State Library of Queensland

State Library of Queensland
Exterior of State Library
General information
Location	Kurilpa Point, South Bank, Brisbane
Address	Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Bank, South Brisbane, Queensland
Coordinates	27°28′16″S 153°01′06″E / 27.471087°S 153.018281°E / -27.471087; 153.018281Coordinates: 27°28′16″S 153°01′06″E / 27.471087°S 153.018281°E / -27.471087; 153.018281
Inaugurated	25 November 2006
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Donovan Hill, Peddle Thorp

The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contains a significant portion of Queensland's documentary heritage, major reference and research collections, and is an advocate of and partner with public libraries across Queensland. The library is at Kurilpa Point, within the Queensland Cultural Centre on the Brisbane River at South Bank.

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),^[1] 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.

The old State Library with extension, built in the late 1950s

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 and currently Janette Wright.

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.^[2]

The State Library's current strategic vision is to enrich the lives of Queenslanders through creatively engaging people with information, knowledge and community.^[3]

In early 2011, the library donated 50,000 pictures to Wikimedia Commons.^[4]

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^[5] 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.^[6]

Services

• Access to collections, including access to 50,000 Copyright-free Queensland images through Wikimedia Commons^[7]
• Provides books and other resource material to public libraries throughout Queensland.
• Specialist services to public libraries in a number of areas, including services to young people and multicultural communities.
• Public programs and exhibitions, including exhibition loans to schools, museums and other community organisations.
• Outreach programs in reference, research, information literacy, Internet training and digitisation throughout Queensland for public library staff and the general community.
• Library services to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders including the establishment of Indigenous Knowledge Centres primarily in Cape York and Torres Strait regions and increasing the employment and training opportunities for Indigenous peoples in the library industry.
• A digital culture centre called The Edge, for young people.^[8]
• A free coworking space, the Business Studio, supports startups, entrepreneurs and small business.^[9]

Tours

Free guided tours of the building are available.^[10] In 2010, a total of 3730 school students participated in a tour.^[11]

Architecture

Northern end of the State Library of Queensland

Interior of the State Library

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.

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)^[12] and the RAIA Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture, 2007.^[13]

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

• Queensland Memory
• Discovery
• Information Communications and Technology Services

Regional Access and Public Libraries

• Literacy and Young People
• Public Library Development
• Regional Partnerships
• SLQ Cairns

Engagement and Partnerships

• Indigenous Services
• Visitor Experience
• Learning and Participation
• The Edge
• Asia Pacific Design Library
• Business Studio
• Government Research and Information Library

Corporate Services

• Finance, Facilities & Administration
• HR Consultancy
• Strategic Reporting
• People and Planning

Office of the State Librarian

• Communications
• Queensland Library Foundation

See also

• SLQ donation of images to Wikimedia Commons in December 2010

References

• Walker, Paul. Millennium Library Architecture Australia Vol 96 No 2 Mar/Apr 2007 pp 64–73

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to State Library of Queensland.

• Official website
• SLQ Blogs
• Family History Nnub
• Music Queensland – tune in to scores of musical heritage
• Timelapse videos of building redevelopment – Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
• Libraries Act 1988 (Queensland)