The sound of quiet conversations and clicking of keyboards echo throughout the La Trobe Reading Room. Light filters through the glass dome as tourists stop to take photos, while others sit among the long wooden desks, scrolling through laptops, reading books or just escaping the noise of the city.
Hundreds of different stories lie within Melbourne’s State Library every day. What was once primarily a place for research and books has evolved into a shared space shaped by the people inside it.
Director of Collections and Chief Librarian at the State Library of Victoria, Roxanne Missingham, has seen the transformation first-hand.
“When I was growing up, I would think of the State Library as the place for books,” she tells upstart. “But we’ve got an extraordinary range of things, and you never know how quirky they can be.”
“I think one of the most important roles the library has is that we try and collect [people’s] stories.”
The State Library is one of Victoria’s founding institutions and Australia’s oldest public library. Established in 1854, it was created as “the people’s university”, offering free access to books at a time when education was inaccessible to much of the population.
More than 170 years later, the building has changed alongside technology and shifted its public use. Beyond the shelves of books, the library is a cultural hub for community, holding exhibition spaces, free public computers and internet access. Children can play and learn in the Pauline Gandel Children’s Quarter. Emerging entrepreneurs use the Ideas Quarter as guidance for new businesses and to create new projects. Students fill study spaces with laptops as tourists wander through the Cowen Gallery.
While modern technology fills much of the building, traces of its earlier eras remain. Carefully organised filing cabinets hold letters, tapes and newspaper archives dating back almost 200 years. Original correspondence from prominent colonial figures, including James Cook and John Batman, sit among them.
More than 2 million physical books are available, though some collections are carefully protected rather than freely browsable. Old law reports and statute books sit on viewing platforms with locked doors and hidden keys, visible but unreachable without permission. The care given to these collections brings value to these physical libraries, even in an increasingly digital world.
“We’ve been through times when people have talked about the death of the book, the death of the library and [how] everyone will be doing everything online,” Missingham says. “What fascinates me is that visitation has never been higher”.
Across 2024 and 2025, more than 2.8 million people visited the library. Beneath the La Trobe Reading Room’s dome students occupy long wooden desks using the free Wi-Fi, tourists gather with cameras pointed upward at one of Melbourne’s most recognisable interiors.
Inside, the library has hosted events for the International Comedy Festival, transformed into a nightclub and has held monthly speed dating nights. Outside, its steps are a meeting point for protestors, while the front lawns are scattered with people sharing their lunch with birds and despite being delegated as a “no skating area” skateboarders are seen showing off their talents.
“Melbourne’s an absolutely fascinating place because it’s so rich and there’s so much variety,” Missingham says. “Cultural institutions connect people through different bright and vibrant experiences.”
Even for those not studying, libraries can become a refuge during difficult moments. Missingham recalls an interaction from her time as a reference librarian at the National Library of Australia.
A woman, whose mother was being medically repatriated from America came searching for information about her illness.
“She was desperately keen to find as much as she could … to be able to support the family when they were back in Australia,” she says.
“The National Library is open, she can come in, and she can find materials that will help her in a time of incredible personal need.”
Missingham appreciates the library’s ability to preserve historical records in their original format while also making them digitally accessible.
“There’s nothing like having access to all that physical material and being part of a community that’s brought together in a great place that is inspiring,” she says.
In an overwhelmingly digital world, she believes the library still remains relevant because it allows modern technologies to coexist alongside the old.
“I’m just constantly blown away by the fact that we have such a diverse community, who are loving every minute of engagement with us and … with themselves,” she says.
Article: Ainslie Munro-Lawrence, Lily Goodison, Monique Giordano and Milla Webster.
Photo: All photos taken by authors.
