RMIT University Library

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RMIT University Library
RMITBuilding8(Part2).jpg
Swanston Library at RMIT's City campus
Established1890 (as the library of the former Working Men's College)
LocationVarious locations,
Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia
Branches6 (the largest being the Swanston Library)
Collection
SizeSwanston Library: 400,000+ volumes (approx)
Access and use
Population served90,000
Other information
DirectorDavid Howard [1]
Staff120
Website RMIT Library
RMIT Vietnam Library
Map
RMIT University Library

RMIT University Library (previously known as 'Libraries of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology') consists of six academic branch libraries in Australia and Vietnam. Its four Australian branches are located on the RMIT University campuses in Melbourne City, Bundoora and Brunswick; and its two Vietnamese branches are located at the RMIT University Vietnam campuses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. [2]

Contents

History

The antecedent to RMIT's University Library network was established as the library of the Working Men's College of Melbourne (antecedent to present-day RMIT) in 1890. [3] The tiny library was initially housed in a 6 x 9 m room in Building 1 and contained only 152 m of shelf space. It was managed by the college's mathematics instructor Alfred Hart between 1902 and 1930, a leading Shakespearian of his day. [4]

From the 1930s, the library was expanded and relocated to the space beneath the public lecture theatre of Building 1 (what is today the Pearson and Murphy's café). [3] During this time, it was primarily staffed by repatriated World War I soldiers as part of a federal government re-skilling program. [5] By 1945, the library had outgrown its space and the decision was made to split it into specific field collections. From then the various collections were housed in the schools relevant to each field. [3]

In 1955, a central library was re-established in Building 6 - following ongoing requests from the student union. [6] [3] And, in 1956, John Livingstone Ward was appointed as RMIT's first chief librarian. [3] Some schools continued to maintain research collections, in addition to the central library. Examples of school collections that still exist are the AFI Research Collection, [7] RMIT Design Archives and National Aerospace Resource. [8] [9]

As the campus expanded northward during the 1970s, a second library site was opened. In 1993, the main library was relocated to Building 8 and was further expanded - after which it was known as the Swanston Library. The second library became known as the Carlton Library.

Two more libraries were added to the network when the Bundoora campus opened in 1995 - Bundoora East Library and Bundoora West Library. When the Brunswick campus was annexed by RMIT in 1999, the Brunswick Library also became part of the network.

During the 1990s and 2000s, a Business Library was located in Building 108 on Bourke Street. The collection was merged with the Swanston Library when RMIT closed the building in 2012. [10]

The branches at the Ho Chi Minh City, known as Beanland Library, and Hanoi campuses opened in 2001 and 2004 respectively.

In November 2018, the Bundoora East Campus Library closed and merged with Bundoora West Library. [11]

Branches

Swanston Library after renovation in 2017 RMIT Swanston Library interior 201708.jpg
Swanston Library after renovation in 2017
RMIT Connect Swanston Library RMIT Connect 201708.jpg
RMIT Connect
Swanston Library study area RMIT Swanston Library study area 201708.jpg
Swanston Library study area

Melbourne City campus

The City campus has two sites: Swanston Library and Carlton Library.

Swanston Library
The Swanston Library is the largest site in the network, and is located in Building 8.

It is unique from the other campus libraries in that it is the only RMIT Library site open until midnight during part of the semester. [12]

Swanston Library was named as one of "Five of the best libraries" in The Age Sunday M magazine. The reasons included... "Like the sprawling campus itself, [Swanston Library] has nooks and crannies and, best of all, dedicated silent places". [13]

RMIT Library Makerspace

The RMIT Makerspace provides free access to 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC routers and other equipment to students, staff and alumni of RMIT University and is located in Building 14. [14]

Bundoora campus

The Bundoora campus has one library site: Bundoora West Library. Bundoora East Library closed in November, 2018. [15]

Brunswick campus

The Brunswick campus has one Library site.

Vietnamese campuses

Two libraries are located at RMIT's Vietnam campuses; Beanland Library and Hanoi Library. [16] The Beanland Library is the largest of the two libraries, and is located at the Ho Chi Minh City campus. [17]

Services

For users with disabilities, services are available to assist with using the collections. At Brunswick, Bundoora, Carlton, and Swanston libraries, contact library staff. For all other matters, contact the Library Disability Services Co-ordinator. [18]

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RMIT University</span> Public university in Melbourne, Australia

RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundoora, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Bundoora is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km (9.3 mi) north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Banyule, Darebin and Whittlesea local government areas. Bundoora recorded a population of 28,068 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Carlton is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Carlton recorded a population of 16,055 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swanston Street</span> Street in Melbourne, Australia

Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the world's busiest tram corridor, for its heritage buildings and as a shopping strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Day</span>

Dr Norman Kingwell Day is an architect, educator, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RMIT University Student Union</span>

Established in 1944, the RMIT University Student Union or RUSU, is the peak representative body for all students enrolled at RMIT University. The Student Union is independent of the university and operates under the direction of annually elected student representatives. According to the constitution, all students are automatic members of the Student Union but may choose to become a financial member. RUSU works in collaboration with its sister organisation the RMIT Vietnam Student Council to achieve common aims and objectives for all students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RMIT University Vietnam</span>

RMIT University Vietnam is the Vietnamese branch of the Australian research university the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, known in Australia as RMIT University. It has three campuses located in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang.

The RMIT School of Computer Technologies is an Australian tertiary education school within the STEM College of RMIT University.

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) is an Australian public university, founded by The Hon. Francis Ormond MLA in 1887, in Melbourne, Victoria.

RMIT Link is a division of RMIT University around student life and historically was an unincorporated entity, the campus union of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was formed in 1968 and currently consists of the following branches: Arts and Culture, Sport, City Fitness, "Recreation", "Orientation and Transition" and Administration.

The Melbourne City campus of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology is located in the city centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is sometimes referred to as "RMIT City" and the "RMIT Quarter" of the city in the media.

The RMIT School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering was an Australian tertiary education school within the College of Science Engineering of RMIT University.

The RMIT School of Accounting is an Australian university business school located in Melbourne, Victoria, which is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate education and research in accounting at RMIT University. The School was established in 1943 and its name was changed to the School of Accountancy in 1948.

The RMIT School of Art is an Australian university art school located in Melbourne, Victoria, which is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate education and research in fine art and photography at RMIT University. Established in 1917, it is the top art school in Australia and 11th in the world, according to the 2020 QS World University Rankings.

The RMIT Redbacks are the sport collective of the Australian research University the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), based at all campuses in Victoria and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The program is managed by the RMIT Sport team, part of RMIT Student Life.

Phillip Institute of Technology (PIT) was a tertiary college in northern Melbourne, from 6 January 1982 to 30 June 1992 at which time the school integrated as part of RMIT University. The college's buildings formed RMIT's Bundoora Campus and Coburg Campus. Coburg Campus was closed in 1997, with the site since serving as a series of secondary and primary schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RMIT Building 8</span> Education in Victoria, Australia

RMIT Building 8 is an educational building, part of the RMIT University's City campus in Melbourne, Victoria. It sits at 383 Swanston Street, on the northern edge of the Hoddle Grid that defines Melbourne's city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swanston Academic Building</span> Education in Victoria, Australia

The Swanston Academic building is an RMIT building designed by the architecture firm Lyons and is located on Swanston Street in Melbourne across from Peter Corrigan designed building 8 and ARM's Storey Hall. Construction began in September 2010 and was completed in September 2012. The budget for the SAB was $200,000,000. The new building contains 35,000 square metres (380,000 sq ft) of floor space, is 11 storeys high and provides 6 large lecture theatres for students. The colourful building is intended to reflect the cities surroundings in the façade. “The idea is to wear the ‘cloak’ of the city”.

RMIT Building 220 Education in Victoria, Australia

The RMIT Building 220 is one of the best known suburban educational buildings in Victoria. Designed by the practice of Wood Marsh, the building was built in 1998 as part of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) university Bundoora campus. It is part of RMIT's image campaign where the University is set to become more radical towards a new progressive identity. The building is a program of acquisition on suburban campus together with the University's other suburban campus which is the Brunswick campus.

References

  1. , LinkedIn, retrieved 11/05/2018
  2. "About the RMIT University Library". rmit.edu.au. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Murray-Smith & Dare 1987, pp. 341–242.
  4. Murray-Smith & Dare 1987, p. 473.
  5. Murray-Smith & Dare 1987, p. 245.
  6. Murray-Smith & Dare 1987, p. 282.
  7. AFI Research Collection, RMIT University, retrieved 30 September 2012
  8. RMIT Design Archives, RMIT University, retrieved 28 September 2012
  9. National Aerospace Resource Centre, RMIT University, retrieved 28 September 2012
  10. The Business Library is on the move, RMIT University Library, RMIT University, retrieved 12 October 2012
  11. "Bundoora East Library closing down". News and helpful information from RMIT University Library. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  12. Swanston Library open longer, RMIT University Library, RMIT University
  13. Sunday M magazine (27 July 2008), The Age , Fairfax Media
  14. University, RMIT. "Makerspace". www.rmit.edu.au. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  15. "Bundoora East Library closing down". News and helpful information from RMIT University Library. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  16. Vietnam Library, RMIT International University, accessed 28 September 2012
  17. Beanland Library, RMIT International University, retrieved 28 September 2012
  18. "Information for users with disability". RMIT Library. 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.

Coordinates: 37°48′31″S144°57′50″E / 37.80861°S 144.96389°E / -37.80861; 144.96389