Museums Victoria facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Museums Victoria

Melbourne Museum, Museums Victoria's main campus
Former name	Museum of Victoria, Museum Victoria
Established	1854
Location	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Type	Natural history, cultural history, and science and technology
Founder	Frederick McCoy

Museums Victoria is a group that runs three big museums in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. These museums are the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum, and Scienceworks Museum. Museums Victoria also looks after the Royal Exhibition Building and a special storage place for all their amazing collections.

Exterior of the Immigration Museum, which used to be the Melbourne Customs House.

Scienceworks Museum is all about science and technology.

The Royal Exhibition Building is a very important historical site.

Discovering Museums Victoria's Past

Museums Victoria started a long time ago, in 1854. It began as the "Museum of Natural and Economic Geology." This first museum was created by the Government of Victoria and a person named William Blandowski.

For a while, the museums were connected with the Public Library and the National Gallery of Victoria. But in 1944, they became separate again. This meant each place could focus on its own special collections.

Museums Victoria as we know it today was officially formed in 1983. It now holds over 17 million items! These items include things about Australia's First Peoples and Pacific Islander cultures. There are also collections about rocks, fossils, technology, and animals. The museum also has a library with very old and rare science books.

Key Moments in Museum History

Here are some important dates for Museums Victoria:

• 1854 – The first museum, "Museum of Natural and Economic Geology," was started.
• 1856 – The collections moved to the University of Melbourne.
• 1858 – Frederick McCoy became the first "director" of the museum.
• 1862 – A new building opened, and the museum was renamed "National Museum of Victoria."
• 1899 – The National Museum moved to a new building and took over a mineral collection.
• 1944 – The museums became separate from the Library and National Gallery.
• 1983 – The National Museum of Victoria and the Science Museum of Victoria joined to form the Museum of Victoria.
• 1992 – Scienceworks opened in Spotswood, a suburb of Melbourne.
• 1998 – The Museum of Victoria changed its name to Museum Victoria, and the Immigration Museum opened.
• 2000 – The Melbourne Museum opened in Carlton Gardens.
• 2016 – Museum Victoria was renamed to its current name, Museums Victoria.

Who Runs Museums Victoria?

The person in charge of Museums Victoria is called the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The current CEO is Lynley Crosswell. She used to lead the international part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Lynley Crosswell is the first woman to be the head of this organization, which is a big step!

Exploring the Museum Library

The Museums Victoria Library started in the 1850s. It was first a collection of books for the museum's experts, called curators. Over time, it grew into one of the best collections of natural history books in Australia. The library moved a few times and is now located at the Melbourne Museum.

Today, the library has about 40,000 books and journals. Around 1,000 of these are very rare. They are special because they might be very valuable, hard to find, beautiful, historically important, or very old. The library has many books on animals, geology, fossils, and the cultures of Australia's First Peoples and the Pacific. It also has books on Australian history, technology, and museum studies.

Many books from the Museums Victoria Library have been put online. You can find them on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website. Museums Victoria helps run the Australian part of this project. This means more people can see these important books from all over the country.

Amazing Works in the Collection