Blogpost 6

I have saved the best to last... Perhaps biased as I feel my connection with the State Library has supported me for many an hour during my diploma studies. The presence SLV holds is one of encouragement, providing writers and scholars an escape from the overwhelm of life, to unravel and focus. Having just returned from overseas I wanted to focus on the reading rooms with a special mention to my old friend Petrus Spronk, whose 'Architectural Fragment' adds a nostalgic element to times gone by.

 STATE LIBRARY VICTORIA

State Library Post 1992 including 'Architectural Fragment'

The State Library, once known as Melbourne Public Library was established in 1854. Envisioned as 'the people’s university' by Sir Redmond Barry (founder).

The Library was one of the first free public libraries in the world and now features many great collections, built over the years through careful acquisition and generous donations.


Remaining fundamentally the same, SLV provides its users with ready access to a continually expanding world of knowledge. Visitors to the Swanston Street building now number more than 1.5 million annually, and visits to their website have reached close to six million.


Redmond Barry Reading Room is home to the Library's general nonfiction collection and opened in 2004 following a total refurbishment. The room is bordered by several special collection rooms and the Journals & Magazines Reading Room.

Redmond Barry Reading Room

Heritage Collections Reading Room - The Library's collection of architectural drawings, correspondence files and specifications are held in storage and can be viewed by appointment in the Heritage Collections Reading Room. This is the official reading room where the Library's heritage materials are consulted and read. Rare, fragile and historically significant, these materials can only be viewed under supervision. They include a range of manuscripts, ephemera, newspapers, pictures, maps and rare books which have been retrieved from storage and brought to the reading room at pre-arranged times.  

Heritage Collections Reading Room

At the La Trobe Reading Room, you'll see the best-known and most impressive architectural feature of the Library – the great reading room and its dome. Opening in 1913, this octagonal building is six stories high and can house 32,000 books and 320 readers at its desks.
Known as the Domed Reading Room until it was reopened in 2003 after refurbishment, the building is an architectural feat. When it opened in 1913, the enormous reinforced-concrete structure was the largest in the world.
The upper galleries were originally serviced by spiral, metal staircases. These staircases can still be seen, but access to the galleries is now by lift.

La Trobe Reading Room - photo Tahnia Smith

My friend Petrus Spronk was commissioned to create the Architectural Fragment in 1992. Please follow the link under picture for a more detail.

The Story of the Architectural Fragment

Being a lover of Persian poetry from Hafiz to Rumi, I am yet to see the spectacular LOVE AND DEVOTION - from Persia and Beyond exhibition currently at SLV. I imagine this event to expose the richness and complexity of the human heart involving the depths of spirituality.

The marriage of Yusuf and Zulaykha, from Jami, Yusuf u Zulaykha, 1595 Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

REFERENCES

State Library of Victoria 2012, Explore our heritage architecture 2012, State Library of Victoria, viewed 23 May 2012, <http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/visit/things-see-do/explore-our-heritage-architecture>.

State Library of Victoria 2012, History of the Library 2012, State Library of Victoria, viewed 23 May 2012, <http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about-us/history-library>.

Serle, G 1970, 'State Library Building', The La Trobe Journal, no. 6, pp. 31-35, State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Journal, viewed 23 May 2012.