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The State Library of Tasmania began as a subscription library in 1849. In 1859, it received a government subsidy that provided free access for the public to the reading room.
The Library closed temporarily in 1867 through lack of funds, reopening as the Tasmanian Public Library in 1870.
Under the Libraries Act 1943, it became the State Library of Tasmania. It had its own department until 1989 when it merged with the Department of Education and the Arts. The State Library had a close association with the Archives Office of Tasmania, which evolved out of the Library's collection of government records, held since 1949. Administratively both were within the State Library Department until 1989.
