EBooks for Family Historians

EBooks for Family Historians

March 2, 2020

Family matters:

Did you know that the State Library provides access to over 16,000 eBooks on a wide range of topics?  Our eBooks can be accessed by anyone within the Library and,… Read More ›

Original writing box containing correspondence, from the Syme Family Papers collection

A lesser known story of the Syme family

February 5, 2020

Collection Care, People & professions, Preservation, Such was life:

Found within the family papers of The Age editor-in-chief David Syme, are a set of letters that give a small insight into the women of the Syme family.

Back to the future in Rare Books

Back to the future in Rare Books

January 29, 2020

Collection:

State Library Victoria’s Rare Books Cataloguer Derrick Moors uncovered a fascinating item recently while working on the Wallace Kirsop Collection, a generous gift by one of this library’s greatest supporters.… Read More ›

Albert Ullin OAM (1930-2018)

Albert Ullin OAM (1930-2018)

January 17, 2020

Our stories:

In 1960 Albert Ullin founded the first children’s bookshop in Melbourne and named it the Little Bookroom. This tiny shop in the Metropole Arcade, followed by later expansions into other… Read More ›

The collar king

The collar king

January 15, 2020

People & professions, Such was life, War:

A chance find in an opportunity shop sets the finder on the trail of Melbourne’s former ‘Collar King’.

Charmaine Matyson, RIP 1986-2019

Charmaine Matyson, RIP 1986-2019

December 25, 2019

Rare Books & Arts:

State Library Victoria, and specifically the History of the Book and Arts Collections here, lost a rare treasure earlier this month. On the night of Sunday 8th December 2019, volunteer… Read More ›

New Sights & Sounds : Summer highlights

New Sights & Sounds : Summer highlights

December 19, 2019

classical music, country music, Dance, Film, jazz, Music, Musicals, Popular music, Rare Books & Arts, rock:

Some great new arrivals for Summer, include recent releases and acquisitions in popular, rock and country music, musical theatre, jazz, ballet, classical and film music on CD, DVD and Blu-Ray. … Read More ›

‘I’m the boy that brings the news, so a Christmas box I won’t refuse.’

‘I’m the boy that brings the news, so a Christmas box I won’t refuse.’

December 13, 2019

People & professions, Social life & customs, Such was life:

Don’t forget the postie, milkman and garbo!

The Chief Librarian’s casting vote

The Chief Librarian’s casting vote

November 26, 2019

People & professions, Such was life:

It is quite a tenuous connection but could our Library claim some credit for the exploration of the Antarctic?

Cataloguing detective work, exploring the SLV ‘unknowns’

Cataloguing detective work, exploring the SLV ‘unknowns’

October 30, 2019

Collection, Such was life:

Can you help us identify people and places in our digitised collections?

Such was life

Online Collection Spotlight: Trench journals and unit magazines of the First World War.

Online Collection Spotlight: Trench journals and unit magazines of the First World War.

April 20, 2026 0 comments

This Online Collection Spotlight examines WWI trench journals created by units from several combatant nation between 1914 and 1919. Produced in camps and battle zones, these handmade publications reveal humour, creativity, and resilience through poems, sketches, notes and stories.

Arts

Photographic portrait by Richard Beck of Ailsa O’Connor (1921-1980), political activist, painter, sculptor, author and teacher.

Ailsa O’Connor: highlights of a life of socialist activism, feminism and art

March 23, 2026 9 comments

Ailsa O’Connor (1921-1980) was a political activist, painter, sculptor, author and teacher. Throughout her art career she was a member of the Communist Party and associated with the Socialist Realist Group.