Origins of Our Public Libraries

ORIGINS OF OUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES: SCHOOLS OF ARTS & INSTITUTES

The foundations of modern libraries draw on the community-building role of Schools of Arts and Mechanics’, Literary and other Institutes. Around 140 Schools of Arts or Mechanics’ Institutes were established in the main streets of many Sydney suburbs during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and perhaps as many as 750 were established across the entire state.3 Set up by volunteers, often assisted by a small government subsidy or crown land grant, these places were centres of local community life. These buildings have mostly been taken over now by local councils and are used as public libraries or neighbourhood centres, if they have not been sold. Following the Enlightenment, with its passion for science and popular improvement, the School of Arts Movement, or the Mechanics’ Institute Movement, originated in Scotland and spread through the English-speaking world in the mid-nineteenth century. Public lectures were held for manual workers, known then as mechanics or artisans. They were to benefit from improved knowledge and skills that they could apply to their changing work practices. ‘Technical’ education in NSW can be traced back to the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, established in 1833. Popular music and dancing were offered, as well as geometry and architectural drawing; public lectures were held with the view that education should enrich society as well as improve job prospects. Responding to community demand, this form of education appealed to members of the public who were interested in science and art for interest’s sake, as well as those who were interested in what was to become known as vocational training. In 1878, the Committee of the School of Arts formed the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts Working Men’s College, referred to as Sydney Technical College. In 1883, the NSW government formed the Board of Technical Education to operate it. This moment is viewed by many as the birth of the TAFE system in NSW. Tyalgum, in the Tweed Shire, offers an example of a literary and mechanics’ institute formed in that town in 1908. A group of selectors formed a progress association and decided to build a community hall with donation money of £100. The Tyalgum Literary Institute became the centre for community activities, including boxing, debating, dancing and film evenings. It has since been used for church services, a bank branch, school room, dental surgery, picture theatre and many balls. Fundraising activities at the hall have provided money for local charities, and since 1991, the Tyalgum Festival of Classical Music has thrived thanks to the hall’s excellent acoustics and the efforts of the local community.

3 Source: "The School of Arts Movement" by Catherine Freyne, Dictionary of Sydney, 2010.

“‘Technical’ education in NSW can be traced back to the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, established in 1833. Popular music and dancing were offered, as well as geometry and architectural drawing...”

Images: Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts Library, previously the Independent Chapel looking from Pitt Street entrance, circa 1920, S. J. Hood, 124 Pitt Street, Sydney, press photographer (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales).

ORIGINS OF OUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES: THE FREE LIBRARY MOVEMENT

Although the Schools of Arts and Institutes were a community-based effort to provide learning opportunities to the public, they struggled to meet the need for information resources across Australia’s cities and regions. The 1935 Munn-Pitt Survey was scathing in its criticism of our State Libraries and of the collections that were available to local communities, and it prompted a grassroots effort to make quality, free library access available to all. At the Chatswood-Willoughby School of Arts on 26 June 1935, the NSW Free Library Movement was formed. The Movement was established with two clear objects:

• to advocate and work for the establishment of free libraries; and • to create and foster public opinion on the value of free libraries.

Drawing on the commitment and expertise of its founders and supporters, the Movement mounted a sophisticated campaign to build public support across the state and enlist allies of all persuasions, including the Country Women’s Association, business leaders, trade unions, farmers and politicians. This grassroots movement envisioned freely accessible public libraries in local communities across NSW, and recognised the importance not only of access to books, but of a quality library building and services for the local community. Support for the movement spread and branches were established around NSW, while similar organisations formed in other states.

With the support of Education Minister David Drummond, the NSW Government established a Library Advisory Committee, which included Free Library Movement leaders, and in 1938, the Committee released a report recommending the establishment of a system of local libraries that should be subsidised by the state. By late 1939, the legislation to implement these recommendations was ready, and the Library Act, with its one shilling per capita subsidy to local authorities with a public library, became law. In the years that followed, the number of public libraries grew, and the Movement’s aims were achieved through the commitment of local communities and the funding support of the state government.

“The Free Library Movement is an opportunity for each of you to do something which will be of benefit, not only to this generation, but for the generations that are to come.”

Geoffrey Cochrane Remington on 2GB radio, 12 January 1936.

Images: Previous page: Cover of the Free Library Movement booklet of 1936 [source: Trove].

This page: Articles from New South Wales newspapers during the time of the Free Library Movement [source: Trove].