The State Library of Victoria: a chronology 1853-2003.

1853   July
       Library Trustees appointed.
       Competition for building on two-acre Swanston Street site.
       First prize of 150 [pounds sterling] won by Joseph Reed.

1854   3 July
       Foundation stone laid by Governor Hotham.

1856   11 February
       Melbourne Public Library opens.

       May
       Official opening of southern part of Swanston Street building.
       Building lighted with gas.
       First Librarian, Augustus Tulk, appointed.

1858   Construction of South Wing.

1860   July
       Travelling Library scheme inaugurated (discontinued 1900).

1863   Construction of North Wing.

1868   4 January
       Visit by the Duke of Edinburgh.

       23 November
       Purchase of William Strutt's painting, 'Black Thursday'.

1869   Act of Parliament incorporates the Public Library, Museums and
       National Gallery, with a single Board of Trustees headed by
       Barry.
       State Copyright Act provides for Library to receive a copy of
       every book and magazine published in Victoria.

1870   Work begins on the portico, completed in 1871.

1874   Royal Society of Victoria presents papers of the Victorian
       Exploring Expedition (Burke and Wills).

1880   23 November
       Death of Sir Redmond Barry, President of the Board of Trustees.

1883   Electric light first provided by Australian Electric Light Co.

1886   2 September
       Opening of Barry Hall (first floor of the South Wing).

1887   23 August
       Statue of Sir Redmond Barry (modelled by James Gilbert and
       completed after Gilbert's death in 1885 by Percival Ball)
       unveiled.

1889   Bronze statue of St George and the Dragon by Sir Joseph Boehm
       (1834-1890) purchased from the Melbourne Centennial
       International Exhibition and placed in the forecourt.

1891   Card catalogue completed.

1892   8 August
       Lending Branch opened to the public.

1901   23 January
       News received of Queen Victoria's death: Library closed and
       columns of the entrance draped in black and purple.

       6-11 May
       Library and other city buildings illuminated for the opening of
       the Commonwealth Parliament.

1907   February
       Bronze statue of Jeanne d'Arc (replica of statue by Emmanuel
       Fremiet in Place de Rivoli, Paris), which had been acquired by
       the Felton Bequest in 1906, placed in forecourt.

1909   26 October
       Foundation stone of the Dome building laid by the Governor of
       Victoria.

1913   14 November
       Domed Reading Room opened by the Governor-General.

1915   Completion of classification of Reference Library according to
       Dewey Decimal System.

1924   The two metal lions removed from Swanston Street steps.

       12 February
       Unveiling of Septimus Power's War Memorial Mural in the
       staircase hall outside the Queen's Hall.

1937   Two statues of Great War soldiers, 'Wipers' and 'The Driver',
       by Charles Sargeant Jagger, erected on front lawn.

1938   Moreton Bay figs removed from forecourt.

1939   Wrought iron gates removed.

1944   Act of Parliament provides for ending the joint administration
       of Library, Gallery and Museum established by the 1869 Act.

1945   Library Board established.

1948   Opening of Library Training School.

1951   2 July
       Foundation stone of the La Trobe Library laid.

1953   June
       Royal coat of arms hung on portico to mark coronation of Queen
       Elizabeth II.

1956   Appointment of first Manuscript Librarian.

1960   Official title changed to State Library of Victoria by Act of
       Parliament.

1965   6 September
       La Trobe Library opened.

1966   16 November
       Friends of the La Trobe Library formed.

1968   April
       First issue of La Trobe Library Journal.

1970   Appointment of first Field Historian.

1977   Public Record Office of Victoria moves from Library to its own
       repository.

1984   Friends of the La Trobe Library change name to Friends of the
       State Library of Victoria.

1990   Construction begun on the first new buildings on the Library
       site since 1965.

1992   North-East and South-East Wings on Russell Street completed.

1993   Heritage Collections (Rare Books, Maps, Pictures and
       Manuscripts) move to North-East Wing.

1997   3 March
       Opening of the Trescowthick Information Centre.

1998   Friends of the State Library merge with the State Library of
       Victoria Foundation.

       February
       'Wipers' and 'The Driver' relocated to Shrine of Remembrance.

       July
       The Herald & Weekly Times Newspaper Reading Room opened to
       public.

1999   Domed Reading Room closed for renovation.

2003   28 February-25 May
       'Kelly Culture' Exhibition draws record number of visitors.

       8 July
       Re-opening of the Domed Reading Room as the La Trobe Reading
       Room.

Original version prepared by Ian Morrison, updated and expanded by John Barnes and Sandra Burr.