State Library a palace of knowledge, but watch out for the ‘shusher’

The State Library Victoria has always been known as the palace of knowledge. When it first opened its doors in 1856, it boasted an amazing 8000 books. Now there are more than two million.

Each year, the two-storey Victorian monolith in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD has more than a million visitors.

Designed by eminent architect Joseph Reed – one of Melbourne’s oldest practices which morphed into Bates Smart – the library was more recently “reworked” by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen.

While the original building is best described as “Victorian period academic classical” in its style, it is the magnificent octagonal-shaped dome – added in 1913 – that makes this treasured heritage-listed building such a major jewel in Melbourne’s crown.

“The dome originally had a glass ceiling, but it continually leaked, allowing some ornate plasterwork to crumble,” says Tim Hogan, principal librarian, Victorian and Australian collections. He retells a story from library folklore of a man being knocked out by one of these falling fragments in 1917, and jostling with the chief librarian, who was trying to resuscitate him.

“Less serious breakages caused the dome to be enclosed with a copper roof from the late 1950s, until being removed again in the early naughties, creating a dark and sombre ambience,” Hogan says.

When Queens Hall – now the front portion of the library – first opened, its frontage was only half its current size. However, a southern wing was added in 1859 and, in 1864, a further northern wing. A classical Greek-style portico was built in 1870.

Hogan says the library complex now features 22 interconnected buildings on the corner of La Trobe and Swanston streets, with numerous reading rooms, galleries and offices for staff.