by PMI Librarian | Apr 30, 2026 | Blog, Collections, Local Histories, Plotting History
Have you ever wondered where the name of your street came from? Here at the PMI Library, we specialise in Victorian history, which began well before the area was known as Victoria or established as a state. This means that we not only have items in our collections...
by PMI Librarian | Apr 22, 2026 | Blog, Collections
Women have always been part of the workforce, but many of their occupations have historically been labelled “women’s work”. However, beyond the stereotypical roles of homemakers and domestic servants, women of the past also broke new ground and seized far more agency...
by PMI Librarian | Mar 18, 2026 | Blog, Collections
With the 2026 men’s season of the AFL now underway, we at the PMI Library thought we’d write up a list of books about the AFL and Australian Rules football in general. Quintessentially Victorian, Australian Rules football emerged in the mid to late 1800s and is the...
by PMI Librarian | Jan 21, 2026 | Blog, Collections, News
….and why do we have a lecture named after her? Florence Bartleman was the first female librarian at the PMI Library, and, arguably, our first professional librarian. She only appears briefly in our minute books, where the Library Sub-Committee recorded a...
by PMI Librarian | Jan 14, 2026 | Blog, Collections
In today’s blog post, we research the history of Prahran using only the resources at the PMI Victorian History Library. The history of Prahran is a long and interesting one. These sources that have used to research this history are only a small number of the large...
by PMI Librarian | Jan 2, 2026 | Blog, Collections
What’s on the shelf today, you ask? If you’ve spent any time following us on social media, you’ll know that our resident library cow, Clementine (with the occasional help from her friend Luna the penguin) has a knack for recommending the perfect read. Whether...
