Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Marcus Clarke, author of the great convict novel, ‘For the Term of His Natural Life’, witty and provocative journalist, bohemian, and Librarian at our Library fitted much into his eventful but short life.
In 1867 Australia hosted our first Royal visitor. Prince Alfred toured the country, and toured our Library! It was a tumultuous time. Sectarian murders, riots, tragedy and finally an attempted assassination punctuated the Prince’s journey. His resilience in the face of these events won him great respect across the Australian colonies.
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
For most of its history, the Library was closed on Sundays. The battle to open was a hotly contested issue, not just at the Library, but all over Melbourne.
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
In Melbourne’s early colonial days there were few places where women could go to seek knowledge. A dedicated section of the newly established Melbourne Public Library was one of them.
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
It’s not every day that you see an aeroplane parked outside the Library, but this was the sight that greeted Victorians when they came to visit in 1953.
Our stories, People & professions:
In 1887, someone was stealing the State Library soap- or was it ‘someones’?
