Australian houses and European migration: architects, designers and builders.
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
See some of the contribution of European migrants to architecture, design and home-making in Melbourne.
Victorian history
Celebrating 150 years of public education
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
This year marks the 150th anniversary of public education in Victoria, and a chance to reflect on our long-held belief that every child deserves a high-quality education, regardless of their background.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lina Bryans & Melbourne’s modernist art scene
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
Discover the work of artist Lina Bryans and the modernist art scene in Melbourne.
‘Iceberg’ Irvine and the Kyabram Movement
Our stories, Victorian history:
In late 1901, locals in Kyabram found a common cause in government extravagance. Politician William ‘Iceberg’ Irvine saw an opportunity in aligning with the Kyabram Movement.
Riverside delights on the Yarra
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Ratty, Wind in the Willows. A relic of a time when much of early Melbourne’s leisure and recreational activity revolved around the Birrarung | Yarra river, the Studley Park boathouse is the oldest continually operating boathouse on the Yarra, possibly the oldest in Victoria.
