Editing State Library Victoria (section)

==History==
===19th century===
[[File:Bust of Sir Redmond Barry, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, 2017-10-29.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A bust of library founder [[Redmond Barry]]]]
In 1853, the decision to build a combined library, museum and gallery was made at the instigation of [[Governor of Victoria]] [[Charles La Trobe]] and Sir [[Redmond Barry]]. A competition was held, won by the recently arrived architect [[Joseph Reed (architect)|Joseph Reed]], whose firm and its successors went on to design most of the later extensions, as well as numerous 19th-century landmarks such as the [[Melbourne Town Hall]], and the [[Royal Exhibition Building]].

On the same day of 3 July 1854, the recently inaugurated Governor [[Charles Hotham|Sir Charles Hotham]] laid the foundation stone of both the new library complex and the [[University of Melbourne]]. The library's first stage (the central part of the Swanston Street wing) opened on 11 February 1856, with a collection of 3,800 books chosen by Mr Justice Barry, the President of Trustees. [[Augustus H. Tulk]], the first librarian, was appointed three months after the opening. The Melbourne Public Library as it was then known was one of the first free public libraries in the world, open to anyone over 14 years of age, so long as they had clean hands.<ref>{{cite web|title=The history of the State Library of Victoria: The Basics|url=https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/slvhistory|website=State Library Victoria|access-date=5 November 2017|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107004402/https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/slvhistory|url-status=live}}</ref>

The complex of buildings that now house the Library was built in numerous stages, housing various library spaces, art galleries and museum displays, finally filling the entire block in 1992.<ref>{{cite web|title=The history of the State Library of Victoria: Timeline|url=https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/c.php?g=245295&p=1633335|publisher=State Library Victoria|access-date=5 November 2017|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404062344/https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/c.php?g=245295&p=1633335|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1860 Joseph Reed designed a grand complex for the whole block including a domed section facing Russell Street to House the Museum and Gallery, painting a broad canvas that was more or less followed over the next century.

The next stage was the south part of the front wing, opened in 1859, including the elaborate first floor Queen's Reading Room (now Queen's Hall). The northern part (now Hansen Hall) was added complete in 1864 by Abraham Linacre,<ref>{{cite web |title=12 May 1859 - THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. - Trove |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5681013/197090 |newspaper=Argus |date=12 May 1859 |access-date=24 July 2018 |archive-date=24 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724154028/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5681013/197090 |url-status=live }}</ref> but the classical portico was not built until 1870.

A number of temporary halls and a pagoda were built in 1866 for the Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia just behind the front wing. From 1870, some of these housed the Industrial & Technological Museum of Victoria (I&T Museum).<ref>{{cite web |title=Opening of the Industrial & Technological Museum, Melbourne, 9 September 1870 |url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/16991 |website=Museums Victoria Collections |access-date=1 February 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205121134/https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/16991 |url-status=live }}</ref> That year, author, journalist and bohemian figure [[Marcus Clarke]] joined the library staff, serving as sub-librarian from 1874 until his death in 1881.<ref>Burt, Sandra (2001). "Marcus Clarke at the Public Library", ''La Trobe Library Journal'', 67, pp. 55–60</ref>

The Library Museums and National Gallery Act 1869 formed a single body to run the Public Library of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), [[National Museum of Victoria]], and the then embryotic I&T Museum.

In 1875 the McArthur Gallery was built to house the NGV.

Barry Hall, along Little Lonsdale Street, was built in 1886. This now houses the [[Wheeler Centre]]. In 1887, the Buvelot Gallery opened for the NGV, (the gallery was later known as Swinburne Hall). It now houses the Arts Reading Room.

1892 saw extensive expansion on the site. In that year, what is now the Cowen Gallery (was Stawell Gallery) and Victoria Gallery (was La Trobe Gallery) opened for NGV use. The Lending Library opened. And what is now the Redmond Barry Reading Room was built to house the I&T Museum. In 1899, this was taken over by the National Museum, which renamed it McCoy Hall after [[Frederick McCoy]], its first director.<ref>{{cite web|title=The library, the museum, and me|url=https://www.mikejonesonline.com/contextjunky/2015/02/11/the-library-the-museum-and-me/|last=Jones|first=Mike|date=2015-02-11|website=Context Junky|language=en|access-date=2020-04-27|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513083749/https://www.mikejonesonline.com/contextjunky/2015/02/11/the-library-the-museum-and-me/|url-status=live}}</ref> The I&T Museum was put into storage.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="175">
File:Interior view of Queen's Hall, SLV.jpg|The Ian Potter Queen's Hall, the library's first reading room, opened in 1856. Today it houses Australian literature and also hosts events.
File:FL15578297.jpg|Joseph Reed's masterplan for the Library, Museum and Gallery, illustrated in 1860 by [[Nicholas Chevalier]]
File:Opening of the new fine arts gallery NGV 1875.jpg|The McArthur Gallery, pictured during its opening in 1875, was the [[National Gallery of Victoria]]'s first purpose-built room. It is now the Newspaper & Family History Reading Room.
</gallery>

===20th century===
[[File:Melbourne State Library from above Swanston St.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view showing the Domed Reading Room, commissioned in 1909 to celebrate the library's jubilee]]
In 1909, most of the remaining Intercolonial Exhibition buildings were closed and the Great Hall was demolished. On part of the land they occupied, Baldwin Spencer Hall was built (now the "Russell Street Welcome Zone"), and work began on the library's famed Domed Reading Room. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Bates, Peebles and Smart, the successor to Joseph Reed's firm, now known as [[Bates Smart]].<ref>{{cite web|title=State Library of Victoria|url=https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/812|website=Victorian Heritage Database|access-date=5 November 2017|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107002549/http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/812|url-status=live}}</ref> Its construction led to much less use of Queen's Hall, which led to it becoming the home of a reborn I&T Museum in 1915.
The reading room was refurbished and reopened in 2003 as the La Trobe Reading Room, with the dome's skylights that had been hidden behind copper sheathing since 1959 again revealed.<ref name="slv">{{cite web |title=La Trobe Reading Room |url=https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/visit/our-magnificent-spaces/la-trobe-reading-room |website=State Library Victoria |access-date=25 April 2024}}</ref>

In 1928 the South Rotunda opened. The McAllan Gallery on the LaTrobe Street side was built in 1932. In 1940, the North Rotunda opened.

[[File:A handcoloured photo of a woman wearing traditional Chinese clothings standing next to the State Library of Victoria, c. 1920s.jpg|thumb|A handcoloured photo of a woman wearing traditional Chinese clothings standing next to the State Library of Victoria, c. 1920s]]

The Public Library, National Gallery and Museums Act 1944 organisationally separated the four major cultural institutions, while they continued to share the one site.

In 1959, the dome's skylights were covered in copper sheets due to water leakage, creating the dim atmosphere that characterised the Library for decades.

In 1963, the south-west courtyard next to the dome became a planetarium. (This space is now the Pauline Gandel Children's Quarter.)

In 1965, the La Trobe Library was opened to house the Library's Australiana collections. This building later became the Conference Centre and Theatrette.

The [[National Gallery of Victoria]] (NGV) moved to a new home in [[St Kilda Road]] in 1968. This led to the I&T Museum moving out of Queen's Hall and into the NGV's buildings. Queen's Hall returned to Library use.

In 1971 the Lending Library closed. Melbourne's CBD was to be without a public lending library until the opening of the [[City Library]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lucas |first1=Clay |title=City Library on borrowed time as council plans new CBD facility by 2020 |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/city-library-on-borrowed-time-as-council-plans-new-cbd-facility-by-2020-20160828-gr32qw.html |work=[[The Age]] |date=28 August 2016 |language=en |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=10 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810234330/https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/city-library-on-borrowed-time-as-council-plans-new-cbd-facility-by-2020-20160828-gr32qw.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Public Record Office Victoria]] was once the Archives Department of the Library. In 1973 the Public Records Act established the Public Record Office as the state's archive authority, independent of the Library. The Office moved to Laverton in 1977, then to North Melbourne in 2004. PROV now frequently supplies exhibits for the [[Old Treasury Building, Melbourne|Old Treasury Building]] museum.

[[File:Melbourne City Loop Museum Station, now Melbourne Central, under construction 1974 on the corner of La Trobe and Swanston Streets 1.jpg|thumb|Construction of Museum station, now [[Melbourne Central railway station|Melbourne Central]], under [[La Trobe Street]] in 1974, with the library visible in the background]]
In 1973, construction began on Museum station (now Melbourne Central station), which, upon completion in 1981, provided direct heavy rail access to the State Library for the first time. The National Museum and what was now known as the Science Museum of Victoria merged in 1983 to form the [[Museum of Victoria]], filling the Russell St end of the site. Part of this combined museum was moved to Spotswood to form [[Scienceworks (Melbourne)|Scienceworks]] in 1992, with the bulk of the galleries remaining until 1997. At that time the remaining museum closed temporarily before part reopened elsewhere as the [[Immigration Museum]] in 1998, and the rest as the [[Melbourne Museum]] in 2000.

The Library underwent major refurbishments between 1990 and 2004, designed by architects Ancher Mortlock & Woolley. The project cost approximately [[Australian dollar|A$]]200 million.

In 1995, the north-west courtyard next to the dome was glassed in to become a reading room (and later the Genealogy Centre, and now the Conversation Quarter). In 1998, the north-east courtyard was glassed in to become the Newspaper Reading Room (and is now the Ideas Quarter).

The NGV returned to the Library building from 1999 to 2002, occupying the Russell Street halls while its St Kilda Road buildings were renovated.

The reading room closed in 1999 to allow for renovation, when the skylights were reinstated.

By the late 1990s, on Sundays between 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm, a speakers' forum took place on the library forecourt. Orators took turns in speaking on various subjects, and it was a popular location for protest meetings and a rallying point for marches.

===21st century===
[[File:Melbourne 2011 019 cr pc.jpg|thumb|left|Entrance to the [[Wheeler Centre]] on Little Lonsdale Street]]
A building redevelopment included the creation of a number of exhibition spaces which opened between 2001 and 2003. Some of these are used to house permanent exhibitions ''The Mirror of the World: Books and Ideas'' and ''The Changing Face of Victoria'', as well as a display from the Pictures Collection in the Cowen Gallery. As a result of the redevelopment, State Library Victoria could now be considered one of the largest exhibiting libraries in the world.

The now renamed La Trobe Reading Room reopened in 2003.<ref name="slv"/> Also in 2003, the final dome-side courtyards were enclosed and became the Arts Reading Room (now the Create Quarter) and Experimedia (now Pauline Gandell Children's Quarter).

In February 2010, the southern wing of the library building on Little Lonsdale Street was reopened as the [[Wheeler Centre]], part of Melbourne's [[city of literature]] initiative.

In 2015 the Library embarked on a five-year, {{AUD|88.1}} million redevelopment project, Vision 2020,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about-us/history-vision/vision-2020-redevelopment |title=Vision 2020 |work=State Library Victoria |access-date=21 March 2018 |archive-date=21 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321132407/https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about-us/history-vision/vision-2020-redevelopment |url-status=live }}</ref> to transform its public spaces, programs and facilities to better meet the changing needs of the community. On 29 April 2015 the Minister for Creative Industries [[Martin Foley (politician)|Martin Foley]] announced that the 2015&ndash;16 State Budget would provide {{AUD|55.4}} million towards the redevelopment of State Library Victoria, including the restoration of the Queen's Hall, the creation of a rooftop garden terrace, a dedicated children's and youth space, and the opening up 40 per cent more of the building to the public.<ref>{{cite news|title=State Library of Victoria to receive $83 million facelift|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-29/state-library-of-victoria-to-receive-83-million-facelift/6431042|access-date=5 November 2017|agency=ABC news|date=29 April 2015|archive-date=20 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020094620/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-29/state-library-of-victoria-to-receive-83-million-facelift/6431042|url-status=live}}</ref> In late 2017, the library's contribution of {{AUD|27}} million from donations was eventually raised.<ref>{{cite news|title=Read-y or not, State Library of Victoria transformation to start|url=https://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ready-or-not-state-library-of-victoria-transformation-to-start-after-27m-raised-20170903-gy9vuj.html|access-date=5 November 2017|work=The Age|date=4 September 2017|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107052453/http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ready-or-not-state-library-of-victoria-transformation-to-start-after-27m-raised-20170903-gy9vuj.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2018, the main Swanston Street entrance was temporarily closed and replaced by the newly refurbished Russell Street and La Trobe Street entrances.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vision2020.slv.vic.gov.au/service-alerts/#swanston-street-entrance-closure|title=Our magnificent spaces|access-date=20 September 2018|archive-date=20 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920050046/https://vision2020.slv.vic.gov.au/service-alerts/#swanston-street-entrance-closure|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December 2019 the Library officially completed its Vision 2020 redevelopment project.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vision 2020 redevelopment|url=https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about-us/history-and-vision/vision-2020-redevelopment|website=State Library Victoria|access-date=14 July 2020|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805160640/https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about-us/history-and-vision/vision-2020-redevelopment|url-status=live}}</ref> A huge amount of space left vacant for nearly 20 years was again open to the public.

In 2024, the Library [[State Library Victoria Teen Writing Bootcamp controversy|faced controversy for canceling online writing workshops]] aimed at teenagers, reportedly due to the host authors' pro-Palestine views in the [[Israel-Gaza war]], despite the official reason being a "child and cultural safety review".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beazley |first1=Jordyn |title=State Library Victoria surveyed presenters' social media for political content before terminating contracts, emails show |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/17/state-library-victoria-social-media-israel-gaza-war-content-workshop-cancellations-ntwnfb |access-date=18 July 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=17 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Brien |first1=Kerrie |title=State Library probed writers' political, religious views before cancellations |url=https://www.theage.com.au/culture/books/state-library-probed-writers-political-religious-views-before-cancellations-20240715-p5jttd.html |access-date=16 July 2024 |work=The Age |date=16 July 2024}}</ref>