Contributed by FOLMI member, Kelli Schultz
The headline could read ‘Small boy goes missing from
Library; young girls under suspicion!’ if Margaret Schmidt’s memories of the
Public Library, previously known as The Launceston Mechanics’ Institute, are
anything to go by.
The Mechanics’ Institute was the brain child of a few
prominent Launceston men, including John West, James Aikenhead and Thomas
Button; beginning in 1842 and running out of the Cameron Street Primary School
until a purpose built structure was erected in St John Street in 1860.(1,2) In 1929
the name was changed to Launceston Public Library and this is the venue that
Margaret remembers so fondly from her childhood.3
“I used to visit the Mechanics’ Institute a lot. Well I
didn’t know it as that; it was the library as a child because I loved books. I
really loved reading and researching. Dad said to me once, if toilet paper had
printing on it you would read it.” 4
Margaret laughs as she recalls her father’s words but agrees
it was most probably true. From a young age it became a Saturday morning ritual
for Margaret and her family to head into town from their Newstead home. She
would go to the library; and the others would do shopping. Likening it to a
treat and recalling the pride in borrowing books.
“I still remember as a child it was quite a treat on
Saturday morning we all used to get in the car from when I was about ten and go
into the library and do a bit of shopping.
Now that was our treat, I remember the big desks and the
ladders going up and the height of the building inside and the thousands and
thousands of books.
And I still sort of think of this child reaching up to the
counter and proudly passing her books over and getting them stamped and her
card made.” 5
Within the walls of the Public Library was a wealth of
knowledge and this is where Margaret went when it was time for her to sit the
Ability Test in 1957 to enter high school. She remembers the hours spent
sitting at the large tables and taking notes from book after book, laughing
that there were no photocopiers or scanners back then.
I prompt her for more information on the library and she
remembers that you could borrow three books at a time, with a card system,
where your card number and name would be recorded on the book card and kept in
a drawer. She goes on further to tell me how strict the library was and that
you had to be very quiet at all times, saying it was almost like going into a
church. So very different to our library of today when many have cafes, meeting
places and online access; all encouraging communication between visitors.
 |
| Example of an early book card |
From its inception as a Mechanics’ Institute the
library had many roles. In the early days it would have visiting lecturers and
it also produced publications of some of the lectures. 6
It continued to be a meeting place and Margaret recalls
being taken to the library one evening with her younger sister and mother for
an evening on ‘the birds and the bees”, but laughs as neither girl took much
interest in the topic. Her younger sister saying she was hungry when asked by
their mother what she thought.
In 1971 further changes were to take place. A new modern
building was built behind the existing library and the old building was
demolished. At this time Margaret said this was very exciting as it was so
modern and new, but as she has gotten older she feels sad that the beautiful
old building was not kept. Fortunately the collection of books were , some
dating back to pre – 1800 were stored and of the 45,000 collected over the time
of the Mechanics’ Institute, 20,000 books and publications are still in
existence and managed by Friends of the Launceston Mechanics’ Institute. A
significance assessment was done in 2015 by Susan Marsden stating that it is a
historically significant collection of high value.7
As for the missing boy, I will let Margaret tell you the
story:
“And I still remember my brother, he was supposed to be with
us at the library and he took off. Mum thought that dad had him and dad thought
mum had him, so he ended up getting lost one Saturday morning. We found him at
the police station, so we were never allowed to be in charge of him again at
the library.”8
Footnotes
1 Henry Button, Flotsam & Jetsam: Floating Fragments of
Life in England and Tasmania, Regal Press facsimile copy, 1993,p.152.
2 ‘The Governor’, The Hobart Town Daily Mercury, 14 April
1860, p.2.
3 ‘State Parliament, legislative Council’, The Mercury, 18
July 1929, p.13.
4 Margaret Schmidt, interview by Kelli Schultz, digital
recording, Launceston, 6 November 2017, in author’s possession.
5 Margaret Schmidt, interview by Kelli Schultz.
6 Launceston Mechanics’ Institute, ‘Publications of the
Institute’, http://launcestonmechanicsinstitute.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/publications-of-institute.html,
Accessed 20 November 2017.
7 Susan Marsden,’Significance Assessment of the Launceston
Mechanics’ Institute Collection’ 2015.
8 Margaret Schmidt, interview by Kelli Schultz.
