Artwork in the Main Reading Room The National Library of Australia's Main Reading Room houses a collection of sculptures and paintings inspired by Indigenous stories of the Australian landscape. Australian Landscapes I–IV Australian Landscapes I–IV 2000 ca.1998 ; 4 machine-embroidered tapestries, Main Reading Room Since 2001, four machine-embroidered panels by British textile artist Alice Kettle have been displayed in the Main Reading Room. Kettle estimates she used 5 million stitches over a period of 18 months to create the panels. Many of the fine threads are made from synthetic rayon and cotton. They ‘capture the luminescence of the shifting light and the brilliance of the landscape’.