On 3 July 1854, the new Governor, Sir Charles Hotham, laid the foundation stone of both the new library and the University of Melbourne. The library opened in 1856, with a collection of 3,800 books chosen by Sir Redmond, the President of Trustees. Augustus H. Tulk, the first librarian, was started work three months after the opening.
The first reading room was the Queen's Reading Room, now called Queen's Hall, which opened in 1859. Temporary buildings built in 1866 for the Intercolonial Exhibition were used until 1909, when work began on a new building to mark the library's Jubilee. This new building was the famous Domed Reading Room, which opened in 1913, designed by Norman G. Peebles.
Plans for the rebuilding were cut back as there was not enough money for the original design. A new building for the museum was built after World War 1, in a plain classical style.
The reading dome's original high windows were changed and covered in copper sheets in 1959 because water was getting into the building.
The library underwent a lot of rebuilding between 1990 and 2004, designed by architects Ancher Mortlock & Woolley. The project cost about AU$200 million. The reading room closed in 1999 to allow for renovation, during which dome's windows were put back. The renamed La Trobe Reading Room reopened in 2003.
The rebuilt library includes a number of exhibition spaces which are used for the permanent exhibitions; The Mirror of the World: Books and Ideas and The Changing Face of Victoria. there is also a display from the Pictures Collection in the Cowen Gallery. The State Library of Victoria is one of the largest exhibiting libraries in the world.
Front lawn and statues
A view of the library from the left side facing Swanston Street
The grassy lawn in front of the library's grand entrance on Swanston Street is a popular lunch-spot for the city's workers and students at the nearby RMIT University. When the library was built, there was a wooden picket fence around the building. In the 1870's a new wrought iron fence and gates were built. The space was opened when this fence was taken away in 1939.
A number of statues are in the entrance area:
A pair of bronze lions were at the front from the 1860s until 1937
On Sundays between 2.30pm and 5.30pm a speakers' forum takes place in front of the library, where people take turns in speaking on various subjects.
Rooms
Reading Room and Dome
The La Trobe Reading Room
The landmark Domed Reading Room, which opened in 1913 and was designed by Norman G. Peebles. Its octagonal space was designed to hold over a million books and up to 500 readers. It is 34.75 m in both diameter and height, and its oculus is nearly 5 m wide. The dome was the largest of its type in the world on completion.
In 1965, the La Trobe Building was opened to hold the Library's collection of Australian items. This has now been moved into the La Trobe Reading Room.
Arts Library
The library has a large, world-class collection of books, periodicals, recordings and other materials about art, music and the performing arts.
Chess room
The library has a chess room that houses a wide range of materials on the history, study and practice of chess. It contains a collection of items from the Anderson Chess Collection, one of the three largest public chess collections in the world. In addition to bookshelves containing a large range of books and magazines about chess, the room has game tables with chessboards and pieces. There are also glass cabinets with historical chess items. The room is meant for both reading, playing and studying.
Collections
Databases
Many of the library's electronic databases can be used from home to any Victorian who is a State Library User. Databases include the full Encyclopaedia Britannica; Oxford Reference dictionaries and encyclopaedias; multi-subject magazine and journal article databases; newspaper collections of most major Australian and international papers from 2000 onwards; and specialist subject databases.
