VPRS 12185 Lists of Books to be Repaired

Established in 1856 the functions of Victorias public library have been to provide reference and research library services in its own building and a support service to municipal libraries. Historically this agency has been known as the Melbourne Public Library (1856-1869) and the Public Library of Victoria (1869-1960). Since 1960 the Library has been referred to as the State Library of Victoria.From the period of its establishment in 1856 through to 1944 the library had been administered by a Board of Trustees which was responsible for managing and controlling the Public Library, the National Museum, the Industrial and Technology Museum and the National Gallery. In 1944 separate boards of Trustees were established for each agency.These volumes detail the money spent on bookbinding and other repair work during the years 1863-1927.The volumes contain information in five separate columns. The first listed the date that the publication went to the repairer; the second recorded the title and author of the publication and the third the number of volumes to be repaired. The fourth and fifth columns contain information about the scope of the repair ie/. re-lettering on the spine and the price.The back pages list the prices for binding both half and full volumes.This series would have been part of the central administration records of the Public Library enabling librarians to follow the movement of the Librarys volumes and keep a record of accounts for book repairs.