Life in the LRC
LRC – State Library Tour
On Wednesday, 14 Heathmont College students took the train to the State Library of Victoria. A mixture of students from our newly formed Library Assistant team and fellow booklovers came along with Mrs Ford, Ms Beavis and Ms Moschetti, to be part of the LRC’s first excursion.
After a quick talk by one of the SLV’s experts, the eager group made their way through the many rooms and corridors of this magnificent city building. Students looked in awe at the extraordinary dome from the top to bottom level, stopping to take in all the exhibitions on the way. Some of the exhibits included the State Library Bricktoria, The World of Books and The Ned Kelly exhibition. A few students topped off the library experience by making their way to the reading room for a game of chess.
After lunch, the group made their way to Melbourne Central’s QBD bookstore. At the store students were able to each select a book, game or puzzle which they would like to include in the college’s library collection. Some chose topic books, whilst others chose new books from current series. The LRC are stoked to now have up to almost $500 worth of resources to add to their newly revamped collection. These books and games will be tagged in our library collection as having been chosen by the 2025 Library Assistants, with a personalised sticker.
Following the shopping spree, students boarded the train to spend what time was still left at ACMI. With plenty of displays on ‘all things screen culture and gaming’, students and staff indulged their senses, competing on various vintage games, mixing in sound booths and listening to stories about filmmaking, indigenous culture and the arrival of TV.
With just a few minutes to spare before boarding the train for Heathmont a group of enthusiastic students ran to the outside of Federation Square to take part in the Melbourne Fringe Festival Power Move. Students danced, performed gymnastics and even chose to power up the music by cycling. As the group waited for everyone to regroup to return home, a small number took to the outside dance floor for a Nutbush dance sequence.
With only positive feedback from the students the LRC staff are now keen to offer more excursions in the future.
The trip to the state library was very fun and adventurous with many fun activities, a great part of the trip was seeing the dome from the 4th level of the dome, then afterwards we went out to get lunch, which was very interesting and filling, afterwards we went to the bookstore and bought a bunch of great and interesting books.
- Jasmine Walsh, Year 7
“The day was a really fun experience! We began the day by getting to explore the Victoria State Library (which is currently home to THE legendary Ned Kelly’s metal armour and rifle), getting lunch at the Melb Central food court, then going to QBD to choose a new book for our school library, and finally tying it all together with a super interesting trip to ACME to check out their film and gaming exhibition! SO FUN!! To anyone sounding intrigued, I’d highly recommend joining the Library Leadership Team next year.
Layla Insley, Year 11
Our day trip started at the State library, the very intelligent brain of Melbourne it was just as magnificent as I had remembered. The glass ceiling letting in the morning night, the unmistakable smell of ink and books and the absolute silence that filled the whole dome. We eventually descended to the Ned Kelly and Newspaper History section of the library and met back with the group at the food court, we stayed there for a little while, busy taking pictures and enjoying food. Then we made our way to QBD to select a book we wanted to add to the library and finished our expedition at ACMI, Australian Centre for the Moving Image at their film and gaming expo. At the end of the day, we had a quiet train home and wrapped up our very productive excursion to The Victoria State Library.
- Mariana Edwards, Year 7
Have a novel day
Mrs Ford & Ms Beavis