La Trobe Reading Room
The La Trobe Reading Room forms the central chamber of the State Library of Victoria and, at 34.75 metres in diameter and height, is the building's most spectacular architectural feature. Designed by architects Bates, Peebles and Smart, the domed, sky-lit structure was intended to emulate London's British Museum Library and Washington's Library of Congress. It was opened in 1913 to commemorate the library's jubilee and was considered the largest reinforced concrete dome in the world.Victoria's first Lieutenant-Governor, Charles Joseph La Trobe, was one of the founders of the library (originally called the Melbourne Public Library). He and Judge Redmond Barry, along with politician Hugh Eardley Childers, saw the foundation stone of the original building, designed by celebrated colonial architect Joseph Reed, laid in 1854.
The La Trobe Reading Room now houses the Library's extensive Australiana collection, featuring more than 150,000 items relating to Victoria s cultural and social history. It includes reference books, manuscripts, periodicals, pictures, heritage materials, music, rare books, maps and electronic resources. They fill shelves running around and within the internal perimeter. Custom-built Queensland silky oak desks radiate from the centre of the room providing a romantic space in which to read and study.
Location: 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne
