Adelaide - Libraries and Institutes

Birth of First Library and The Adelaide Book Society

(Taken from Geoffrey H. Manning's A Colonial Experience)

Introduction

Five massive buildings on North Terrace form the magnificent result of a small and insignificant literary association that was born about the time of the foundation of South Australia. These buildings house the Adelaide Circulating Library and Reading Room, the Public Library, the Museum, the administrative offices and the Art Gallery and are distinctive landmarks on North Terrace.

In 1834, or two years before the proclamation of the colony of South Australia, a Literary and Scientific Institute was established in London at a meeting of persons interested in promoting the new undertaking. The inaugural address was given by Richard Davies Hanson.

The first accommodation provided for the young library was an old schoolroom, twelve feet square, on the Park Lands close to where the railway station stands today. Here the infant kicked feebly, for members were few for many had little time for reading. Members of the association presented books for the benefit of others, but the most valuable parcel came out on the Tam O'Shanter in the form of a creditable library comprising 117 books - This may be considered as the nucleus of that magnificent collection now housed in our Public Library.

A somewhat similar institution in the form of a Mechanics' Institute followed. Both bodies had few members and a union was hailed with joy by the respective officials in 1839 when the pompous title of the Library and Scientific Association and Mechanics' Institute was conferred upon the new body. But the amalgamation had little benefit.

Expenses increased, members were few and many valuable books passed to a Mr da Costa to cover a debt of £20. They remained in his hands until 1845 when they were purchased by a few generous citizens and the South Australian Library formed. This new body had for its main object the promotion of a public library, but its struggles were bitter and it fought uphill against increasing expenditure and decreasing membership.

In 1848 the question of uniting with the Library and Scientific Association and Mechanics' Institute, which had been labouring under great difficulties, was raised. The books of the SA Library were valued at £346 while the institute's were worth only £48 and this body was requested to contribute the difference before any union occurred. Long' and occasionally bitter, discussion followed and it was some time before a definite settlement was reached. At this time the membership of the two bodies was about 475.

Following the removal from the wooden shanty in the Park Lands, rooms were rented in Peacock Buildings in Hindley Street following which a move was made to Neale's Exchange, later known as Gresham Buildings in King William Street. Finally, the South Australian Institute was located in the building on North Terrace, now occupied by the Adelaide Circulating Library.

The year 1856 was a red-letter one in the library history of the colony, for it was then that the South Australian Institute Act came into operation and in that year the SA Institute was born. This body took over the whole of the books of the SA Library and Mechanics' Institute and was the forerunner of the great institution operating today.

Books were obtained in large quantities and all space was soon utilised. In addition, lectures and educational talks were given in this building and in many odd corners could be found museum specimens, collections of objects of natural history and scientific and artistic works. Despite the fact that more room was required it was not until December 1884 that the Public Library building was opened.

First Private Circulating Society

In about 1842 the first private circulating society in South Australia was formed and called 'The Book Club'. I am not in a position to give much information on it and it is a pity that records of such clubs and associations have dropped into the limbo of careless keeping. All I have been able to gather concerning it is from a list of membership found inside the cover of a book once belonging to the late Dr Moore. From that list I learned that Sir George Grey was the patron and that it had 28 members. It is without doubt that the club ceased to exist prior to 1844 and merged into the Adelaide Book Society.

The Adelaide Book Society

It was in 1844 that a new book society - The Adelaide Book Society - was called into life. Minutes of its first meeting are not obtainable and, therefore, little light can be thrown upon its early management Its origin was, like that of many useful undertakings, the result of a promiscuous interchange of friendly thoughts between men possessing reflective minds and of serious habits of life.

It evolved from a discussion that took place at a very unpretentious but convivial dinner party on board a ship that was lying in the river at Port Adelaide waiting to be cargoed with wool coming down from the few stations that existed in those days.

In an autographic letter of Mr George Young to Mr Henry Watson, the former wrote thus: 'Mr Calder and I at the time of its formation were keeping house together as bachelors in the residence of Captain George Hall, then absent in England. We were both fond of reading, but finding a difficulty in obtaining any supply of new literature, except one monthly copy of Blackwood's Magazine, which Platt's lent at threepence per night, we concocted one evening the plan of the society.'

General Notes

"The Public Library - South Australia's Firstborn" is in the Register,
16 October 1914, page 7a.

A meeting called to form a Mechanics' Institute is reported in the Observer,
21 August 1847, page 7c; also see
15 and 22 April 1848, pages 3a and 2d,
7 September 1850, page 1e (supp.),
19 October 1850, page 2b (supp.),
26 November 1853, page 2a (supp.),
3 December 1853, page 1b (supp.).

For its disbandment and the formation of a "National Institute" see Observer,
20 September 1856, page 6e,
25 August 1860, page 6d,
Register,
18 and 27 September 1856, pages 2d and 2d,
8 October 1856, page 2e,
5 December 1856, page 2e,
30 January 1857, page 2e,
3 February 1857, page 2g,
4 July 1857, page 2f,
11 August 1857, page 3g,
6 October 1857, page 3g,
9 December 1857, page 3h,
28 April 1858, page 3h,
22 September 1859, page 2f,
24 July 1860, page 3h,
24 August 1860, page 2g,
28 and 30 January 1861, pages 3e and 3d,
19 July 1861, page 4d,
5 August 1861, page 2h,
4 February 1862, page 2g,
6 November 1862, page 2e,
17 October 1863, page 2f,
4 December 1863, page 2g,
21 October 1865, page 2d,
12 October 1866, pages 2b-3f,
8 December 1869, page 2c.

A meeting of the SA Institute is reported in the Register,
17 May 1859, page 3g.

Information on Literary and Scientific Institutes is in the Observer,
17 and 31 October 1857, pages 6f and 5d,
5 June 1858, page 1a (supp.),
on the SA Literary Societies Union in the Express,
6 and 13 September 1884, pages 3c and 3d,
4 September 1885, page 3g,
4, 5 and 18 September 1891, pages 2c, 2e and 3f,
4 August 1892, page 4a,
27 October 1892, page 4b,
27 October 1893, page 2e,
30 October 1896, page 4a,
10 September 1897, page 3d,
12 September 1900, page 4c,
29 August 1901, page 4a,
11 September 1901, page 4d,
5 September 1902, page 3f,
21 August 1905, page 2c.
"Literary Institutes" is in the Register,
9 April 1858, page 2f.

A testimonial to E.H. Hallack is reported in the Register,
10 May 1873, page 6f.

Institute examinations and the presentation of certificates are reported upon in the Register,
10 July 1877, page 6e.

The Institute building is described in the Register,
26 January 1881, page 6f; also see
9 May 1881, page 4f,
7 August 1905, page 3g.

"Free Libraries" is in the Register,
7 August 1882, page 4e.

"The South Australian Institute" is in the Register,
15 October 1883, page 4e.

The inaugural meeting of the SA Literary Societies Union is reported in the Register,
7 December 1883, page 6a; also see
13 September 1884, page 7a,
16 October 1884, page 5c,
22 September 1896, pages 4h-6f.

Information on the SA Literary Societies Union is in the Express,
6 and 13 September 1884, pages 3c and 3d,
4 September 1885, page 3g,
4, 5 and 18 September 1891, pages 2c, 2e and 3f,
4 August 1892, page 4a,
27 October 1892, page 4b,
27 October 1893, page 2e,
30 October 1896, page 4a,
10 September 1897, page 3d,
12 September 1900, page 4c,
29 August 1901, page 4a,
11 September 1901, page 4d,
5 September 1902, page 3f,
21 August 1905, page 2c.

Historical information on the (SA?) Literary Societies' Union is in the Register
11 December 1903, page 7h; also see
9 July 1904, page 4a for reference to the Adelaide Literary Society.

"Literary Societies' Competitions" is in the Register,
13 and 14 September 1904, pages 4d and 6f; also see
6 and 7 September 1905, pages 6e and 6b,
15 September 1906, page 6d.
Photographs of winners are in The Critic,
13 September 1902, page 5,
19 September 1903, page 14,
21 September 1904, page 6,
12 July 1905, page 22.

"Public Libraries and Institutes" is in the Register,
27 June 1884, page 4e.

"Subsidies to Country Institutes" is in the Register,
6 June 1885, page 7f,
"Country Institutes" on
21 July 1885, page 4g.

"Birth of First Library" is in The Mail,
21 April 1928, page 3c.
"Ancient Book Club - Founded in 1844" is in The Mail,
20 June 1925, page 1f; also see
16 January 1926, page 2e.
"At the Public Library" is in the Advertiser,
22 February 1922, page 10c,
"Adelaide's Garden of Books" in The Mail,
9 January 1926, page 11c,
"Books of Past Centuries - Rare Volumes in Adelaide Libraries" on
17 August 1929, page 21c.
"The Public Library" is in the Register,
1 February 1886, page 4f,
"The Public Libraries Bill" on
3 November 1887, page 4h.

"Boys' and Girls' Lending Library" is in the Register,
9 and 13 January 1888, pages 4h and 7h.

Information on the Adelaide Book Society is in the Register,
30 October 1888, page 5a.

Biographical details of Robert Kay, a long-time employee of the SA Institute, are in the Observer,
11 June 1898, page 16c.

Literary Society competitions are reported in the Register,
18 September 1891, page 7b,
11 April 1892, page 5c,
16 September 1892, page 4f,
15 and 16 September 1898, pages 4f and 6d.

"Literary Societies" is in the Register,
10 and 11 September 1901, pages 4c and 8d.

A photograph of a prizegiving ceremony of the SA Literary Society Union is in the Chronicle,
13 September 1902, page 44.
A photograph of certificate winners in the SA Literary Societies' Union is in the Observer,
30 September 1905, page 29.

Literary societies are discussed in the Register,
12 September 1900, page 6d,
10 September 1901,
4 September 1902, page 4c; also see
4 March 1905, page 8g,
6 and 7 September 1905, pages 6e and 6b,
20 April 1906, page 4d,
15 September 1906, page 6d.

An obituary of R.S. Benham, librarian, is in the Register,
2 July 1896, page 6g.

A presentation to Robert Kay, Director and Secretary of the Public Library, is reported in the Register,
2 and 4 June 1898, pages 4h and 5c.

"Historic Literary Society, 1860-1892" is in The Mail,
24 August 1912, page 9b.
Also see Buildings.

"An Inadequate National Library" is in the Observer,
13 October 1900, page 29e.

Biographical details of a librarian, J.R.G. Adams are in the Observer,
13 October 1900, page 30d,
Register,
3 May 1904, page 5a and
an obituary in the Observer,
23 August 1919, page 14d.
"Forty Years Among Books [J.R.G. Adams]" is in the Observer,
17 August 1918, page 20b.

Information on the SA Institute is in the Observer,
17 May 1856, page 5b,
16 and 30 August 1856, pages 6d and 6f,
27 September 1856, page 1b (supp.),
13 December 1856, page 1e (supp.),
7 February 1857, page 6g,
9 May 1857, page 3e,
7 and 21 May 1859, pages 3c and 2h (supp.),
24 September 1859, page 6d.
Historical information on the formation of the South Australian Institute is in the Register,
18 June 1918, page 4f.

Its inaugural soiree is reported in the Advertiser,
30 January 1861, page 3e.
A brief historical sketch of the Institute appears on
26 October 1863, page 2d; also see
Chronicle,
1 September 1866, page 4e,
Express,
28 April 1879, page 2c.
Its history is in the Observer,
15 November 1879, page 10a; also see
Chronicle,
3 May 1879, page 5a.

An editorial on the SA Institute is in the Register,
12 October 1866, page 2b and
15 October 1873, page 4e; also see
5 May 1874, page 4c.

The laying of the foundation stone of a new institute is reported in the Register,
8 November 1879, page 1a (supp.); also see
26 January 1880, page 4e.

"Country Institutes as Popular Educators" is in the Register,
29 November 1897, page 4f.

"Card Playing in Institutes" is in the Register,
22 December 1899, page 4h,
Observer,
23 December 1899, page 28d,
Register,
16 February 1901, page 7a.

"Old Time Memories - The SA Institute" is in the Observer,
8 and 22 June 1907, pages 46a and 53a; also see
Register,
22 and 24 May 1907, pages 8a and 7g,
8 June 1907, page 13c,
Register,
13 January 1907, page 6f.

A photograph of an Institute conference is in the Observer,
22 September 1917, page 23.

"The Circulating Library" is in the Register,
9 February 1884, page 4g,
9 October 1885, page 7f,
29 May 1909, page 8h.
Information on the Adelaide Circulating Library is in The News,
23 June 1927, page 6e.

Information on the public library is in the Express,
3 July 1884, page 3e.
"The Public Library" is in the Register,
8 November 1884, page 2f (supp.),
17 and 18 May 1894, pages 5b and 4f,
"The Public Library - A Splendid Asset" on
14 June 1905, page 7d.

"What the People Read - The Public Library" is in the Register,
25 September 1897, page 5h.

"The Public Library - Some of Its Treasures" is in the Register,
17 June 1899, page 4b.

"A Plea for Public Libraries" is in the Register,
22 July 1899, page 4f.

The workings of the Institutes' Association is discussed in the Express,
22 August 1899, page 4c.

"Mean Thieves and the Public Library" is in the Register,
21 October 1899, page 4f,
"Literary Thieves and Robbers" on
2 January 1903, page 7g.

An obituary of Robert Kay, librarian, is in the Observer,
30 April 1901, page 43a,
of A.A.S. Styles, assistant librarian, on
23 May 1908, page 40a,
of Claude Lindsay, Chairman of the Adelaide Circulating Library, on
13 May 1911, page 39a.

"How the Country Institutes are Supplied" is in the Register,
12 January 1903, page 6f.

Historical information on the SA Literary Societies Union Parliament is in the Register,
14 July 1904, page 4g; also see
15 July 1904, pages 4f-6f,
28 October 1904, page 7g,
4 November 1904, page 6c.

"The Institutes' Subsidy" is in the Observer,
6 July 1901, pages 25b-30c-44a,
11 April 1908, page 39d.
Register,
28 June 1901, page 4e.

"Public Library Additions - The Eastern Wing" is in the Register,
30 and 31 October 1908, pages 5c and 11a.

"Institutes" is in the Register,
13 April 1909, page 4c.

"Old Book Shops of Adelaide" is in the Register,
10 May 1924, page 6h.

"A Munificent Bequest [by the late Dr Morgan Thomas]" is in the Register,
13 and 14 March 1903, pages 4d and 6f.

"Spooning" in Institutes is discussed in the Express,
14 January 1905, page 1e.

"Lighting the Public Library" is in the Express,
15 February 1905, page 1g.

A photograph of the staff (named) of the public library, museum and art gallery is in the Observer,
15 April 1905, page 23,
15 September 1917, page 26.

"The York Gate Library" is in the Observer,
5 August 1905, page 49a,
12 December 1908, page 43a,
"The Public Library" on
19 August 1905, page 44a.

"Adelaide Book Society - Its Diamond Jubilee" is in the Register,
19 August 1905, page 10e - it contains the history of early libraries in Adelaide.

"Library Matters" is in the Register,
17 March 1906, page 6e.

"Literature, Natural History and Art [in Adelaide]" is in the Register,
11 January 1907, page 4c.

Biographical details of W.H. Ifould, second librarian, are in the Register,
6 March 1907, page 7b.

"Campaign Against White Ants [in public library]" is in the Register,
15 March 1907, page 4h.

"People at Work - The Librarian" is in the Register,
2 June 1908, page 8f.

"Old Time Memories - The SA Institute" is in the Observer,
8 June 1907, page 46a; also see
22 June 1907, page 53a-54a.

Biographical details of W.B. Caw, librarian, are in the Register,
27 April 1908, page 4h.

A history of "Union Parliaments" in South Australia is in the Register,
29 April 1908, page 3c, 1 May 1908, page 4g.

Biographical details of Percy E. Lewin, cataloguer, are in the Register,
7 July 1908, page 4h,
of H.R. Purnell on
21 December 1912, page 15e,
31 March 1913, page 7c.

"The Public Library Enquiry" is in the Register,
10 December 1908, page 6d.

"Institutes" is in the Observer,
17 April 1909, page 45a.

"Public Library and Institutes" is in the Register,
28 October 1909, page 6d.

"The Public Library" is in the Register,
30 April 1910, page 6c (includes photographs)

"Electric Light at the Library" is in the Register,
16 September 1911, page 14h.

"A Talking Tournament" is in the Register,
19 October 1911, page 6c.

"Model Parliaments" is in the Register,
4 May 1912, page 12f.

"Vandals at Work [at the library]" is in the Observer,
15 June 1912, page 39a.

"The Institutes Association" is in the Register,
11 January 1913, page 11a.

"Help for Country Institutes" is in the Observer,
1 March 1913, page 40e.

Biographical details of H.R. Purnell, librarian, are in the Observer,
5 April 1913, page 48a,
of J.R.G. Adams in the Register,
12 August 1918, page 4h,
18 August 1919, page 7d (obit.).

"Reclassifying the Public Library" is in the Register,
7 April 1914, page 7c.

"Library for Children" is in the Register,
16 February 1915, page 6d,
Observer,
20 February 1915, page 42e,
Register,
16 March 1915, page 7c,
17 July 1915, page 8e,
13 August 1917, page 5e.

"A Department of Historical Records" is in the Observer,
17 July 1915, page 48a.

"Institutes and Libraries" is in the Register,
13 September 1916, page 6c.

"Books We are Asked For" is in the Register,
5 March 1921, page 5d.

Biographical details of A. Rowe are in the Register,
21 December 1921, page 6g.

"At the Public Library" is in the Advertiser,
22 February 1922, page 10c.

"The Public Library - Forty Year's History" is in the Register,
20 December 1924, page 10f.

"A Famous Old [Literary] Society" is in the Register,
13 June 1925, page 7c.

An obituary of William B. Caw, librarian, is in the Register,
17 August 1925, page 8g.

Information on the Royal Colonial Institute is in the Register,
1 April 1926, page 14e.

Biographical details of S. Talbot Smith are in the Observer,
29 May 1926, page 43d.

"Starving the Library" is in the Register,
5 and 6 April 1927, pages 8d and 9c.

"Braille Librarian and Her Work" is in the Advertiser,
8 August 1931, page 5c.

"Free Library Proposal" is in The News,
27 January 1937, page 12e.