Research Library

The Research Library was founded in 1876 with the purchase of naturalist Charles Coxen's private book collection. The collection expanded from donations from many key figures in the natural sciences field in Brisbane. Through exchanging the museum's publications with other institutions and through gifts and purchases, it has since grown into a large and comprehensive collection representing the collections and research of Queensland Museum.

Using our services

The Library is located in the back-of-house collection space at Queensland Museum, South Bank and welcomes external researchers by appointment, Monday to Friday 9:30am­—4pm. Please contact us with details of your research requirements to make an appointment.

Collection

The Research Library is comprised of unique collections housed at each campus, featuring general monographs, rare books, and journal collections. Queensland Museum also houses several special collections.

The collection items are stored in a variety of ways: from the rows of archives and journals that resemble the kind of library most of us are familiar with, to the secure rare books room where the environment is carefully temperature and humidity controlled. The precious items within this room are often one-of-a-kind, and their age and fragile condition mean that they must be handled with care.