What is State Library of Victoria?
The '''State Library of Victoria''' is the main [[library]] of the [[States and territories of Australia|state]] of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]. The library is in the capital city of Victoria, [[Melbourne]]. It is on [[Swanston Street]], in the northern centre of the [[Melbourne central business district|central business district]]. The library holds over 1.5 million books and 16,000 serials. Special books in the library include the diaries of the city's founders, [[John Batman]] and [[John Pascoe Fawkner]], and [[James Cook|Captain James Cook]]. ==History== [[Image:Vic State Library Facade Pano,19.07.06 edit1.jpg|thumb|A view of the library, forecourt and lawns from Swanston Street]] In 1853 the decision to build a state library was the idea of the [[Governor of Victoria|Lieutenant-Governor]] [[Charles La Trobe]] and [[Redmond Barry|Sir Redmond Barry]]. A competition was held to choose a person to design the new building; local [[architect]] [[Joseph Reed (architect)|Joseph Reed]], who later designed the [[Melbourne Town Hall]] and the [[Royal Exhibition Building]], won the competition. On 3 July 1854, the new Governor, [[Charles Hotham|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 [[Trustee]]s. [[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. [[wikt:temporary|Temporary]] buildings built in 1866 for the [[Intercolonial Exhibition (1866)|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