The Carmelite Library faces the future with a well-focussed and coherent collection policy in areas of perennial significance which are also of great current interest in the Australian community. They are not covered in such depth elsewhere in the country. The Carmelitana collection is the most comprehensive in the region and among the few such collections in the world; in the area of spirituality and mysticism we have a nationally significant collection of periodicals and monographs; and the Library has the largest Australian holding in Mariology, including all the scholarly periodicals.

The Carmelites want to continue to build on what they have begun, and to carry into the future a resource which has already been long in the making. There is a committment to make this treasure house of the “wisdom of the elders" better known in Melbourne and beyond, and more accessible to interested users, as well as continuing its development according to a vision of excellence.

After 65 years at Donvale, the Library found a new home in Middle Park, where the Carmelites have ministered since 1882. It is in a constant state of creative evolution. The Carmelites are dedicated to making the Library realise its potential as a cultural, intellectual, and spiritual resource for the Australian community.

The Library is focussed on the exciting new possibilities to better realising its potential, as a resource both for scholarship and for the spiritual journey. We want to make this splendid resource more widely available to the community, whether to the scholar with a major research project or to the reader in search of spiritual enrichment.

To this end, the Carmelites have formed a partnership with the University of Divinity for the management of the Library from October 2023 to December 2024. During this time the University team will work with the Carmelite Library Interim Board to collaboratively develop recommendations as to the most appropriate long-term structure for the library operation.

• You can read more about these changes here.

We invite you to share our enthusiasm for the Library's future.