The 1623 volume, Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, aka the ‘First Folio’, was 400 years old in 2023. Why is it so special? I should begin by putting all my cards on the table. I’m fascinated by Shakespeare and his books, including the First Folio. In the immediate pre-Covid years, I took my…
Author: Stuart Kells
State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
A Library Planet post by Fiona Kells I visited the State Library of Queensland on a Thursday afternoon in May, 2023, and it was pumping: it just happened to be the opening day of the Brisbane Writers Festival. A happy and relaxed crowd of Festival attendees, participants and organisers, tourists, students, parents with young kids,…
Library Trek: Moulamein, Barham, Robinvale and Swan Hill
A Library Planet post by Rob Lee There are approximately 360 public libraries in New South Wales and 285 in Victoria.1 If you visited one library each day, five days each week, it would take two and a half years to see every municipal book space across these two regions (and this does not count…
Hyphen Library Gallery, Wodonga, Victoria, Australia
A Library Planet post from Wodonga Council. Opened in August 2021, Wodonga’s new library-gallery had more than 90,000 visits in its first 12 months. The name ‘Hyphen’ reflects the building’s twin purposes of art and literature. It also refers to the building’s amazing architecture and dash-like shape – the signature cantilever over the main entrance….
Vancouver Public Library, Canada: A photo essay
A Library Planet post by Christopher Hunt The (Central) Vancouver Public Library is at 350 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 6B1, Canada.
The PMI Victorian History Library, Melbourne, Australia
A Library Planet post by Jade Koekoe The PMI Victorian History Library Inc. is a community owned and run library specialising in the history of the Australian state of Victoria. The library collection is the only lending collection of its kind in Australia – with over 30,000 books for loan and over 40,000 items on…
City of Belmont Ruth Faulkner Library, Perth, Australia
A Library Planet post from the City of Belmont Ruth Faulkner Library is in Belmont Hub in the heart of the City of Belmont in Perth, Western Australia. Belmont Hub is a landmark building within the Faulkner Park Civic Precinct. With unique architecture, the modern, multipurpose community-focused facility features the library over two floors as…
The Voynich Manuscript at the Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
A Library Planet post by Stuart Kells The Beinecke Library at Yale is a marvel of library architecture and indeed of all forms of architecture. A temple of rare books, it was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Construction finished in 1963. The core of the library is a…
Torquay Library (SurfCoast), Torquay, Australia
A Library Planet post by Fiona Kells Torquay is Australia’s (if not the world’s) surfing capital. The world-famous Bell’s Beach – home of the Rip Curl Pro – is nearby and the town is the birthplace of iconic surfing brands Rip Curl and Quicksilver. Marking the beginning of the Great Ocean Road, Torquay is a…
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