Track 2: Birth of the Library

London bookseller Guillaume was the Library's supplier of books, and each consignment sent to Melbourne was accompanied by a printed list. These inventories were published as small pamphlets and listed the books alphabetically by author and title. On display here is the catalogue of the first consignment of books to the Library. Their primary purpose was to ensure that the Library received all the books listed and for which it was paying. In the early years of the Library, books were classified according to subject. Redmond Barry also developed a sophisticated colour-coding scheme for the Library's bindings, designed for efficient searching and re-shelving. This served the Library well until the adoption of the Dewey Decimal Classification system in 1910.

The first comprehensive Library catalogue was published in the early 1860s. Barry devoted a great deal of thought and care to its production, in particular the typographical organisation of the bibliographic entries is exemplary, and the book is decorated throughout with more than 70 woodcut engravings after designs by artist and landscape architect, Edward La Trobe Bateman. Barry's interest in the cultural advancement of Victoria through the development of the Library, the Gallery and also the University of Melbourne has seen him referred to as the 'Maecenas of Victoria'. It was his understanding of the educative role played by our cultural institutions that has helped to build the pre-eminent literary and historical public collections we all now enjoy.

Though tripling in size since its 1854 opening, by the late nineteenth century a lack of storage for the Library's growing collection prompted construction of the Domed Reading Room. The Dome is modeled on the British Museum and the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Construction began in 1909 and opened to great acclaim in November 1913.