Tasmania State Library

The Tasmanian Public Library has been a State Library since 1943. Today, it is the central organization that manages the entire library system of Tasmania.

The first public library appeared here in 1849. From the very beginning, the use of the library was free, and the formation of funds was at the expense of the state and voluntary contributions of readers.

The building in which the library is located today was built in 1962. Ten years later, another building appeared nearby. The State Library unites 41 libraries in 7 cities and 5 special collections. For the entire huge fund (and this is two hundred thousand units of storage) there is a single catalog, which allows publications to freely circulate between libraries. Well-established computer records quickly track the location of any book or document.

The library is enriched by donors. So here in 1965 got the most valuable library of the Allport family, as well as a collection of colonial art - a total of more than 2,500 exhibits, including a collection of unique porcelain. 15,000 books and manuscripts, as well as photographs and art, were donated to the State Library by Sir William Crowther, whose great-grandfather arrived in Hobart in 1825.