State Library of Queensland

History

The Brisbane Public Library was established by the government of the Colony of Queensland in 1896, and was renamed the Public Library of Queensland in 1898. The library was opened to the public in 1902.

In 1934, the Oxley Memorial Library (now the John Oxley Library), and named for the explorer John Oxley, opened as a centre for research and study relating specifically to Queensland. The Libraries Act of 1943 established the Library Board of Queensland to manage the Public Library of Queensland; three years later, under the terms of The Oxley Memorial Library of Queensland Act, it took over management of the Oxley Memorial Library as well.

A year after that, James L. Stapleton was appointed Queensland's first State Librarian. He remains the longest-serving CEO, and has been followed by four others, including Sydney Lawrence (Lawrie) Ryan from 1970 to 1988, Des Stephens from 1988 to 2001, Lea Giles-Peters from 2001 to 2011, Janette Wright, from 2012-2015 and from 2016, Vicki McDonald.

In 1971, the "Public Library" became the "State Library." The following year, the Public Library Service was established to liaise with Queensland local authorities regarding their public libraries; a subsidy for employing qualified staff in public libraries was also established. A few years later the Country Lending Service (CLS) was established to provide book exchange and other services to public libraries in Queensland's smaller local government areas. The CLS is still going strong today, administered by the State Library's Public and Indigenous Library Services program.

In 2003, the State Library began a new mission of establishing Indigenous Knowledge Centres (IKCs) in the Cape York and Torres Strait regions. There is now a network of 22 IKCs in remote and regional communities: across Cape York, the Northern Peninsula. Area, the islands of the Torres Strait, Central Queensland and at Cherbourg in South East Queensland.

The State Library's current strategic vision is to enrich the lives of Queenslanders through creatively engaging people with information, knowledge and community.

In early 2011, the library donated 50,000 pictures to Wikimedia Commons.

Collection and services

The library holds general collections, including books, journals and magazines, newspapers, audiovisual items, family history, maps, music, ephemera, Internet and electronic resources. There are research collections and services – including the John Oxley Library and the Australian Library of Art, which includes the James Hardie Library of Australian Fine Arts.

The library is home to two UNESCO Memory of the World significant collections, Labour Party Manifesto and the Margaret Lawrie collection of Torres Strait Islands material.

The library holds a collection of Queensland election-related material, including websites, posters, flyers and how-to-vote cards.

Services

Tours

Free guided tours of the building are available. In 2010, a total of 3730 school students participated in a tour.

Architecture

The then-Brisbane Public Library moved into the Old State Library Building in William Street, Brisbane in 1899. This building had formerly been occupied by the Queensland Museum.

The Library originally shared accommodation in the building with an art gallery. In the late 1950s, an extension, with a distinctive tiled mural on the exterior, was built onto the building to provide more space. The mural was the winning design in a national competition held in 1958.

In 1988, the State Library of Queensland moved to a new home within the Queensland Cultural Centre at South Bank, near the Queensland Museum and the original Queensland Art Gallery.

In 2004, work began on the Millennium Library Project - a major redevelopment of the existing State Library building. After three years of extensive redevelopment, the South Bank building officially re-opened on 25 November 2006 as "a new cultural and knowledge destination" and a fitting showcase for the collections. New services include the kuril dhagun Indigenous Knowledge Centre, and The Corner, an activities area for children under 8, their parents, carers, educators and friends.

The newly-redeveloped building was designed by Brisbane-based architecture firms Donovan Hill and Peddle Thorp. Their work earned them the prestigious RAIA Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture, 2007 (award for best public building in Australia) and the RAIA Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture, 2007.

The building overlooks Stanley Place between the Queensland Art Gallery and the new Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.

Governance

The State Library of Queensland is governed by the Library Board of Queensland and comprises the following program units:

Content Development

Regional Access and Public Libraries

Engagement and Partnerships

Corporate Services

Office of the State Librarian