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La Trobe Reading Room, State Library Victoria. Photo: Misaochan2, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Library_of_Victoria_2.jpgDownload 1920px
State Library Victoria
City of Melbourne, Australia, Foundation stone 1854; opened 1856
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The record
Room
State Library Victoria, room: Domed reading room, 1913
Worth knowing
State Library Victoria, worth knowing: An hour after Ned Kelly's death in 1880, his hair and beard were shaved and plaster was applied to his face and head to make a death mask.
State Library Victoria, worth knowing: In 1965 the armour was taken off public view and moved to the care of the State Library.
State Library Victoria, worth knowing: Ned Kelly's armour is made from farm machinery. The Library says historians have guessed the parts were stolen or gifted and forged by sympathetic blacksmiths, but none of that is confirmed.
State Library Victoria, worth knowing: The Burke and Wills expedition papers were deposited in the Melbourne Public Library in March 1875.
State Library Victoria, worth knowing: The Jerilderie Letter was written out by Joe Byrne at Ned Kelly's dictation over a few months. Kelly meant it to be printed in the press.
Built
State Library Victoria, built: Foundation stone laid 3 July 1854; Melbourne Public Library opened 11 February 1856 (SLV timeline).
State Library Victoria, built: Domed Reading Room opened 14 November 1913 (SLV timeline).
Architect
State Library Victoria, architect: Design competition won by the recently arrived architect Joseph Reed (Wikipedia).
State Library Victoria, architect: Domed Reading Room (opened 1913): Bates, Peebles and Smart (Wikipedia).
State Library Victoria, architect: Octagonal dome modelled on the British Museum and the Library of Congress (SLV page).
Volumes
State Library Victoria, volumes: 3,892,523 collection items electronically registered (Wikipedia)
Collection
State Library Victoria, collection: Opening collection of 3,800 books (Wikipedia).
Status today
State Library Victoria, status today: Described as one of the first free public libraries in the world (Wikipedia).
State Library Victoria, status today: Dome sheathed in copper in 1959 to prevent water leaks (SLV timeline).
State Library Victoria, status today: Domed Reading Room closed for refurbishing 1999; reopened 8 July 2003 as the La Trobe Reading Room (SLV timeline).
State Library Victoria, status today: Vision 2020: five-year, A$88.1 million redevelopment project (Wikipedia).
What happened here
1854State Library Victoria, founded, 1854: Foundation stone laid, 3 July 1854
1856State Library Victoria, opened, 1856: Melbourne Public Library opened, 11 February 1856
1913State Library Victoria, opened, 1913: Domed Reading Room opened, 14 November 1913
1965State Library Victoria, opened, 1965: La Trobe Library opened, 6 September 1965
1999State Library Victoria, closed, 1999: Domed Reading Room closed for refurbishing
2003State Library Victoria, reopened, 2003: Domed Reading Room reopened as La Trobe Reading Room, 8 July 2003
Photographs
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La Trobe Reading Room seen through an arch, State Library Victoria. Photo: Bhullargraphic, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Trobe_Reading_Room_viewed_through_archway_State_Library_Victoria.jpgDownload 1920px
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La Trobe Reading Room dome, State Library Victoria. Photo: Diliff, CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Library_of_Victoria_La_Trobe_Reading_room_5th_floor_view.jpgDownload 1920px
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State Library Victoria portico and dome, Swanston Street. Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Donaldytong assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melbourne_State_Library.jpgDownload 1920px
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State Library Victoria forecourt, Swanston Street, Melbourne. Photo: Nicholas Comer, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Libray_of_Victoria_(Main_Entrance_%26_Forecourt_-_Swanston_St),_Melbourne.jpgDownload 1920px
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State Library Victoria front steps and portico seen across Swanston Street. Photo: Alison Newman, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Library_of_Victoria_-_July_2021.jpgDownload 1920px
Books from this library
- A catalogue of the different specimens of cloth collected in the three voyages of Captain Cook, to the southern hemisphereAlexander H. Shawcatalogue record
- Eikon BasilikeCharles I of Englandcatalogue record
- TAGG – The Alternative Gig Guide1979catalogue record
- Rhythms Magazine1992catalogue record
- De officiis libri III : Cato Maior ... Laelius ... Paradoxa ... Somnium Scipionis / M. Tullius Cicero ; notata ... varietate, atque adscriptis ... Pauli Manutii annotationibus.catalogue record
- Eikōn basilikēcatalogue record
Sources
- https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/slvhistory/timelines
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Library_Victoria
- https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/node/4824222
- https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ned-kelly
- https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/explore-collections-theme/australian-history/ned-kelly/ned-kellys-armour
- https://latrobejournal.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-86/t1-g-t2.html
- https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/explore-collections-theme/australian-history/ned-kelly/jerilderie-letter