State Library Victoria

The huge building before you is the State Library Victoria. Founded in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, it is Australia’s oldest public library and one of the first in the world with free access for all! It was the Governor of Victoria, along with a colonial judge, who decided that it was high time to have a library! They believed that access to knowledge was essential to the development of a community, and envisioned a place that fostered learning and protected history, with exhibition halls showcasing significant artifacts. A major architectural competition was held and the winner was Joseph Reed, an architect who had just arrived from England. His firm went on to design many of the city’s most important buildings, including the City Hall and the Royal Exhibition Hall. Together with the University of Melbourne, the new governor laid the foundation stone for this impressive library. When it opened its doors, the library was one of the first to be free of charge and open to all, provided you were over 14 and, above all, had clean hands! At the time, the library complex also housed the State Gallery and Museum. You can enter and discover its beautiful reading rooms and exhibition spaces designed during the latest renovations of the site, which have made it one of the largest exhibition libraries in the world. It’s well worth a visit.