I should've just gone to the Library, and it's the State Library of Victoria!
If you ask me, my favorite place would always be the library.
Or the bookstore.
Simply just where the books are, that's where I would love to be.
If you know me, you would know the craze and obsession I have with books.
I just love books and I even call them my soulmates when I was growing up.
I am not going to explain that.
Go figure.
If I had a choice, I could just stay in the library.
All day long.
The itinerary will include the library, the library and the library.
What did I miss?
It was with a heavy heart that I walk past this grand building; dressed in its magnificent design of the historical traits and another of the 19th-century style in the heart of the city.
This is yet another of Joseph Reed's designs; the man behind the architecture of the Melbourne Town Hall in my previous post.
See if you spot the similarity in the design style and the take on the overall architecture.
There is that unmistakable distinctive fashion seen identical in both buildings, don't you think?
Well, Melbourne Town Hall took after the library, opened in the year 1856, and was among the first of Reed's designs among his other buildings which include the Royal Exhibition Building and the Ormond College.
Located in the heart of the Central business district (CBD) of Melbourne city, this is the State Library of Victoria and it is all of splendor and grandeur in its appearance.
Beautiful as it is historic, there is just that mysterious charm about that building which could draw one towards it like magnet, even if you are not a book lover.
It is simply monumental in all its glory.
I would have loved to drop by for a visit, or just a peek of the inside of the library
(though I doubt that would be the case, I could probably end up exploring the entire complex and then landed with some books which I would die to borrow and probably end up with a library membership. That would be my entire day).
The conception of the idea of the library was in the year 1853, by Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe and Mr Justice Redmond Barry, QC (formally known as Sir Redmond from 1860 onwards).
The statues of both behind the building of the library are also ordered for erection; with Sir Redmond's statue being the first to be sculpted by Percival Ball, based on the design by James Gilbert to its formal position unveiled in the year 1887, while the statue of Charles La Trobe was sculpted by local artist Peter Corlett and was only installed in 2006.
These bronze statues are among the many that grace the front lawn of the library; such as St George and the dragon and also a replica of the French heroine, Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc).
The mossy lawn fronting the library is the favorite lunch spot among students, particularly from the nearby RMIT University and also the city's working population.
I could also imagine sitting under a nice tree, or just finding that spot on the soft grassy lawn, with a good book, a cup of tea and probably a sandwich or a muffin.
That would be an ideal picture, and the weather is just perfect for such setting.
(Okay, well, maybe not in the fall or winter, it would be too cold)
I could see the crowd at the library as I walk past them, enviously.
Well, preferably, I would prefer to be right inside the domestic halls of the library itself which boasts of a total of seven reading rooms!
(The Dome, Chess Reading Room, Redmond Barry Reading Room, Heritage Collections Reading Room, Arts Collection Reading Room, Genealogy Reading Room, and finally the Newspaper Reading Room - in the order based on the sequence as found in Wikipedia).
The State Library of Victoria also housed more than a staggering amount 2 million books.
That would be so much to take in, and that includes the diaries of the city's founders; John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner and even the portfolio of Captain James Cook.
2 Million books~
That's an incredible amount of books and it is almost music to a book lover's ears, though after that awe-inspiring moment, the reality sinks in and dread follows as I ponder on the amount of books I have read in my own lifetime to date, in the past years.
As Rory Gilmore moaned, "I've only read like 300 books and I'm already 16. I sleep too much"
Yeah, I am not 16, but I don't think I have reached that amount of books too.
I am lamenting the number of books I have yet to read and the fact that I did not go into this library.
While I am sulking and moping over it, you can find out more information about the State Library of Victoria on their official website here.
For more general information on their history and well, generally about the building, head over to Wikipedia.
I will be back, and this time, the State Library of Victoria is definitely on the itinerary.
Make that one day, or two, maybe.
I need my alone time with the books, and the library.
Enough said.
2 comments
I was glad to have visited this library and loved it!.
ReplyDeleteAww Elaine! You're not helping! :-P
ReplyDelete