State Library of Queensland

The State Library of Queensland is located in the Cultural Centre at Stanley Place, Southbank. Next to the Gallery of Modern Art, it reopened at its revamped location on the 25 November, 2006. The library is open daily from 10am to 5pm, with extended hours through to 8pm on Monday through Thursday. There are also commercial outlets including the Library Shop and Tognini's Cafe.

With its mission of "Creatively linking Queenslanders to information, knowledge and each other", the State Library offers a raft of services to the Queensland public. These include access to traditional hard materials like books, newspapers, journals, family history, maps and audio-visual, as well as a number of electronic services, such as bibliographic and full content databases. They also provide access to key historical collections of Queensland, including the John Oxley Library. The State Library has a distinct focus on Queensland’s documentary heritage, and advocates for as well as partners with public libraries all across Queensland.


Despite the new look to the library, many of the traditional services offered have been provided to the community for well over 100 years. Since moving from the Former State Library in William Street in 1988, the Library has continued to grow and expand into a far more varied offering today. They provide services that would have been frowned upon years ago, particularly with the active kids programs (and noise that goes along with them!) Their electronic services are excellent, with wireless access throughout. Being a former librarian myself, I'm incredibly proud that such a great facility is available here.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)

The Queensland Art Gallery - Gallery of Modern Art, or GOMA as its known to the locals, is a wonderful new gallery located in South Brisbane within the Cultural Centre precinct of South Bank. It is the largest gallery of modern and contemporary art in Australia. Opening hours are from 10:00am to - 5:00pm Monday to Friday, with the weekend opening time extended to 9:00am. Admission is free, except for special exhibitions and screenings. It was opened on the 2nd December, 2006.

The entrance foyer is dominated by this huge black and white work by Eko Nugroho. The prime reason for having an art gallery is to exhibit Art, however, aside from the many public gallery areas, there are also cinemas, a library, a number of cafes, and a gallery store. Multi-media and new technology is used as both an adjunct to certain pieces, and also as art in itself. They also have guest speakers and guided tours of the collections. A major exhibition, the Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art was the prime opening exhibition. At present, the main gallery is being refurbished for a new exhibition. Details of upcoming and current events can be found on the gallery website.


Today we were still able to wander through the existing exhibitions. There are some things which take my eye, and others that leave me wondering if a blank canvas with a small splotch of paint really is art. I enjoyed the indigenous aboriginal collection. One problem I have with these galleries is how hard it is to take your kids, and not let them touch the artworks, particularly things like carved stonework. Of course they want to explore! However, in this instance my boys were very well behaved.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.