Cirrus@Austlit

The Book Lovers' Library began in 1896 in a shop in Queen's Walk, Melbourne, and was later conducted at 239 Collins Street. Managed for most of its existence by Elsie Belle Champion, it was probably founded by Elsie's future husband, Henry Hyde Champion, and her mother, Isabella Goldstein. Champion shared the management from 1898, and founded the journal the Book Lover partly to promote the Library's holdings. The business supported the Champions after H. H. Champion became bankrupt in 1922.

Originally a subscription library which catered for mildly radical and artistic tastes, over the years the business evolved into a bookshop, called in later years the Book Lovers' Bookshop and Library. Paul Warrego's Diary of a New Chum was published by the Library in 1908. The business went bankrupt in 1936.