The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the
Perth Cultural Centre
The Perth Cultural Centre is an area of central Perth, Western Australia, near the James Street Mall.
It is home to a number of cultural institutions including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum, State Library of ...
in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia
Department of Culture and the Arts
The Department of Culture and the Arts was part of the Government of Western Australia.
Preceding authorities
The earlier governmental agencies or authorities concerning the arts were advisory boards or councils; it was not until 1986 that the ...
, and facilitated by the Library Board of Western Australia.
The State Library has particular responsibility for collecting, preserving and digitising Western Australia's heritage materials. The
Battye Library of West Australian History is the section of the Library dedicated to West Australian historical materials.
History
In 1886, the
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...
allocated £5000 to be spent in celebrations for
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
's
golden jubilee
A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...
. Of this, it was decided that £3000 would be used to establish a free public library in Perth. A foundation stone was laid at a site in
St Georges Terrace
St Georges Terrace (colloquially known as "The Terrace") is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial road through the central business district.
Its western e ...
in 1887, however due to the lack of funds this site was not built upon. Instead, books to the value of £1000 were ordered from England, and the library found temporary accommodation in a building opposite the site. The Victoria Public Library, named in honour of Queen Victoria, opened on 26 January 1889. The first managers of the library were the clerks to the management committee, W.C. Townsend and then Basil Porter. The first Chief Librarian,
James Sykes Battye
James Sykes Battye (1871–1954) was an Australian librarian who was the first chief librarian of the Victoria Public Library in Perth, Western Australia. He was a leading historian, librarian and public figure in Western Australian and also s ...
, was appointed in 1894.
![1897_plaque_for_the_Victoria_Public_Library](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/1897_plaque_for_the_Victoria_Public_Library.jpg)
By 1896, construction had begun on a site at the corner of
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
and
Beaufort Beaufort may refer to:
People and titles
* Beaufort (surname)
* House of Beaufort, English nobility
* Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England
* Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility
Places Polar regions ...
Streets, and in 1897 the library moved to the new James Street site.
In 1904, the word 'Victoria' was removed from the name of the library, which then became known as the Public Library of Western Australia.
A new addition to the site was opened in 1913. It was called
Hackett Hall
Hackett Hall is a heritage listed building, previously housing part of the State Library of Western Australia. It is now a part of the new WA Museum Boola Bardip complex in the Perth Cultural Centre, in Western Australia. The name of the Hall i ...
after
Sir John Winthrop Hackett, the President of the Trustees of the Library, Museum and Art Gallery. The library shared this building with the
Art Gallery
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
and
Museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
, and the Western Australian Museum still occupies the building today.
The Library Board of Western Australia was established with the passing of the ''Library Board of Western Australia Act 1951'', appointing the first State Librarian,
F. A. (Ali) Sharr. The purpose of the Board was to assist local authorities in establishing free public libraries throughout the state, and work to co-ordinating those libraries as a statewide system. However, James Battye successfully resisted having the Board take over control of the Public Library of Western Australia. It was only after Battye died in office in 1954 that the Library Board gained control of the library. It was closed for a year for renovations, then reopened in 1956 as the State Library of Western Australia. This included a section dedicated to collecting Western Australian material – the
J.S. Battye Library of West Australian History and State Archives.
Between 1964 and 2002 the organisation was known as the Library and Information Service of Western Australia. This reflected the Library Board's broader operations beyond the walls of the library, particularly in encouraging the development of public library services throughout the state. In July 2002, the library once again became known as the State Library of Western Australia.
By the late 1970s, the library had grown sufficiently that staff were working from ten different sites and annexes in the city. Planning was undertaken for a new building as part of the development of the Perth Cultural Centre. In 1985 the library's current home, the
Alexander Library Building
The Alexander Library Building, is located in the Cultural Centre of Perth, Western Australia.
It was named after Western Australian historian and former member of the Library Board, Fred Alexander.
It houses the State Library of Western Aust ...
, was opened. It is named after
Professor Fred Alexander, the first chairman of the Library Board of Western Australia.
The State Archives (later called the Public Records Office) was established as a separate unit in 1988, and the
State Records Office of Western Australia
The State Records Office of Western Australia (SRO) is the Western Australian government authority with responsibility for identifying, managing, preserving and providing access to the state's archives. The SRO also delivers best-practice records ...
was created as a separate entity to the library in 2000 with the passing of the ''State Records Act 2000''. Responsibility for the collection and management of public records was transferred to SRO, although it remains co-located with the State Library in the Alexander Library Building.
Collections and services
The State Library's operations fall into four main areas – collecting and preserving Western Australia's documentary heritage, general reference and public lending library services, literacy and education, and supporting the public library network in Western Australia.
Western Australian heritage
The
J. S. Battye Library of Western Australian History is the arm of the Library dedicated to Western Australian historical materials.
The Library has extensive collection of Western Australian:
* Newspapers
* Original manuscripts, journals, diaries and letters
* Records of non-government organisations
* Music recordings
* Photographs
* Western Australian films
* Oral history recordings and transcripts
* Maps, charts and serials
* Private archives
* Post Office Directories
The Battye Library contains a comprehensive collection of books published in Western Australia, as well as books by a Western Australian or about Western Australia published elsewhere.
The State Library was the
legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...
library for Western Australia under the ''Copyright Act 1895'' and the ''Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1884'', but these Acts were repealed in 1994 and 2005 respectively. Legal deposit provisions were re-established in principle in 2012, with the passing of the ''Legal Deposit Act 2012'', and brought into force for physical publications with the passage of the ''Legal Deposit Regulations 2013''.
Reference and lending library
The library's reference collection provides resources which "reflect key Australian reference publications; and cover all subject areas to support self-directed learning to an undergraduate level". The collection holds over 300,000 books and nearly 5,000 serial titles, and many items are available for loan. The library also provides a number of electronic resources, some of which are available off-site for library members. There are also approximately 100 public computers available to users, as well as free
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
.
Other specialised collections and services include:
* Sheet music – the library holds over 70,000 music scores, making it the second largest public
music lending library
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...
in Australia
*
Genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
resources – the library has a specialist family history section, and volunteers from the Western Australian Genealogical Society provide assistance to clients
* The Story Place – a dedicated children's area
* Read WA - a collection of loanable books by Western Australian authors.
* WA Premier's Book Awards - all the books shortlisted from the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards.
* Justice of the Peace
* eConnect - a space where you can get help with using your computer, ipad or phone. Learn how to download forms, apply for jobs, set up email, use government sites and apps and become better equipped to use the internet and technology.
* Community Languages Collection - .language teaching materials, books and guides in over 40 different languages.
Relationship with public libraries
Public library services in Western Australia are delivered as a partnership between the State and Local Governments. The State Government provides funding for the majority of the book stock and some other library materials, and local governments provide physical and technological infrastructure and staffing to operate public libraries. This partnership is administered by the Library Board of Western Australia through the State Library. The library provides centralised purchasing, and a statewide online catalogue, as well as facilitating the exchange of materials between public libraries.
National edeposit (NED)
As a member library of
National and State Libraries Australia
National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA), formerly National and State Libraries Australasia, is the peak body that represents the national, state and territory libraries of Australia. The libraries collaborate on and support working groups a ...
, the organisation collaborated on the creation of the
National edeposit
National edeposit (NED) is a collaboration between Australia's nine national, state and territory libraries which provides for the legal deposit, management, storage and preservation of, and access to, published electronic material across Aust ...
(NED) system, which enables publishers from all over Australia to upload electronic publications as per the 2016 amendment to the ''
Copyright Act 1968
The copyright law of Australia defines the legally enforceable rights of creators of creative and artistic works under Australian law. The scope of copyright in Australia is defined in the ''Copyright Act 1968'' (as amended), which applies the ...
'' and other regional legislation relating to
legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...
,
and makes these publications publicly accessible online (depending on access conditions) from anywhere via
Trove
Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text document ...
.
Better Beginnings
Better Beginnings is a statewide program run by the State Library, aimed at increasing young children's access to books and encouraging daily parental interactions with their children.
Gallery
File:Alexander library 1.jpg, State Library of Western Australia, Alexander Library Building
File:Hackett Hall public library WA 1913.jpg, Hackett Hall, home of the Public Library of Western Australia, in 1913
File:Inside Hackett Hall public library WA 1913.jpg, Inside the Public Library of Western Australia, 1913
File:State Library of WA 2007 1.jpg, alt=
File:Alexander library 1.jpg, alt=
File:View towards city from water feature at Museum.jpg, alt=
File:WDTD SLWA gnangarra 19022016-107.JPG, alt=
File:State Library - The Place.jpg, alt=
File:Library of Western Australia Sculpture.jpg, "Gateway 2: Coalesce" sculpture by Akio Makigawa, outside SLWA
References
External links
*
Search the SLWA CatalogueState Library of Western Australia FoundationFriends of J. S. Battye Library Inc.
{{Authority control
Western Australia, State Library of
Culture in Perth, Western Australia
Archives in Australia
Tourist attractions in Perth, Western Australia
1889 establishments in Australia
Libraries in Perth, Western Australia
Perth Cultural Centre