Evolution of the people’s forecourt
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
State Library Victoria was not always a popular venue for rallies, protests and public speakers in the Melbourne CBD. So when did it become the norm?
Ask a librarian
The Collected Works bookshop: Melbourne’s hidden treasure
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
For years, writers from around Australia and across the globe, made beelines to Melbourne’s ‘hidden treasure,’ the Collected Works Bookshop in the Nicholas Building. Entering it felt like reaching ‘heaven,’ with Kris and Loretta Hemensley its warm, generous hosts.
Autumn delights: Trial databases on travel, trailblazers and more!
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Collections:
From new content in the Food and Drink in History database to three new databases available on trial, there’s plenty to discover online this Autumn. Trial databases cover empire studies, travel adventures of women in the 19th and 20th centuries, and trailblazing female forerunners in history. Explore and share your feedback!
Humans of Melbourne, 1930s style
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories, Victorian history:
The Library holds a set of images with a particularly intriguing name – Street characters: a series of photographs taken of Melbourne street personalities, about 1930. They are compelling snapshots of the social fabric of Melbourne at that time, images of characters long gone, likely long forgotten, their stories spent.
Searching through time: Melbourne newspaper card indexes
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Research tips:
The newspaper card indexes at State Library Victoria can provide vital clues when researching Melbourne’s not so distant past.
Online Collection Spotlight: Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:
The women’s movement, the advent of television, rock and roll, the gay rights movement, the Vietnam War: explore photographs and documents bringing the turbulent 50s, 60s and 70s to life.
Edna Walling: wild at heart
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
Edna Walling was a trailblazing Australian garden designer of the 20th century. Her passion, uncompromising vision and way with words changed the way we think about our gardens.
The Gerritsen Collection & Dr Aletta H. Jacobs: a pioneer of women’s history & visionary
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:
There are many names in the history of feminism and women’s rights but, unlike Mary Wollstonecraft, Vida Goldstein or Emmeline Pankhurst, the name Dr. Aletta. H. Jacobs (1854-1929) is little known, even though many of her papers have been collected by UNESCO in their Memory of the World archive.
A culinary archive: discovering Stephanie’s
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
The 1970s and 80s saw a dramatic change in Melbourne’s restaurant scene. One of the most influential restaurants of this period was Stephanie Alexander’s restaurant, Stephanie’s. Through menus, photographs, recipes, notebooks and more, the Stephanie Alexander collection provides a taste of what it was like to eat at Stephanie’s in its heyday.
World Poetry Day
Collection, Collection spotlights, Events, Exhibitions:
If you listen to a poem, in any language, you understand it. Why?! Because it speaks the universal language of human emotion.
