Humble beginnings: the Auckland Mechanics Institute and the creation of the Auckland Public Library

Today, the Auckland Public Library is a modern center of learning, community connection, and houses an abundance of books. Many of us see the library as a vital public necessity, something justifiably funded through rates and other government revenue. Few would ever question our right to access books for free. However, this wasn’t always the case. Similarly, the Auckland Public Library occupies a purpose-built space that is both functional and conducive to learning and connection. Again, this also wasn’t always the case. A central part of the story of the Auckland Public Library lies in the growing recognition of the library as a place of importance, and the changing role of the library throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Over a series of four articles, I will explore key stages of development for our treasured Library. This article starts at the beginning, and it will explore the Auckland Public Library’s early days, and how some of the legacies of the Mechanics Institute have endured.

While Auckland’s first public library was technically birthed in 1880, the story really begins in 1842, in a humble building known as the Auckland Mechanics Institute. This institute served as an intellectual and cultural centre for Aucklanders for almost forty years during the inception years of the colonial city. The legacy of the Mechanics Institute shaped the Auckland Public Library in later years, in relation to the perceived importance of the library and its services to the community. Additionally, the subscription system that existed for the lending of books in the public library, one of the drawbacks until 1946, endured for so long, I believe, because of the Mechanics Institute.

The Auckland Mechanics Institute

Image: Mechanics Institute, Auckland Central, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1043-09.

The Auckland Mechanics Institute was founded in 1842 and was modelled on similar institutions in Britain. It was set up by a small committee, headed by Chairman C.B. Brewer (a barrister), and was in a rented cottage on the corner of Chancery and O’Connell Streets. Similar institutes opened in other areas of Auckland too from the 1860s, such as the Onehunga Institute, Newton Athenaeum and Waiuku (literary) Institute, to name a few. While these were all separate institutions, they had generally similar services and maintained similar goals to the Auckland Mechanics Institute. It served as a place to “stimulate interest in educational and cultural matters…and [provide] means of self improvement.” This was achieved by providing literary recreation through its small library as well as a meeting place for citizens to share music, run classes, and attend lectures. The fees from these services provided the institute’s revenue. Looking at the beginnings of the library, when the institute opened on 30 September 1842, the book stock was around one hundred, similar to the number of members at the time.

The institute faced problems from early in its lifetime. The inadequacy of over fifteen librarian -secretaries of the institute from 1846 to 1880 was a significant hinderance to library service.Wynne Colgan, the author of The Governor’s Gift, described it as a kind of sickness, “The sickness that was ultimately to carry off the institute had already set in, though the patient would linger for another 34 years.” Lack of funds, however, was the principal issue. This unfortunately meant that the institutions facilities could not be updated or improved with frequency. The deterioration in facilities contributed to less enthusiasm and use for the institute, leading once again to an even greater lack of money. Some of the criticisms heard from members focused on things like the lack of new books and conditions such as dogs laying in the reading room, leading to a strong stench and concerns about the invasion of fleas.

The future of the Mechanics Institute looked brighter when The Public Libraries Act was passed in 1869. It stated “…it is expedient to promote the establishment of Free Public Libraries for the instruction and recreation of the People.” The idea was mooted to convert the Mechanics Institute, already the literary centre of Auckland, into a public library, as the institute as it stood was a ‘discredit to Auckland’ that needed resuscitation. One Aucklander was particularly vocal in 1870 about their distaste for the institution, telling the Auckland Star: “I make bold to join in the total condemnation of everything belonging to the Auckland Mechanics Institution.” A free public library would unburden the institute of its financial woes and shift them onto ratepayers  (the library rate not exceeding one penny per pound). After many more years of inadequacy, a Council ratepayer poll taken to transform the institute into a public library was 637 in favour, and 91 against. Finally on the 7th of September 1880, Auckland, and more broadly New Zealand, got its first free public library. At this stage, use of the library was free, until the lending department opened in 1889, which implemented a fee to borrow books. 

“The Governor’s Gift”

The title of Wynne Colgan’s book on the history of the Auckland Public Library (a great read for a more in-depth history): The Governor’s Gift: The Auckland Public Library 1880-1980, reflects the enduring impact that Governor George Grey had on the library in the late nineteenth century. The planned donation of his collection in 1882 (his ‘gift’) would greatly increase both the stock and prestige of the library, which demanded a better building than the dilapidated shell of the Auckland Mechanics Institute. It would provide a fresh start and room for growth, away from the reputation of ‘total condemnation’ the building once had. The architects were Grainger and D'Ebro, from Melbourne, who won a design competition for the new building.

Image: Auckland Public Library and Art Gallery on the occasion of its opening on 26 March 1887, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1053-5640.

In March 1887 the new building was unveiled, with the building being shared between the Public Library, the Art Gallery (opening the year after, which has since taken over the entire building, as of 1971), civic offices, and the Elam School of Fine Art (the space was later occupied by the Old Colonists Museum after Elam relocated). It wasn’t until 1971 that the current Central Library building was opened, which is the subject of Article 4. This magnificent 1887 building was home to the Auckland Public Library for close to a century. George Grey had ambitious aspirations for the new library evident in his address at the opening of the new building, he elaborated: “a library suited to the future capital of a great ocean, a library fitted to cultivate people of many languages and many nations, a library calculated in centuries from this time, I trust--to be the admiration of the world.” The new library now held a newspaper reading room, a chess and draughts room, the many shelves of the reference department, and in 1889, a lending department.

Image: The reading room of the Auckland Free Public Library Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19010822-10-01.

While all other aspects of the library were free, a fee was charged for lending. Some suggested that lending should be free also, but one commenter in the New Zealand Herald said that asking ratepayers to contribute to a free lending service would be unfair, both to commercial booksellers and ratepayers who wouldn’t make use of the service. According to this disgruntled commentator, a free lending service was as justified as “…if we asked that the ratepayers should be supplied—well, say with medical advice and drugs free of charge!” Here, the criticism is that if medical services are still charged for, book lending should be too. Another commenter described a lending library as a ‘luxury’ not something anyone has a right to expect. Part of the reason lending was charged for may well have simply been a leftover operational artifact from the Mechanics Institute era, where the borrowing of books incurred a charge. The free public library was already partly funded through rates, so there seemed to be a line of how far ratepayers’ money could contribute to library services. How much did ratepayers in Auckland during this period see the library as a public necessity? In the late 19th century, in relation to how we chose to fund the library, it appears it was not to the same extent as we do now.

Image: A series of sketches at the Auckland Free Public Library News Room, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19010822-08-01.

The Auckland Public Library, being born out of the Mechanics Institute, inherited and maintained some of the legacies which were initiated at the Mechanics Institute. The encouragement of public education, recreation and providing a meeting place for Aucklanders have remained a constant from the inception of the Institute. However, while the Mechanics Institution was admirable in its goals and motivations, the paid borrowing system that endured for decades in the Public Library held back the recognition and potential of the library as a vital public service for all Auckland city residents until decades later. The next article in this series picks up the story of the Auckland Public Library, jumping ahead to its importance to Aucklanders through wartime. We gain more insight into the vital role of libraries in public life, which became highlighted in this time of crisis. This period had a significant impact on the eventual decision to make lending free and thus provides a valuable case study in the life of the Auckland Public Library. 

Author: Star Jackson, Auckland History Initiative Summer Research Scholar

Star is currently completing her final year of study in a Bachelor of Arts majoring in History and Philosophy.  

As a lifetime user of the Auckland Public Library, both in the services it provides and the library space itself, Star felt compelled to dive deeper into the different chapters of its history. Her research delves into the history of the Auckland Public Library as a place of changing and growing significance to Aucklanders. Her project starts from the beginning of the library’s history in the 19th century, when the Auckland Public Library was housed in the humble Mechanics Institute in Chancery Street, to the opening of the Art Gallery and Public Library building in 1887. Next she focuses on the library during World War Two, and then how Auckland residents gained a free lending service in 1946. She wraps up with the development of the current Central City Library building, which, after being long overdue, opened its doors in 1971 to a grateful public.  

Star would like to thank her supervisors Jess Parr and Linda Bryder for their invaluable guidance and support throughout the research project. She would also like to thank the Librarians and the Research and Heritage team at the Auckland Central City Library who have been amazing at guiding Star toward sources about their library’s history. Another thanks to the staff at the Auckland Council Archives for their help with archival material. Lastly, a big thanks to the University of Auckland for funding the project. 

Read the rest of Star's research on the Auckland History Initiative website.