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53-561: The John Elliott Theatre shares a building with the Halton Hills Public Library . The theatre features a wide proscenium, sizable stage, orchestra pit, and 260 seats, its space having expanded after the library moved into a new wing in 1973. It is named after John Alwyn Elliott (1923-1978). Together with the art gallery that also shares the building, this space is referred to as the Halton Hills Cultural Centre and

106-651: A charge of blasphemy. In Australia, the first mechanics' institute was established in Hobart in 1827, followed by the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts in 1833, Newcastle School of Arts in 1835, then the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute established in 1839 (renamed the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872 ). From the 1850s, mechanics' institutes quickly spread throughout Victoria wherever a hall, library or school

159-532: A quarterly subscription fee. This new model of technical educational institution gave classes for working men, and included libraries as well as apparatus to be used for experiments and technical education. Its purpose was to "address societal needs by incorporating fundamental scientific thinking and research into engineering solutions". The school revolutionised access to education in science and technology for ordinary people. The first mechanics' institute in England

212-539: A range of wooden units, and featured handwritten cards, typewritten cards and the occasional printed card purchased with a book. Some books on the shelves still had the bottom of the cloth spine painted black, with white letters neatly painted on for the call numbers. A professional cataloguer had helped in the move of the Georgetown Library in 1913 and in the conversion to "Dewey" in 1915, but the subject catalogues were full of "local variations". The staff were all from

265-468: A seniors space including fireside lounge, a dedicated Local History Room, permanent space for Community Partners, four quiet study rooms, 17 Internet stations, wireless Internet access throughout the facility and self-serve checkout stations located throughout the library. The Georgetown Branch received $ 11.6 million in funding, and an additional $ 1,9 million for the Cultural Center. Green initiatives for

318-447: A showcase of new works. 43°38′54″N 79°55′32″W  /  43.648348°N 79.925662°W  / 43.648348; -79.925662 Halton Hills Public Library Halton Hills Public Library ( HHPL ) is the public library system for the Town of Halton Hills , Ontario , Canada . Through its two branches (Georgetown Branch and Acton Branch) and its website, www.hhpl.on.ca ,

371-456: A year she was to enforce all rules, keep the books in systematic order, keep a record of membership, notify delinquents, keep the books, shelves, etc., carefully dusted, to be courteous at all times to members and to report to the board any discourtesy or misconduct on the part of those who visit the library. Wages were raised to $ 50 in 1901, $ 90 in 1913 and $ 120 by 1918. These wages brought Acton in close line with Georgetown where Miss Alberta Glass

424-563: Is operated by the Recreation and Parks Department. This centre is funded by the city and ticket fees, and current supervisor of this centre is Jamie Smith. Today, the theatre shows plays, artistic performances, and films. For the 2018/19 season, the box office listed five plays (three mainstage and two youth productions), two musical performances, and various films, including works by local playwrights. The Georgetown Little Theatre housed in this space produces plays in various categories, including

477-865: Is the oldest school of arts still operating and the largest institute in Australia. Others in NSW include the Moruya Mechanics' Institute and the Scone School of Arts . In South Australia , the South Australian Institute (1838, then 1847–), was the forerunner of the State Library of South Australia , the South Australian Museum , and the Art Gallery of South Australia . The first institute in

530-661: The Andersonian Institute in Glasgow. His fourth annual lecture attracted a crowd of 500, and became an annual occurrence after his departure for London in 1804, leading to the eventual formation on 16 October 1821 of the first mechanics' institute in Edinburgh , the Edinburgh School of Arts (later Heriot-Watt University ). Its first lecture was on chemistry , and within a month it was subscribed to by 452 men who each paid

583-840: The Australian colonies , Mechanics' Institutes were often called Schools of Arts, and they were more likely to be run by the middle-classes. The provision of reading rooms, museums, lectures and classes were still important, but the Australian schools were also more likely to include a social programme in their calendar of events. The earliest and most prominent institute in Tasmania was Van Diemen's Land Mechanics' Institution , also known as Hobart Town Mechanics' Institute, Hobart (1827–1871), co-founded by George Augustus Robinson . The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (1833), in Sydney , New South Wales ,

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636-527: The colony of Victoria was the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute , created in 1839. It was renamed The Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872, and continues to operate a library, theatres and shops in the original building. Many mechanics' institutes, athenaeums, schools of arts and related institutions in the state of Victoria are well documented by the Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria, Inc., whose members range from

689-580: The Acton Free Press, John Cameron, a local builder, and the Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist ministers. So long as the collection consisted of only a couple of thousand titles and library business was only done on two or three nights of the week, only one staff person, typically a young woman was hired. Acton's first public librarian was Miss Ettie Laird, a girl of 16 who also worked at the post office, where among other things she did telegraphy. For $ 40

742-650: The Halton Hills Public Library provides a range of services for Halton Hills residents. There are approximately 17,000 active cardholders, most residing in the communities of Georgetown , Acton , Limehouse, Glen Williams , Speyside , Norval , and surrounding areas. The Georgetown Branch is part of the Halton Hills Library and Cultural Center, sharing space with the John Elliott Theatre and The Helson Gallery. The branch began in 1913 in what

795-522: The Halton Hills area. A registration form is required to be filled out and one piece of ID that shows proof of address is needed at the time of the application. Children will need their legal guardian accompanying them if they would like to get a library card. It costs $ 2.00 to replace a lost library card. As of 2016, the Halton Hills Public Library has switched to sustainable library cards that are made out of Nordic Birchwood and are 100% PVC free. Through

848-620: The Mechanic's Institutes, along with a library and a reading room stocked with newspapers and magazines. The number of Institutes in Ontario had grown substantially since the first two were formed in 1835, but a large number were formed after 1877, when the provincial government, through the Department of Education, began matching local dollars raised. The Georgetown Mechanic's Institute's collection grew rapidly for about three years and slowly, if at all, for

901-540: The Mechanics' Institute. He was appointed director of the institute, which he had originally endowed with the sum of £3700, and held the office till his death in 1841. The London Mechanics' Institute (later Birkbeck College ) was opened in December 1823, and the mechanics' institutes in Ipswich and Manchester (later to become UMIST ) in 1824. By the mid-19th century, there were over 700 institutes in towns and cities across

954-437: The Mechanics' Worldwide Conference, of representatives of, or people who have an interest in, mechanics' institutes. As of 2021, there have been five such conferences: Thousands of mechanics' institutes buildings still operate throughout the world, mostly now used as libraries, parts of universities, adult education facilities, and a few still use their original names and function as a society or other type of organisation. In

1007-501: The Memorial window remains, and that the church bell "be rung each Sabbath for church services". The Carnegie Foundation was promptly asked for $ 4000 to cover the cost of renovating the building, and quickly refused. J.B. Mackenzie of Acton was given the contract for renovations (restrooms, a new metal ceiling) and the library opened in its new official home on October 10, 1913. It was equipped with gymnastic equipment, which during World War I

1060-586: The Methodists and Presbyterians, decided to move next door to Knox Presbyterian. The founding president of the Georgetown Mechanics' Institute, and local industrialist, John R. Barber, with the other trustees of the Congregational Church deeded the building to the Town to be used as a library. The conditions of sale included the provisos that no "gambling of any kind" be permitted on the premises, that

1113-672: The Perth Literary Institute. In Queensland , the Brisbane School of Arts was created in 1873, in a former servants' home. The building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. Over time, as local and state governments started providing libraries, community centres and other types of educational facilities, mechanics' institutes became less important in communities. (alphabetical order by town or city) In addition, each state and territory in

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1166-591: The Robert Little Public School property, and in June 1967, the new library facility opened. The new facility sparked a change in the way the Acton Library operated. Hours shifted from 4.5 to 24.5 per week. It had its own meeting room, tables and chairs for students to work at, and improved parking. The library now had a telephone, and was in a position to request books on interlibrary loans from other libraries in

1219-581: The UK and overseas, some of which became the early roots of other colleges and universities. For example, the University of Gloucestershire , has the Cheltenham Mechanics' Institute (1834) and Gloucester Mechanics' Institute (1840) within its history timeline. It was as a result of delivering a lecture series at the Cheltenham Mechanics' Institute that the radical George Holyoake was arrested and then convicted on

1272-500: The board claimed that they had indeed bought 140 books the previous year, but that there was no room for many more. In the spring of 1933, the Murray family left money to be used to improve library facilities, either in a new building or through renovations in the Town Hall. In the spring of 1935, the library moved around the corner onto Mill Street into what seemed like spacious new quarters in

1325-418: The building such as geothermal heating and cooling systems and a green roof earned the space LEED Silver certification awarded in 2014. The Acton Branch was a stand-alone facility of 3,074 square feet (285.6 m2), built in 1967 as a Centennial project. A new facility of 9,000 square feet (840 m2) was built just east of the existing branch, made possible through an Infrastructure Stimulus Fund grant of $ 2.3M, with

1378-399: The community, and had little or no formal education in librarianship. The 1960s, in a great many other fields as well as libraries, saw a growing movement to professional education, and provincial and national standards of service. Despite considerable local protest, in 1973 the provincial government shifted the footing of local government, merging Esquesing with Acton and Georgetown to create

1431-482: The demand and need for members to use the books. Some mechanics' institutes also offered a programme from the arts; Wisbech Mechanics' institute booked Mrs Butler to give readings from Shakespeare 's plays and Milton 's Paradise Lost to audiences of nearly a thousand. G. Jefferson explains: The first phase, the Mechanics Institute movement, grew in an atmosphere of interest by a greater proportion of

1484-404: The facility, and self-serve checkout stations. Geothermal heating and cooling systems, use of natural light and other green initiatives earned the building LEED Gold certification awarded in 2012. Georgetown Branch - 9 Church Street, Georgetown, Ontario, L7G 2A3 Acton Branch - 17 River Street, Acton, Ontario, L7G 1C2 Available free of charge for any person who lives, works, or attends school in

1537-630: The front of the new YMCA building. The years after World War II dramatically changed the character of both communities. Although in 1901 Acton had stood second only to Oakville in size among Halton 's urban communities, there was almost no growth in population between World War I and World War II . Georgetown, by contrast, had seen steadier growth. Then between 1951 and 1971, Acton's population nearly doubled while Georgetown grew fivefold. Most of these new residents lived in young families. New schools were opened, bringing with them (in some cases) special school library facilities. In Georgetown, some of

1590-617: The grounds that they would ultimately benefit from having more knowledgeable and skilled employees. The mechanics' institutes often included libraries for the adult working class , and were said to provide them with an alternative pastime to gambling and drinking in pubs. Many of the original institutes included lending libraries , and the buildings of some continue to be used as libraries. Others have evolved into parts of universities, adult education facilities, theatres, cinemas, museums, recreational facilities, or community halls. Few are still referred to as mechanics' institutes, but some retain

1643-418: The inadequate old apprentice system and threw into relief the connection between material advancement and the necessity of education to take part in its advantages. Across the world, there is a move to sustain and revive mechanics' institutes and related institutions as subscription libraries , sometimes incorporating or expanding their earlier functions. There have been several worldwide conferences, known as

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1696-516: The materials could be made available to others in the school district. By 1883, the Board of Education for Acton voted to transfer its collection from the overcrowded public school to the new Town Hall, where on Monday evening at 7:00 the public could go and select from nearly 1400 items. Practically the first order of business at the founding meeting of the Acton Free Library Board, 1 April 1898,

1749-407: The middle of the nineteenth century, the formal education of the province's youth was a major priority, making attendance compulsory for an increasingly broad range of age groups. Approved textbooks were at the core of education, but a broader range of books was approved for school "libraries" (usually little more than a couple of shelves in the corner of the single classroom). Under certain conditions,

1802-478: The name and focus as centre of intellectual and cultural advancement. A 21st-century movement, originating in Victoria, Australia , has organised a series of conferences known as Mechanics' Institutes Worldwide Conferences, at which information and ideas for the future of mechanics' institutes are discussed. The foundations of the movement which created mechanics' institutes were in lectures given by George Birkbeck at

1855-818: The new Town of Halton Hills . In accordance with the Public Libraries Act, there could be only one Public Library Board and in 1974 the Boards merged, creating the Halton Hills Public Library. Mechanics%27 Institutes Mechanics' institutes , also known as mechanics' institutions , sometimes simply known as institutes , and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies ), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult education , particularly in technical subjects, to working men in Victorian-era Britain and its colonies . They were often funded by local industrialists on

1908-514: The next dozen. The number of active members in a community of about 1500 slid from more than 100 down to between 60 and 70. Occasionally helped out by a grant of $ 25 or $ 40 (and free rent) from the village council, the Georgetown Mechanic's Institute frequently failed to qualify for any money from the province. Annual membership fees of a dollar were a day's wage for the working men the Institute

1961-433: The population in scientific matters revealed in the public lectures of famous scientists such as Faraday. More precisely, as a consequence of the introduction of machinery a class workmen emerged to build, maintain and repair, the machines on which the blessing of progress depended, at a time when population shifts and the dissolving influences of industrialization in the new urban areas, where these were concentrated, destroyed

2014-409: The pressure was relieved when the junior collection was moved into the basement. With Canada's Centennial still some years off, the federal government announced grants towards community projects to celebrate the nation's 100th birthday. The Acton Library Board was selected ahead of projects like a band hall, a swimming pool, or a chapel at the cemetery. The Board of Education chipped in with a corner of

2067-452: The rate of five cents a day. There were additional fines for turning down the leaves, and marking or defacing books. Noise and loud conversation were forbidden, as was smoking. The Acton Library was open 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. From the beginning, Georgetown's hours were substantially longer: 12:30 to 5:30 each afternoon and 6:30 to 8:00 (summers) or 9:00 (winters). Both collections continued to be housed in

2120-458: The region. The telephone installed in the new Acton Library was, in many ways, symbolic of a new era in library service on a number of levels. Since World War I, high stands of inflexible wooden shelves overflowed with books, the occasional newspaper and National Geographic . The collections had been small enough that the two or three staff knew virtually every title. Many of the staff stayed on for decades or more. The card catalogues were housed in

2173-432: The remaining 1/3 of the cost being covered by the Town of Halton Hills. The new Acton Branch was completed on February 26, 2011 and features a large children’s program room, a Terraced Green for outdoor programs, a teen lounge area and adult lounge sharing a double-sided fireplace, two small meeting/study rooms, a large multi-purpose room for adult programs and meetings, 11 Internet stations, wireless Internet access throughout

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2226-469: The respective Town Halls. In Georgetown, the Board applied to the Carnegie Corporation of New York , which had been so generous with other public libraries across North America, to donate towards a new building. They were turned down in 1903 and again in 1910. The solution presented itself in 1912, when the members of the local Congregational Church, anticipating the union of their church with those of

2279-590: The well-resourced Melbourne Athenaeum to the tiny Moonambel Mechanics' Institute in Moonambel . In the following decades, almost every town in Victoria had a mechanics' institute, usually including a hall, library and reading rooms, games facilities, and both educational programs and entertainment. The first Western Australian institute was the Swan River Mechanics' Institute , established in 1851, later renamed

2332-424: The world. Beyond a lending library , mechanics' institutes also provided lecture courses, laboratories, and in some cases contained a museum for the members' entertainment and education. The Glasgow Institute, founded in 1823, not only had all three, it was also provided free light on two evenings a week from the local gas light company . The London Mechanics' Institute installed gas illumination by 1825, revealing

2385-577: Was formerly the Congregational Church. A significant renovation and expansion of the branch began in April 2011, which increased the size of the library and shared spaces from 12,000 to 34,400 square feet. During the renovation, the Georgetown Branch moved its collection to the former Holy Cross Parish building. The newly renovated building opened in January 2013 with features that included a new teen lounge area,

2438-451: Was hired in 1899 for $ 100 a year. The rules of the Acton Library were fairly simple. You had to be fourteen years old and known to the librarian or vouched for by "responsible citizens". A library card cost five cents, a copy of the printed catalogue another ten. The Dewey Decimal System would not arrive until 1915, and a card catalogue well after that. Members could borrow one book at a time, and overdue fines after two weeks were charged at

2491-473: Was needed. Over 1200 mechanics' institutes were built in Victoria and just over 500 remain today, and only six still operate their lending library services. The Industrial Revolution created a new class of reader in Britain by the end of the 18th century, "mechanics", who were civil and mechanical engineers in reality. The Birmingham Brotherly Society was founded in 1796 by local mechanics to fill this need, and

2544-743: Was opened at Liverpool in July 1823. The second institute in Scotland was incorporated in Glasgow in November 1823, built on the foundations of a group started by Birkbeck. Under the auspices of the Andersonian Institute , where Birkbeck had been chair of natural philosophy from 1799 to 1804 and instituted free lectures on arts, science and technical subjects from 1800. This mechanics' class continued to meet after he moved to London in 1804, and in 1823 they decided to formalise their organisation by incorporating themselves as

2597-467: Was supposed to benefit. By 1895, new provincial legislation encouraged its directors to turn the whole collection (nearly 1300 volumes) over to the village on the condition that access to it be free for all residents of the village. In charge of the newly created "Free Public Libraries" were the newly appointed Public Library Boards. In both communities, Board members included a representative of council. Acton's board included H.P. Moore, editor, and owner of

2650-648: Was the Birmingham Artisans' Library, formed in 1823. Some mechanics' libraries lasted only a decade or two, and many eventually became public libraries or (in the United States) were given to local public libraries after the Public Libraries Act 1850 passed. Though use of the mechanics' libraries was limited, the majority of the users were favourable towards the idea of free public libraries. However, by 1900 there were over 9,000 mechanics institutes around

2703-465: Was the forerunner of mechanics' institutes, which grew in England to over seven hundred in number by 1850. Small tradesmen and workers could not afford subscription libraries, so for their benefit, benevolent groups and individuals created mechanics' institutes that contained inspirational and vocational reading matter, for a small rental fee. Later popular non-fiction and fiction books were added to these collections. The first known library of this type

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2756-527: Was to accept the collection from the Acton Public School Board. The Georgetown collection sprang from a related tradition—that of the Mechanics' Institutes . These were associations whose principal purpose was to encourage those who had finished school, particularly members of the working class, to continue their education. Evening classes and special lectures were a significant part of the program of

2809-528: Was used for training recruits. Just after the war, the YMCA used the facilities. The Acton Library occupied a 15 by 19-foot (5.8 m) room which was inadequate for the collection, let alone the possibility of a "reading room". Again, the Carnegie organization was applied to without success. In 1923, the board was taken to task at the annual provincial library convention for not spending enough on books. In their defense,

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