Collections

Melbourne Library Service has a collection of about 150,000 items. New items are added on a regular basis.

Top ten books for 2011

Top ten dvds for 2011

Top 10 borrowed books for 2011

	1.The happiest refugee / Anh Do		6.Blood count / Robert Goddard
	2.What makes us tick / Hugh Mackay		7.The Finkler question / Howard Jacobson
	3.The Fry chronicles / Stephen Fry		8.Water for elephants / Sara Gruen
	4.The confession / John Grisham		9.Caleb's crossing / Geraldine Brooks
	5.The little coffee shop of Kabul / Deborah Rodriguez		10.The leopard / Jo Nesbo

Top ten borrowed dvds for 2011

	1.The time traveller's wife		6.Eat pray love
	2.Eclipse		7.Tourist
	3.The social network		8.Love and other drugs
	4.The invention of lying		9.A single man
	5.The American		10.The town

Hot picks

Hot picks are so hot you can only borrow them for 1 week (books) or overnight (DVDs). You cannot reserve them and you cannot renew them. Overdue fines are $1 per item per day.

Our latest hot pick books are:

The sense of an ending by Julian Barnes
the language of flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The night circus by Erin Morgenstern
Arguably by Christopher Hitchens

Our latest hot pick dvds are:

Source code
The age of reason
Something borrowed
Easy A

Books

The book collection has something for everyone - children, young adults and adults. The largest collection is nonfiction, in line with the library's committment to lifelong learning. The fiction collection includes classics, literary fiction, genre fiction such as crime, romance and thrillers, and current bestsellers. There are board books for babies, and picture books for children. There is a reference collection which contains such items as dictionaries and encylopaedias.

Film and music

There is an extensive film collection which includes classic movies, television series and documentaries. The majority are dvds, and there is a small new collection of blu ray discs. There is also a large collection of compact discs covering all styles of music from classical to pop.

Magazines and newspapers

The library has a collection of about 300 different magazines. Daily newspapers are also available at each library.

Electronic resources

The library subscribes to a wide range of electronic resources.

Computer games

Some of these can be used in the library, others can be borrowed. There are special ones for children.

Special collections

Melbourne Collection: Established to celebrate Melbourne's status as a UNESCO City of Literature, the Melbourne Collection consists of a selection of books about Melbourne and includes our favourite novels set in Melbourne.

Language Learning: This collection contains material in over 20 languages, with the main collection housed at City Library.

English Language Learning: This collection is for those learning English, or for those wanting to improve their English.

Graphic Novels: This collection includes traditional and contemporary comics, and manga.

Zines: Zines are small format publications, usually self-published.

Large Print : This collection is primarily used by people who have difficulty reading print of standard size.

Talking Books: These are recorded books, either on compact disc, in MP3 format or in electronic format downloadable to your computer or other device. They are popular with people who would like listening to books being read or who have a visual impairment.

Local History Collections: These are at North Melbourne and East Melbourne Libraries. Most items can only be used in the libraries.

Environmental Resources Collection: This collection is housed at East Melbourne Library and contains a range of resources from the very basics of home energy saving and recycling to the challenging issues of global environmental sustainability.

Want to know what your power usage is costing you and the environment?
Borrow a Power Mate from the Melbourne Library Service and find out.

The Power Mate consists of a hand-held meter which can be connected to any electronic appliance which measures the power in watts, voltage and current.
The meter can also tell you: the cost of running the appliance, how much energy the appliance used in kilowatt-hours and how many kilograms of greenhouse
gas emissions it produced. This device will help individuals become more aware of their energy consumption. Just ask for Powermate at the front service counter.
Some handy tips on using a Power-Mate.

Request a purchase

If the Library does not have an item that you are interested in, you can suggest that we purchase it.

To find out what books and other material we have, refer to our catalogue.

What we purchase will be guided by the MLS Collection Development Policy. If the item is unavailable for purchase, or unsuitable for the collection, you can request an interlibrary loan. This means that we will try to obtain it from another library to lend to you.

Download the MLS Collection Development Policy (PDF, 172kb) This link opens in a new browser window