State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, which draws its powers from the Libraries Act 1988. State Library is responsible for collecting and preserving a comprehensive collection of Queensland's cultural and documentary heritage, providing free access to information for all Queenslanders and for the advancement of public libraries across the state. 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),John Oxley Library . State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 14 June 2019. named for the explorer John Oxley, opened as a centre for research and study relating specifically to Queensland. The Libraries Act 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.
In March 1947, James L. Stapleton was appointed Queensland's first State Librarian. Stapleton advocated for a new building for the library and that library services should be free to the public.
In 1971, the "Public Library" became the "State Library". The following year, the Public Library Service was established to liaise with Queensland local governments regarding their public libraries; a subsidy for employing qualified staff in public libraries was also established. A few years later the Country Lending Service was established to provide book exchange and other services to public libraries in Queensland's smaller local government areas. Under the new name of Rural Libraries Queensland, the service is still going strong today.
In 1988, the State Library relocated from the old State Library building in William Street in the Brisbane CBD to its present location in the Queensland Cultural Centre in South Brisbane.
In 2003, the State Library began a new mission of establishing Indigenous Knowledge Centres (IKCs) in the Cape York and Torres Strait areas. There is now a network of 22 IKCs in remote and regional communities: across Cape York, the islands of the Torres Strait, Central Queensland and at Cherbourg in South East Queensland.Indigenous Knowledge Centres . State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
Between 2006 and 2009, the library was extensively renovated both internally and externally, including the addition of a fifth floor, a large addition facing the river, and a new entrance. In 2010, the neighbouring riverside building housing the Fountain Room restaurant and an auditorium became part of the library and following some modifications was redesignated as "The Edge" and used to hold workshops, creative activities, events and exhibitions.
In early 2011, the library donated 50,000 pictures to Wikimedia Commons.
In 2022 State Library celebrated its 120th birthday. Architecture
The 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 by Lindsay Edward 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 year of Brisbane's World Expo 88, 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, on the site of the former St Helen's Methodist Hospital, South Brisbane. This new building, a C-shaped edifice of straight-faced concrete and glass built around a mature Poinciana tree overlooking the Brisbane River, was the work of architectural firm, Robin Gibson and Partners, and marked the completion of Gibson's ambitious Queensland Cultural Centre project.
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.
This major redevelopment was the work of Brisbane-based architecture firms Donovan Hill and Peddle Thorp. Their work earned them several awards: the RAIA Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture, 2007 (award for best public building in Australia);2007 RAIA National Architecture Awards: Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture: State Library of Queensland Architecture Australia Vol 96 No 6 Nov/Dec 2007 pp 74–75 the RAIA Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture, 2007;2007 RAIA National Architecture Awards: Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture: Architecture Australia Vol 96 No 6 Nov/Dec 2007 pp 86–87 the RAIA Queensland Architecture Award for Brisbane Building of the Year 2007; the RAIA FDG Stanley Award for Public Buildings Architecture 2007; and the AIB Queensland Award for Project of the Year + Sustainability Commendation, 2007.
The Donovan Hill/Peddle Thorp additions transformed the State Library building, reconfiguring the entrance, adding another level and doubling its size with an additional 12,000 sqm of new space. Although the elements of the original Gibson scheme were preserved in the renovation, the building was deemed too altered to be included in the 2015 State Heritage Listing of the Cultural Centre.
The State Library building has since been described as an "open, generous knowledge place", and one of Australia's "most cherished public living rooms".
The building faces the Brisbane River and overlooks Stanley Place between the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
Collection and services State Library holds general collections, including books, journals and magazines, newspapers, audio-visual 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.
State Library's collection holds 7 significant collections, recognised for their importance by UNESCO's Australian Memory of the World Register:
Margaret Lawrie Collection of Torres Strait Islands, 1964–1998 Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party, 1892 The Convict Records of Queensland, 1825–1842 James Tyson Papers, 1834–1965 Anzac Day Commemoration Committee, 1916–1922 The Johnstone Gallery Archive, 1948–1992 Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM Children's Art Archive 1986–2016; 2020
State Library holds a number of significant collections of material documenting Queensland history;
Queensland election-related material, including websites, posters, flyers and how-to-vote cards.; Frank and Eunice Corley House Photographs Collection, which contained more than 60,000 photographs of Brisbane suburbia; Richard Stringer Architectural Photography Archive, includes over 63,000 photographic negatives and approximately 100,000 digital images, providing a substantial documentary record of Queensland's built heritage from 1967 to 2021.
Services Access to collections, including access to 50,000 copyright-free Queensland images through Wikimedia Commons 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 First Nations peoples in the library sector. A digital makerspace called The Edge. kuril dhagun Indigenous Knowledge Centre The Corner, an activities area for children under 8, their parents, carers, educators and friends. a free 'Ask a Librarian' enquiry service
Exhibitions The library has hosted a number of prominent exhibitions, including: 100 not out: a century of Queensland sporting memories (3 August - 17 November 2002) A Few of our Favourite Things (25 November 2006 – 11 March 2007) Bold but Faithful: John Oxley Library at work (4 April - 11 October 2009) Transforming Tindale (6 September 2012 – 9 December 2012) Hot Modernism (9 July – 12 October 2014) Islands: hidden histories from Queensland Islands (30 Jun 2018 – 27 January 2019) Home: A Suburban Obsession (7 December 2018 – 14 July 2019) Plantation Voices (16 February - 8 September 2019) Legacy: Reflections on Mabo (28 May 2022 – 9 October 2022) Working Country (24 June 2023 – 28 January 2024) Purpose Built: Architecture for a better tomorrow (2 September 2023 – 14 April 2024) Brisbane Portrait Prize (3 August 2024 – 10 November 2024) Neon (6 December 2024 – 9 February 2025) All Shades: First Nations Portraiture (May 2025) The unbroken spirit of the Kalkadoons (22 March – 24 August 2025)
Tours Free guided tours of the building are available.
Rural Libraries Queensland Rural Libraries Queensland (formerly the Country Library Service) is a collaboration between State Library of Queensland and approximately 30 of the local government councils to provide library libraries to rural communities.
National edeposit (NED) As a member library of National and State Libraries Australia, the organisation collaborated on the creation of the National edeposit (NED) system, which enables publishers from all over Australia to upload electronic publications as per the 2016 amendment to the Copyright Act 1968 and other regional legislation relating to legal deposit, and makes these publications publicly accessible online (depending on access conditions) from anywhere via Trove.
Governance and structure State Library of Queensland is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, which draws its powers from the Libraries Act 1988.
State librarians
The state librarian is also the chief executive officer of the Library. The role has been held by the following people:
James L. Stapleton, 1947–1970, the longest-serving state librarian Sydney Lawrence (Lawrie) Ryan 1970–1988 Des Stephens, 1988–2001 Lea Giles-Peters, 2001–2011, the first woman to be appointed to the position Janette Wright, 2012–2015 Vicki McDonald AM FALIA, 2016–present Corporate information:https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/about/corporate-information
Awards Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame In 2009 State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Library Foundation and QUT Business School at Queensland University of Technology collaborated to establish the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame initiative. The QBLHOF recognises outstanding contributions made by organisations, companies and individuals to develop the Queensland economy and society, both contemporary and historical. A governing committee determines a list of inductees based on a set of criteria including: Sustained leadership Major financial contribution Pioneering Outstanding contribution Achievement of iconic status