Mechanics Worldwide 2009 conference diary

Thursday 24th September 2009

Delegates at the conference outside the BRLSI building in Bath, UK.

The second Mechanics Institutes Worldwide International Conference has begun at Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute, Bath, UK. Forty-five delegates from countries including Australia, the USA and the UK are meeting under the theme 'Self Help', to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of the hugely popular self-improvement book of that name by Samuel Smiles.

Richard Wendorf

Adrian Jarvis

Jim Lowden

The day began with an introduction and welcome by conference co-organiser Dr Peter Ford, Robert Anderson (President of the UK Association of Independent Libraries, which is holding its AGM during the conference) and Jim Lowden, Convenor of the first Worldwide Conference in Melbourne, Australia, in 2004.

The first paper was America's Membership Libraries, delivered by Richard Wendorf (right), Stanford Calderwood Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum. Richard took us on a tour of the 16 membership libraries in the United States, all of them strikingly beautiful buildings and ranging from (relatively) modest ones such as Salem, with its single part-time librarian, to his own institution in Boston, a much grander affair on 12 stories with a staff of 54 (although now coming to terms with post credit-crunch cuts in income).

Next, Adrian Jarvis of Liverpool University spoke on The Paradox of Samuel Smiles views on Technical Education, describing how, despite admiring self-taught men who had achieved excellence without (or even despite) formal education, Smiles was a strong advocate of technical education for others. The morning ended with Jim Lowden telling the story of educator Timothy Claxton, author of Memoir of a Mechanic, who made his way from London via St Petersburg to Boston, where he helped found the city's Mechanics Institute in 1826.

After lunch two of Bath's official Mayor's Guides (and BRLSI members), John Bullman and David Clark, gave delegates an overview of Bath's 18th century history, followed by a brief walking tour of some of the city's world-famous architectural landmarks including the Circus and Royal Crescent, designed by father and son John Wood the Elder (Circus) and Younger (Crescent).

Then it was back to the BRLSI, and a lively presentation on the life and work of Bath-based shorthand pioneer Isaac Pitman by Stuart Burroughs, BRLSI Trustee and Director of the Museum of Bath at Work. Pitman, who was himself a BRLSI member, found huge sucess with his shorthand system, but was actually more committed to his idea of a phonetic alphabet (which wasn't so popular), and advocated a change to a 12-based numbering system (because 12 is more easily divided) - which didn't find favour either.

After some traditional English tea came the story of a very Scottish institution, as Keith Manley of the University of London spoke on Books, Baths and Billiards: the story of Greenock Library and Institution. Born out of bitter rivalry with nearby Cartsdyke, Greenock led the mid-19th century craze for public baths, became a club where "young men could meet and smoke, free of moral taint", but eventually found its educational purpose usurped by municipal libraries and schools.

Stuart Burroughs

Keith Manley

Dr Gary Mathlin

The final paper of the day came from Dr Gary Mathlin of Bath University, who told the story of the remarkable Herschel family, musical by background but astronomical by inclination. They included the family's most famous member, William, who discovered the planet Uranus from his home in New King Street (now the Herschel Museum) a few streets away from the BRLSI, and his devoted sister Caroline, who spent long, cold nights operating his often massive telescopes (the largest was 40 feet long) for him.

Rounding off a very full first day's programme, delegates were then invited to a civic reception at arguably Bath's finest historic location, the 2,000 year old Roman Baths, hosted by the Chair of Bath and North-East Somerset Council, Cllr Bryan Chalker. And it all starts again tomorrow!

Conference co-organiser Dr Peter Ford with guests at the civic reception