The State Library is a highly valued cultural institution for Western Australians. Serving the entire State, we enrich the lives of all Western Australians by treasuring their stories, building, preserving and sharing physical and digital collections for education and recreation, while reflecting the State’s rich heritage, diversity and history.
The beginnings of the State Library of Western Australia came from a £5000 grant by the Legislative Council in August 1886 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. The money was used to lay a foundation stone for a library in St George’s Terrace, Perth on 21 June 1887.
The site was never used and the Victoria Public Library opened in temporary premises across the street in a bank building on 26 January 1889. There were 1,786 volumes on its shelves.
In August 1897, the Library moved to a site in James Street, shared by the Museum and the Art Gallery and still used by the Museum today. These premises soon became cramped, and in 1903 the Library moved a few dozen metres into the rear half of what was to become its home for more than 80 years.
