College and Research Libraries


HARRISON BRYAN 

A View of Libraries Down Under 

Editor's Note: We are pleased to supplement Harrison Bryan's article with 
these photographs of Australian university libraries selected by the author 
and with his captions. We ,record our thanks to the universities and the li-
braries represented here for their helpfulness in supplying these photo-
graphs. 

Griffith University Library. Designed for Brisbane's subtropical climate , this is among the most recent 
of the academic library buildings in the country. The campus has retained much of its bush setting. 

I 21 



28 I College & Research Libraries • January 1980 

Monash University Main Library. This building , erected in three stages, 1964-1974, has accommoda-
tion for 816,000 volumes and 2 ,113 readers. It is complemented by three separate and reasonably ad-
jacent buildings housing collections and services respectively in law , biomedical sciences, and applied 
sciences and engineering . 

Macquarie University Library. The building was erected in four stages , 1966-1978, to serve the third 
university in Sydney. It was designed and built by the New South Wales state government architect. 



Libraries Down Under I 29 

Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne. This historic picture records the completion , in 1959, of 
the first stage of the first of the custom-designed Australian academic libraries . Later extensions have 
brought the total gross area to 20 ,438 square meters . 

Menzies Library, Australian National University. Designed to serve originally the completely 
research-dedicated ANU, the Menzies Library demonstrates rather more conscious concern for out-
ward appearances than do most' Australian academic libraries . Completed in 1963 , it grosses 7,432 
square meters. 



30 I College & Research Libraries • January 1980 

Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle. The first two stages of a planned three-stage building, 
this library houses 300,000 volumes and 1,000 readers. Campus planners have made a conscious effort 
to retain the Australian eucalyptuses that clothe the site. 

Morris Miller Library. Designed by the same architect as the Baillieu Library , University of Mel-
bourne, this , the University of Tasmania 's central library building, was completed in two stages , 
1959-1969. It accommodates 236,500 volumes and 650 readers . 



Libraries Down Under I 31 

University of Queensland Central Library. This first stage houses 500,000 books and seats 390 
readers. The building is designed for an ultimate quadruplication of these provisions. There is a sepa-
rate undergraduate library building immediately adjacent. 

University of Queensland Central Library. The photograph illustrates the physical separation but 
visual integration of stack and reading areas. This is the only example in Australia of a controlled 
access collection. 



- - - --- - , 

32 I College & Research Libraries • January 1980 

Fisher Library, University of Sydney. Designed by T. E . O'Mahoney and the state government archi-
tect of N.S .W ., Fisher, Australia's largest and heaviest used academic library building , was erected in 
two stages , 1963-1971 . It grosses 23 ,225 square meters and provides space for 3,100 readers and three 
million volumes. 

Chifley Library, Australian National University. Designed originally as the library of Canberra Uni-
versity College, the Chifley building was developed largely to house undergraduate services for the 
amalgamated university. Its capacity is 250,000 volumes and 1,300 readers. 

I