The Library has a rich, varied and historic collection of published works related to and informing the Museum’s history, research, collections, exhibitions and experiences.
Image: Australian Lyre Bird, Menura Superba from J. Gould's The Birds of Australia, vol. iii
The Museums Victoria Library collection was first established in the 1850s as a working collection for the Museum's curators. Over its 170-plus year history the library has evolved into one of the best collections of natural history books and journals in Australia.
With a collection of over 40,000 titles, the library is considered to be of high significance to scholars, researchers and artists, along with Museums Victoria staff and the Victorian public.
The Library comprises published material in disciplines relevant to the research, collections and exhibitions of Museums Victoria. The collection has developed closely with the Museum's scientific and cultural collections, and reflects curatorial interests across the organisation's history. It has been formed through purchases, donations, exchanges, and is still actively developed today. Currently, our collection includes approximately 1000 rare titles, 31,500 books, 3500 pamphlets, and 4000 journal titles.
The library includes the collections of two predecessor institutions: the National Museum of Victoria and the Science Museum of Victoria (formerly the Industrial and Technological Museum.) The library has also absorbed substantial donations from other Victorian and Melbourne-based institutions and societies over the course of its history, including material from the Royal Society of Victoria, the Melbourne Observatory, the Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria, the Parliamentary Library of Victoria and the Ecumenical Migration Centre. There is a tradition of donations from former staff and research associates, with recent years seeing additions of anthropological and ethnological material from former curators Alan West and Dr. Ron Vanderwal, scientific material from Alan Yen and Arturs Neboiss and historical material from Martin Hallett. For many years, the library exchanged copies of the museum’s journal Memoirs of Museum Victoria with institutions around the world, thereby building up a collection of journal titles that are not widely held in other Australian collections.
Collection strengths include:
The library has developed some reading lists on themes and topics of interest to Museums Victoria. These resources can be accessed via a public library, and local libraries are listed if you view an item.
The Library at Melbourne Museum also houses a Rare Book Collection specialising in eighteenth and nineteenth century natural history titles. The Museum's first director, Professor Frederick McCoy, spent a substantial sum establishing a library that would support the scientific research undertaken by the Museum's first curators.
Many of these items now form the basis of our Rare Book Collection, including Albertus Seba's Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri accurata descriptio (1734-65), Maria Sibylla Merian's Europische Insecten and Over de voorttelingen en wonderbaerlyke veranderingen der Surinaamsche insecten (1730) and George Shaw's Zoology of New Holland (1794). Most of these items were purchased through booksellers in London, however McCoy purchased some titles directly from English ornithologist John Gould, who also supplied many bird specimens for the museum’s collection.
A secondary period of development occurred in 1970s when Deputy Director of the National Museum, Tom Darragh, sought to fill gaps in the library's collection of taxonomic works. Darragh oversaw the acquisition of many rare works, including a prized set of John Gould titles which was enabled by a special government grant in 1975. Former museum trustee, Sir Thomas Ramsay, donated his collection of rare Antarctic books in the 1980s. His widow, Lady Mimi Ramsay, subsequently donated further Antarctica books, including a copy of the first book printed in Antarctica, the Aurora Australis. Outside of these periods, archival records show limited but strategic development of rare materials from at least the 1950s. Over the course of the museum’s history, rare books have shifted from being seen primarily as references, to objects of beauty and importance in their own right. Today, the Rare Book Collection is used for a number of purposes, including exhibition, digitisation, events, tours, and creative inspiration for local design, art, ceramics, jewellery, tattoos and textiles. The library gratefully considers donations of rare material in relevant disciplines.
Our collection records can be explored using our library catalogue: Worldcat Discovery. The Museums Victoria Library primarily supports internal researchers, however we also provide limited public access as required. Members of the public will need to place access requests via our Ask Us enquiry service. Museums Victoria staff and affiliates are able to create user accounts and lodge their own access requests.
See our Search Tips page for help on searching our catalogue.
When you use your account, Museums Victoria collects your personal information, that is your name, email address, phone number and postcode, in order to:
For more details about how we collect, hold and use personal information including how to access and correct your personal information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
Our library records are available via Trove.
Some of our Library items have been digitised and can be accessed via the Biodiversity Heritage Library or through the Trove collection feature Australia’s biodiversity in print and online.
Some of our rare books are included in Museums Victoria Collections, where we provide an overview of the work’s historical or technological significance along with details about its physical description.
Some of our library items are available on interlibrary loan or document delivery. Contact your local public library or institution's library for more information on borrowing our library’s collection items through interlibrary loan. Libraries can make requests through Libraries Australia Document Delivery (LADD), or alternatively, we also accept direct enquiries from libraries with payment by IFLA vouchers.
Other Library material can be accessed on-site at Melbourne Museum. Please make an enquiry and outline the nature of your research.
The Museums Victoria Library is open to the public by appointment, 10am-4pm from Monday to Friday at Melbourne Museum. Contact us by completing an enquiry to arrange access to collection items.
Please note that a minimum 48 hours' notice is required when requesting access to Library material. Some material is held in offsite storage and it may take longer to provide access.
Material from the Library can be viewed in the Library Reading Room at Melbourne Museum.
The Reading Room has standalone computers available for visitor use, which also provide access to the Library’s online catalogue. Power outlets are available for visitors who wish to bring their own electronic devices. Free wireless internet is provided by Museums Victoria to visitors in the Reading Room.
If copies of material need to be made for research and reference purposes, reasonable access to a photocopier can be made available, or you are welcome to bring your own digital camera.
Please note, it is the visitor’s responsibility to ensure adherence to copyright law. Before an item can be reproduced in a publication or exhibition, the citation of the record and the permission of the copyright holder must be obtained.
The Library is interested in donations of published material (books, journals, conference proceedings, etc.) within disciplines that relate to our collection strengths. Donations from former research staff at the museum are encouraged, as are offers of rare material in relevant disciplines. We maintain a dedicated list of titles wanted for the Rare Book Collection, and seek donations of journal issues that will fill gaps in our current collection.
The Library is particularly interested in rare or specialist works in the following collection areas:
Donation offers can be made online.
See here for further details on what information is required to assess your donation offer.
Financial donations towards the conservation or development of the Rare Book Collection would be appreciated.
Donations can be made online or by contacting the Development Department on +61 3 8341 7303
or [email protected].
The Library hosts a limited number of tertiary students undertaking a relevant course of study, subject to staff availability. See our Internships page or discuss this with your placement coordinator if you are required to make arrangements through your educational institution. Our student placements provide a broad overview of special library and museum library work, and usually include some experience with rare books and special collections.
We also take a limited number of volunteers – see our volunteering page to learn more.
Museums Victoria acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung Bunurong peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations where we work, and First Peoples across Victoria and Australia.
First Peoples are advised that this site may contain voices, images, and names of people now passed and content of cultural significance.