The State Library Reborn: In the Adelaide City region of South Australia
Is it a glorious solution to a very difficult architectural question? Or is it a grotesque glass-house? It is the new foyer of The State Library of South Australia, our great information bank and store -house on North Terrace. I love it because it brings together in a see- through way everything from the digital age right back to the days of steam and sail. Symbolic messages in river plant fibre traditionally used by the Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri people (and in stone outside) link us to the ancient culture of this land and welcome visitors to a forty million dollar upgrade.
The Institute Building once stood proud and lonely. Finished in 1860, it was almost everything cultural to the young colony… the museum, an art school, the art gallery and the library. Now home to the Bradman Collection, it originally inherited several hundred volumes gathered by the South Australian Literary and Scientific Association a couple of years before the first pioneers set sail. When they did the ship Tam O' Shanter ran aground in the Port River, putting at risk the precious trunk-fulls of books in its leaky hold.
In today's reference library in the building behind, senior staffer Michael Talbot shared some of his fascination with its past. The rules for the old Institute, for instance, have changed a trifle.
"You know how at one stage you could take your dog into a shop?" he asked.
"Same with the Reading Room. You might come to change your book and bring your dog in while you read the newspaper. That was until 1864, when Mr Goerke's dog got locked in overnight, damaged the blinds and chewed the woodwork. The Board ruled the dogs out. Boys under thirteen 'unaccompanied by a grown up person' had been banned since 1869."
The welcome mat is out in this massively refurbished modern wing. With more than sixty computer screens available, it is e-mail central for backpackers from all over. The tall antique typesetting machine round the corner leaves you in no doubt that you have found the newspaper reading collection. Papers from the 1830's through to today are available on microfilm. A librarian on hand ventured that looking up the one on the day you were born is a favourite.
Then, of course, there are the books. This is the state's central reference library. If the long rows of bookshelves look like a lifetime's reading and researching, however, this is just a start. For every book we can find on the public shelves, there are five more down in the basement. Spread along thirty five kilometres of shelving, librarians retrieve titles as requested on a frequent basis. If you need help in sorting out what you require, the staff act as your research assistants-. At least, they'll get you started on your project. Predictably, if you want to get stuck into South Australian subjects in particular, there are literally yards of possibilities.
All this is housed in what is now called the Catherine Helen Spence Wing. Follow the prompts on the electronic catalogue screens and you will find plenty about this great Australian, including photographs which remind us that she is the grand old lady on our five dollar note. She came to Adelaide as a young girl and became recognised as a novelist, educator, preacher, electoral reformer and fighter for women's rights. She was also a regular user of the forerunner of this library.
In the modern wing, the architects have let the sense of history in. Wander the new windows for lovely glimpses of some of our North Terrace heritage jewels nearby. There is colour and character downstairs in the foyer too, with the Flinders University City Gallery bringing more art to the people and the Adelaide City Council's separate lending library providing music and video as well as books to take home.
Behind the original Institute Building, the new first level foyer swings round to provide easy access from the old to the new. It also houses some very special pieces from this great reference library which represents our collected past and our information keys to the future. Along the new exhibition space, known as the "Treasures Wall" we find a small clay tablet with it's list of names carved more than four thousand years ago in the Middle east. It is the oldest of twenty items currently on display. There are personal and precious possessions of the Founder of the City, Colonel William Light - a little sketch map, a Mediterranean water colour and a brass survey level. Perhaps he used it to line up North Terrace. A scroll partially rolled out reveals a nineteenth century Murray River Captain's personalised map… hand drawn and revised as the sand bars shifted. Even the display casing itself is a celebration of the minerals and products of South Australia.
Up and over the new café with its great views of the mighty old Mortlock Wing, now revealed for all, a new glass bridge, will soon lead to the magnificent 1880's library space. By mid year, many of the half million annual visitors here will enjoy its exhibitions of treasures.
The library still presents its handsome classical facades to North Terrace but come down between them to the new Spence Wing and you're in the digital age, touch screens and all. On the way in you can touch your way into the photographic collection of the River Murray and several more topics. Have a try yourself. Come in any time because they'd love to show you around the 21st Century State Library of South Australia.
State Library of South Australia
North Terrace
AdelaideGPO Box 419
Adelaide
South Australia 5001Ph: (08) 8207 7200
