State Library Vectoria

State Library Victoria (State Library of Victoria - SLV) is the state library of the Australian state of Victoria. Located in Melbourne, the library was founded in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library; making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the world's first free libraries. It is also the busiest public library in Australia [3] and the third busiest library worldwide as of 2023.[4] The library has existed since its founding on the same site in the central business district (CBD) facing Swanston Street, and has expanded over time to cover a block also bounded by La Trobe, Russell and Little Lonsdale streets. The library's collection consists of more than five million items, including books, as well as manuscripts, paintings, maps, photographs and newspapers. The collection has a particular focus on materials from Victoria, including the diaries of the European founders of modern-day Melbourne, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, the folios of colonial explorer James Cook, and Ned Kelly-related items, particularly his armor and the original Jerilderie Letter.