Sidney Myer part of Australian library heritage

At the end of next month I'm doing a presentation for a local service club, about the role of Sidney Myer in Bendigo's history.

His exploits in haberdashery in Bendigo are known (not well known though), and I'll also cover his membership of the Sandhurst Mechanics Institute.

When I prepare the powerpoint, I'll post it to the blog

I've been everywhere, man...

I was recently assessing some items in the collection at Eaglehawk Mechanics Institute in Central Victoria, and came across this book - How Can I Forget? by Jan Tempest - a popular novel from the 1930s.
The interesting thing was the books stamps on the title page:

Roundabout Book Club, Caulfield.
G.R. McGie, Charlton.
Stan Hall, South Yarra.
Taylors Pharmacy, Apollo Bay.
Tresgrove Library, Apollo Bay.
Murchison Mechanics Institute.

All these libraries are long gone, but this book and others like it provide testament to the role these small commercial libraries and Institutes played in the cultural life of our communities.

And that's an amazing journey for a humble romance novel!

Alfred Wesson Mystery Photos

In the 1960s photograper Alfred Wesson photographed all known Mechanics Institutes in Victoria. Many of his splendid photo's can be seen in Pam Baragwanath's book 'If the Walls Could Speak'.

Unfortunately, many of his photos were not labelled, and so remain a tantalising, if mysterious, record of what was then a dissapearing part of the urban and rural landscape.

In an effort to see if we can identify these institutes, MIV has loaded them on to Flickr so you can help us identify them.

If you recognise any of them, email the details, along with the number of thye photo to pbarag@alphalink.com.au or p.thompson@latrobe.edu.au.

Royal Historical Society of Victoria Seminar Day at Kyneton

A very interesting day was held at the Bowling Club in Kyneton on Saturday. The Royal Historical Society of Victoria held a seminar covering a wide range of topics, chiefly focussed on Mechanics Institutes.

Jim Lowden presented an inspiring and comprehensive overview of the history of Mechanics Instititutes, and in the afternoon, tour of the Kyneton Mechanics Institute was led by Laurene from the Kyneton Historical Society.

The Institute is a fascinating treasure-trove of artifacts and original fixtures and fittings, with many library books and other records held.

The Institute has a fine example of the 'biobox', a room added for the operation of a cineme projector.

Many fine examples of typical MI library books are housed in storage in the hall.

The Institute also features a fantastic example of balcony seating in the cinema/theatre

Ninth Australian Library History Conference

The Mechanics Institutes of Victoria and Monash University Centre for the Book are proud to announce the Ninth Australian Library History Conference

Mechanics Institutes on Google Maps

Something to while away a few minutes – If you have a copy of Pam baragwanaths book – ‘If The Walls Could Speak’ you can use Google maps to find those obscure Mechanics Institutes, and some of them are even findable by the Street View feature – like the Winslow Hall attached

CELEBRATION OF THE 175TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SYDNEY MECHANICS SCHOOL OF ARTS

This year marks the 175th Anniversary of the foundation of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts. A series of events are panned to celebrate this most significant birthday.

A morning tea at Government House on Wednesday 26 March kicked off celebrations, attended by some 200 hundred members of the School at which Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of NSW, became the Patron of the SMSA.

The next event will be on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th October (on 13 October 1831 Henry Carmichael and the Scottish mechanics arrived in Sydney on the good ship Stirling Castle).

In broad outline, the program will be:

Monday 13th October – commencing at 1.30pm a joyous yet serious celebration of the SMSA and the Broader School of Arts and Mechanics Institute movement in Australia. There will be two sessions of 120 minutes each [broken by afternoon tea] featuring short papers and presentations of say 15 to 20 minutes each. Then at 6.00pm a Reception of drinks and canapés will be held for friends of the SMSA. The reception should conclude by 7.30pm - the remainder of the evening is free.

Tuesday 14th October – a Coach Tour to visit Schools of Arts in the Hunter Valley to the west of Newcastle. Because of the distances involved the bus will leave the SMSA at 8.00am and not return until about 6.30pm.