State Library Melbourne Reading room

Designed to emulate the British Museum in London and the Library of Congress in Washington, the octagonal building consists of a basement, ground floor, first floor reading room and four gallery levels.

Located in the library is the La Trobe reading room. Built in 1913, the magnificent octagonal domed reading room is six storeys high and can house 32,000 books and 320 readers at its desks. When it was built, the enormous reinforced-concrete structure was the largest in the world. Known as the Domed Reading Room until it was refurbished and reopened in 2003, the building is an architectural feat.

The upper galleries were originally serviced by spiral metal staircases, which can still be seen in the corners of the room. Levels 4 and 5 house some permanent interesting and unusual exhibitions.

The Dome is 114 feet in diameter and 114 feet high. The original skylights in the Dome were covered in copper sheathing in 1959 because of water leakage problems.

Renovations to the Domed Reading Room commenced in 1999 as part of the Library’s major redevelopment program. It was reopened in July 2003, renamed as the La Trobe Reading Room. It now houses the Library’s Australiana collection

The State Library of Victoria is the custodian of a rich collection of historical and contemporary material.