State Library of Victoria

The State Library of Victoria sits on Swanston Street in the heart of the CBD and has anchored Melbourne's intellectual life since 1856, making it one of the oldest public libraries in the world and the oldest in Australia. The building grew over eight decades of construction and contains several distinct rooms and galleries, including the magnificent La Trobe Reading Room, the Cowen Gallery, and the Keith Murdoch Reading Room.

Entry is free, and the library's temporary exhibitions are consistently excellent — covering Australian history, literature, photography, and design. The forecourt is a popular gathering place for students and workers, with large chess sets on the ground. The collection includes first editions, rare manuscripts, and photographs documenting Victoria's history from before European settlement to the present.

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A story
The library's La Trobe Reading Room is one of the great interior spaces in Australia. The octagonal room rises through six levels under a dome 34 metres high, with reading desks arranged in concentric circles below the light flooding through the dome's glass panels. When it was completed in 1913, it was the largest reinforced concrete dome in the world. Ned Kelly's original armour is displayed in the foyer — the library holds one of the largest collections of Kelly-related material anywhere.