"For many ANU students, faculty, and members of the wider Asian Studies community, the Menzies Library is hallowed ground. The library is a dedicated space on campus for Asian studies research, with a spectacular array of collections. Canberra?s dry climate is a perfect condition for housing fragile sources that may struggle to survive in the humidity of their home environments. In the spirit of openness, many of the library?s resources are available to view directly from the stacks. In a time where our research is increasingly driven by the algorithms of search engines, with content arriving to us in a densely pre-curated manner, a leisurely stroll through the Menzies stacks never fails to bring up surprises. For anyone who has wandered through these aisles, with or without purpose, time spent in Menzies is a rite of passage and cause for nostalgia. In my own research experience, during a search for a particular book I stumbled upon a sixty-year old travel diary, which had nestled untouched for decades in the rolling shelves and in relative obscurity within the academic literature..."