How to find books in languages other then English
Our Library has resources in a range of languages. Some of these can be found on the shelf, however most are in storage and need to be ordered through the catalogue. To do this, and to access much of our online material, you will need to be a member of the Library. If you are a Victorian resident it is easy to sign up and become a library member.
As we are a research and reference library you will find our collection is set up a bit differently to your local library in that:
This guide will show you how to:
The Ian Potter Queen's Hall has a browsable collection of Australian literature. This includes translations into languages other than English. These are organised by language.
The Pauline Gandel Children's Quarter also has a section devoted to books in languages other than English, including Australian Indigenous languages.
To find more items in other languages on our shelf, perform an advanced catalogue search:
To allow for variations in catalogue records, we recommend also performing your search without step 3 to discover all available titles.
Below is a screenshot of an advanced catalogue search for books in Japanese. There are also pre-made searches for other languages provided in the Quick Searches box on the right side of this page.
To find newspapers in other languages on our shelves, perform a catalogue search:
Below is a screenshot of a catalogue search for newspapers in Arabic.
Sourced from: State of Victoria Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. (2021). Directory of public library services in Victoria 2021 (PDF).
Here are some quick searches for books in other languages.
Find on shelf means those items are in our open access reading rooms:
You can change the language from the search to find other languages.