Collections
The first books were donated from a personal collection of a young British gentleman sent to the colonies for public service. Henry Fyshe Gisborne came to Melbourne in 1839, quickly becoming involved in cultural life of the growing city and was elected, along with 7 others, an initial Vice President of the Melbourne Mechanic's. Before setting off on a trip to Great Britain, Gisborne offered his library to the Mechanics Institute. His loan became a bequest in his will when he unfortunately died during the voyage. The collection included 8 reference works, 8 works on history and philosophy, 5 Mechanic's Magazines and 1 novel - Anne Radcliffe's Gaston de Blondeville. The collection progressed slowly but steadily from this point. The purpose of the Mechanic's in the late 1800s was the 'diffusion of useful knowledge and British culture' and it was along these lines that the collection developed. Acquisitions were by both gift and purchase. By 1852, 4,436 standard and scientific works were held in the library and the library was renowned for having every leading journal from Britain and Australia.
In 1880, Mr William Smith was appointed librarian. Smith was a very autocratic librarian and selected all purchases for 36 years until 1911. At this point, the library was in need of rejuvenation after being dominated for so long by one man. In 1909, Mr R.W.E. Wilmot became Secretary and brought a new energy to the whole Athenaeum including the library. With new librarian Mr W.H. Remfrey and his temporary replacement during Imperial Service Mr J. Butler Cooper, the library was modernised. Magazines had been purchased piecemeal during Mr Smith's tenure however Mr Wilmot organised orders through a wholesaler. The Reading Room, with its 'lavish provision of local, interstate and overseas newspapers, journals and magazines' became the most popular branch of the Athenaeum. Mr Butler organised a sale of discarded books and oversaw the library re-arrangement along modern lines such as lowering shelf height and placing books with the face out.
During this time, the library aimed 'to satisfy all tastes' but by the 1930s, critics were bemoaning the lack of current issues being represented. The collection was deridingly described as 'detective, wild west and trashy romances for frivolous readers.' However, sub-letter the Athenaeum Theatre, with seating for 1000 patrons, was often sold out being famous for such novelties as 'talkies' and all-British 'Empire' theatre programmes.
World War Two played havoc on the Empire focussed collection and theatre programmes. In 1943, US literature began to be collected due to acquisitions from the UK being 'subject to long delays'. The librarian of the time, Mr De Pledge, increased the holdings of serious works but also oversaw a period of increased conservatism. For example, the novel Fair stood the Wind for France by H.E. Bates was deemed to be 'blasphemous and indecent' and was withdrawn.
Membership to the library peaked in 1950 with 7579 members, however this decade heralded the beginning of challenging times for subscriber libraries. The general move away from recreational reading due to the introduction of television and the availability of cheap paperbacks led to declining membership. In an attempt to counter this, the Athenaeum introduced a Gramophone record library in 1959. Membership was also affected by the decentralisation of Melbourne and the spreading of the suburbs. In response, a branch library was opened in Forest Hill in 1968. Advertised in 1969 as 'books you will enjoy reading', the Forest Hill branch held modern novels, mysteries, romances, science fiction, non-fiction and a wide range of children's literature.
The Athenaeum Library currently adds around 80 titles per month. The area collected today are: Adventure Fiction; Detective Fiction; Science Fiction; Historical Fiction; Romance Fiction; General Fiction; Graphic Novels; Young Adult Fiction; Junior Fiction; Short Stories; Biography; Non-Fiction; D.V.D.; and Ebooks. As is evidence by the emphasis on fiction, the collection is developing within the Athenaeum slogan 'the pleasure of words'
Bassett, M 1966, Gisborne, Henry Fyshe (Fysche) (1813 - 1841), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, viewed 6 May 2012, <http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gisborne-henry-fyshe-fysche-2099>
2012 Lists - Public Lists, Melbourne Athenaeum Library, Melbourne, viewed 6 May 2012, <https://mal.calyx.net.au/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?display=publicshelves>
Picture credit:
笑点-D 2010, 144_Melbourne Athenaeum Library_INTERIOR_1,笑点-D's photostream, flickr, viewed 30 April 2012, <http://www.flickr.com/photos/yulawly/4839653736/>
