they are also grounded in real events. Across Australia’s history, such events have occurred with regularity. Their occurrence in north Queensland has most often been because of close encounters with the Great Barrier Reef. Those who survived these wrecks became unintentional migrants - people cast into unfamiliar territories and cultures. Some were rescued, others were not. All were shaped by the communities they encountered, and through their stories, helped shape how the wider world came to understand the peoples with whom they lived.

Read more here: https://buff.ly/qCRfMBR

05/04/2026

The Library services are closed today for Easter Sunday, but the buildings are open for their regular hours. We will be open tomorrow from 1pm-5pm (TSV) or 11am-3pm (CNS).

View opening hours for JCU Cairns and Townsville campus libraries. Opening hours vary depending on campus, study periods and public holidays.