As the common language of almost all people living in Victoria, English is the dominant language of the collections of the State Library of Victoria, and accordingly the bulk of the material acquired will continue to be in English. Because French, Italian, Greek and German are widely learned or known by Victorians these languages have been emphasised. An endeavour has also been made to collect some material in those languages which are widely spoken as first languages by Victoria's ethnolinguistic minorities. Other Collecting Institutions Libraries in universities teaching foreign languages, public libraries and ethnic community libraries also collect non-English language materials.
Newspapers are available at some overseas consulates.
The Library will collect comprehensively all books, periodicals and newspapers published in Victoria in languages other than English. In addition, every effort will be made to acquire material of overseas origin which relates to Victoria or Victorians. Subject areas which the Library emphasises and where it collects in depth such as Art and Chess will of necessity include material in a wide range of relevant languages. Appendix VII provides the most recent census data on language use and the countries of origin of new arrivals to Victoria the nature, level and extent of the teaching of the language in Victoria the degree to which members of a language group have a need for the State Library of Victoria to complement collections provided by other public libraries. Topics emphasised will be Nineteenth and Twentieth Century history, contemporary biography, political life, culture, social issues of the Twentieth Century such as migration and social change, military events of significance, folklore, regional life and history, art and music.