on the same day of 3 july 1854, the recently inaugurated governor sir charles hotham laid the foundation stone of both the new library complex and the university of melbourne. the library’s the 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.