Description of the attraction
The State Library of Victoria is the largest library in the state of Victoria, with over 1.5 million books and 16,000 periodicals in storage! Unsurprisingly, the building, located in Melbourne, spans an entire block near the city center. Among the library's main treasures are the diaries of Captain James Cook.
Just two decades after the founding of Melbourne, it was decided to build a library - especially insisted on this by the then Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, Charles La Trobe. The famous architect Joseph Reed was chosen, who later built the Royal Exhibition Center and Melbourne Central Hall.
On July 3, 1854, the foundation stone of the future library was laid. The construction lasted 2 years, and already in 1856 the library was opened. The first book collection consisted of 3,800 volumes, but by 1861 it had been expanded to 22,000 books. Together with the library, the building houses the National Gallery of Victoria and the Melbourne Museum. The gallery moved to a separate building only in the 1960s, and the museum in the 1990s.
Near the main entrance of the library, there is a small park with a number of statues and monuments, including the statue of St. George slaying the dragon, and the statue of Joan of Arc, erected in 1907. Today, this small park is a favorite vacation spot for students at the nearby Technological University.
The library building itself was built in the classicism style. Its domed reading room, opened in 1913, can seat up to 500 readers. The diameter of the octagonal hall is 34, 75 meters. At the time of its opening, it was the largest reading room in the world.
From 1990 to 2004, the library building underwent a variety of restoration work that cost the state government A $ 200 million. A number of temporary exhibition spaces were built here, making the library today one of the largest exhibition pavilions in the world.