State Library Victoria

We’re thrilled to announce not one, but three more incredible wins! 🏆    Mouthful of Dust has been recognised at home and on the global stage, taking out the C2A Creative Communication Award for online experiences and the AGDA Award for digital. AGDA also awarded us a Pinnacle award - one of the highest esteem and presented to the very best designed projects in Australia.   This bold project reimagines Ned Kelly’s story through an inclusive lens - combining high-resolution 3D scans of historical artefacts with fresh perspectives from remarkable Australian writers.    We’re honoured to be acknowledged among visionary projects shaping the future of design and online experiences.    Congratulations to the Mouthful of Dust team and our writers - and thank you to AGDA and C2A for celebrating design’s role in connecting communities and preserving culture    👉 Experience Mouthful of Dust: https://lnkd.in/gfeYq6H8

What happens when librarians, coders and curators come together to rethink how we share knowledge? At WikiFest 2025, the Library’s SLV LAB and Wikimedia Australia hosted a day of hands-on experimentation, sparking new ideas for cultural equity, open access and digital storytelling. The workshop brought together technologists, researchers and cultural workers to explore how open knowledge platforms like Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons can make information and data more accessible. It was a powerful reminder that experimentation, collaboration and curiosity are key to an inclusive and innovative GLAM sector. Read the full recap: https://lnkd.in/gFjRj4Bb

Celebrating 112 years of inspiring curiosity under the Dome.    #OnThisDay in 1913, the Domed Reading Room opened to the public. At six stories high, it was the largest reinforced-concrete structure of its kind and quickly became an icon of learning and discovery.    For nearly 170 years, the Library has belonged to the people of Victoria as your space to explore, learn, reflect and connect - with the iconic Dome at the heart of that story.    Here’s to the generations of readers, researchers and dreamers who’ve shared ideas beneath its soaring arches. 🔗 Learn more about the history of the dome: https://lnkd.in/gtT-TNxW 

Go behind the scenes of making history more accessible. Shortly after launching Mouthful of Dust, our Lead Developer Nick Paustian partnered with the Centre For Accessibility Australia (CFA) to ensure the experience meets WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards. Through CFA’s expert feedback and input from Library staff, we implemented a suite of updates designed to make this award-winning project even more inclusive and user-friendly. The latest updates include streamlined navigation, stronger screen reader support, and enhanced interactive features - making it easier than ever for everyone to explore this cinematic experience. 👉 Explore Mouthful of Dust: https://lnkd.in/gfeYq6H8 👉 Read about the latest accessibility updates: https://lnkd.in/gDdQyPH4

Congratulations to the 2026 Lisa Ring and Family Scholarship recipients! 🎉   Aliet Bior, founder of Umbrellus, is designing modular, regenerative infrastructure that shields livestock and vineyards from climate extremes, while Abhijeet Waykar and Justin Yeung, are using AI to personalise chemotherapy dosing from routine CT scans - making cancer treatment safer and more effective at PredicTx Health.   Now in its fifth year, the Lisa Ring and Family Scholarships provide each recipient with $10,000 in seed funding, bespoke business coaching, and a StartSpace Loft Membership, giving them the tools and community to take their ventures to the next level.   Learn more about their groundbreaking work. 👇

At State Library Victoria, we believe in the transformative power of stories.  But many young people in regional and rural communities face barriers to literacy development.  Limited access to education resources, mentors and visible career pathways means these students often fall behind their metropolitan peers. That’s why we’ve created the Young Regional Writers’ Program – to link schools from non-metro areas with celebrated Australian authors right in their classrooms and communities. But we can’t do it alone. With your help we can expand this vital program and reach more budding writers across the state – to ignite imaginations, boost creativity and confidence, and spark a lifelong love of storytelling. Join us in investing in regional voices so our stories can reflect the whole state. Your support today can help inspire the next generation of writers. Please give generously. https://lnkd.in/gu7dnqYh #StateLibraryVictoria #SLVAppeal #education #YoungRegionalWritersAppeal

🎬 Introducing the second instalment of Monograph, our short-form documentary series.    Each film in the series offers a glimpse behind the scenes of the Library, revealing how research, expertise, curiosity and creativity come together to shape this iconic institution, and the passionate people connected to it.    Meet Bundit Puangthong, a Thailand-born, Melbourne-based contemporary painter whose work celebrates the in-betweenness of living across cultures.    Bundit reflects on memories of his late mother and grandmother, and on growing up in Thailand, core experiences that continue to shape his painting practice. ‘My painting is like a diary. And this is one of the chapters, or diaries, about family,’ he shares.    Commissioned for the Library’s Creative Acts exhibition, Bundit’s three-part painting อบเชย Obchey, 2025 honours his family’s creativity and spirituality. 🔗 Visit Creative Acts to see this bold and bright work: https://lnkd.in/gcYF7Rib Watch the full-length film: https://lnkd.in/gWsr-vBz

After winning a Heritage in Motion Award at the European Museum Academy Annual Conference, we’re proud to announce our world-class web experience Mouthful of Dust has just received a prestigious Good Design Australia award. The cutting-edge digital project blends history, literature and technology to reimagine the story of Ned Kelly. With advanced 3D scans of historical artefacts (including his armour, boot and rifle) and fresh takes from female, First Nations and migrant writers, it’s a bold retelling of Australia’s most notorious bushranger.  The jury praised the powerful project as ‘smart, innovative and impactful’, with ‘compelling, cogent narratives, that definitely leave the viewer wiser, and their world just that little bit bigger’.  Huge congratulations to the Mouthful of Dust team and our contributing writers for this momentous achievement.  We’re honoured to stand alongside such an incredible calibre of projects, and proud to be recognised amid this year’s theme ‘Design for Better’, which underscores the vital role design plays in challenging narratives and connecting communities.  Experience Mouthful of Dust: https://lnkd.in/gNQWZj5q #GoodDesignAwards #DigitalDesign #MouthfulOfDust #StateLibraryVictoria #Innovation #CulturalHeritage #SLVCollections 

What if ethics wasn’t a checklist, but something we practice in real time? In our latest SLV LAB conversation, we speak with Vanessa Bartlett and Jasmin Pfefferkorn, two of the co-authors of Decentring Ethics: AI art as method (Open Humanities Press, 2025), about how artists working with AI are reshaping how we think about responsibility, creativity, and care. Together, we explore what these ideas mean for the GLAM sector, and how galleries, libraries, archives and museums can navigate ethical questions not just in policy, but in practice. 🎙️ Listen to the full conversation: https://lnkd.in/ggammzKm

📢 Applications now open for Future State: Empowering Library Leaders.    State Library Victoria is proud to host and support Future State: Empowering Library Leaders, a sector-designed leadership development program for Victorian public library staff.    Designed for emerging leaders in Victorian public libraries, the program builds core leadership skills in communication, resilience, teamwork and self-awareness, with a strong focus on collaboration, connection and leading with impact.    With only 20 places available, participants will benefit from a highly personalised experience that blends reflective practice, peer learning and evidence-based approaches to real-world challenges.    This initiative reflects our commitment to building a resilient, future-ready library sector – one that champions innovation, inclusion and impact through strong, connected leadership.    Program dates: 25 - 28 November  Location: State Library Victoria  Fee: $550 + GST (complimentary accommodation available)  Applications close: 8 October    If you're ready to take the next step in your leadership journey or know someone who is – we encourage you to apply or share.  🔗 https://lnkd.in/g-bknaaw