Bookshelf of the Week: Parliament of Victoria Library

If sumptuous surroundings are high on your list of requirements when it comes to visiting a library, then you probably couldn’t do much better than visiting the library that’s the focus of this week’s Bookshelf of the Week. Sadly however, a straightforward visit isn’t, well, as straightforward as you might think (unless you’re part of a tour group). In fact if you want to gain unrestricted access to this library then you’ll probably have to get yourself involved in Australian politics first, because this library actually belongs to the Parliament of Victoria.

Captured by Sally Cummings aka sallysetsforth – a librarian who worked in this library until recently – this shot offers some indication of just how the opulent the place is (you certainly don’t get tables and chairs like that in your local, council run library do you? ), but this is merely a glimpse of something much grander (one small corner of the upper level of the library I think). Thanks heavens then that Sally had the foresight to take a series of photos and post them on Flickr, as a set, for our delight and delectation. I invite you then to take a stroll around the Parliament of Victoria Library courtesy of Sally, and to see for yourself just how impressive this place really is.

And if Sally’s photos aren’t enough to quench your thirst for lavish library interiors, then you can also get yourself along to the Parliament of Victoria website, where a full virtual tour is waiting for you, and not just of the library itself, but of the majority of the Parliament building’s interior too (Damn, I love technology ).

Anyway, my thanks to Sally for taking such a wonderful set of pictures, and for sharing them so generously. And if you want to know a little more about Sally, the librarian, then head on over to her website. Or, alternately, look her up on Twitter.