Editing Mechanics' institute (section)

===Australia===
[[File:Ballarat mechanics institute.jpg|thumb|Ballarat Mechanics' Institute building]]
[[File:BallaratMechanicsInstitute1942.jpg|thumb|American and Australian soldiers in the reading room of the Ballarat Mechanics' Institute in 1942]]{{main|Mechanics' Institutes of Australia}}
In 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.<ref>{{cite QHR|15341|Old Town Hall|600566|access-date=31 December 2021}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Attribution 4.0 International  (CC BY 4.0)] licence.</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite book| url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/23823/| title=Catalogue of the library of the Van Diemen's Land Mechanics' Institution| date=1843| publisher=Printed by William Pratt| via=Open Access Repository, [[University of Tasmania]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Hobart Town Mechanics Institute (1827-1871) - Corporate entry | website=Encyclopedia of Australian Science | date=12 December 2017 | url=https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P005877b.htm | access-date=1 January 2022}}</ref>

The [[Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts]] (1833), in [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], is the oldest school of arts still operating<ref>{{cite web | title=About | website=Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (SMSA) | date=25 November 2020 | url=https://smsa.org.au/about/ | access-date=1 January 2022}}</ref> and the largest institute in Australia.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wotherspoon | first=Garry | title=Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts | website=The Dictionary of Sydney | date=2008 | url=https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/sydney_mechanics_school_of_arts | access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref> Others in NSW include the [[Moruya Mechanics' Institute]]<ref name=nswshr-485>{{cite NSW SHR|5045358|Mechanics Institute|hr=00485|fn=S90/03448 & HC 33392|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref> and the [[Scone School of Arts]].

In [[South Australia]], the [[South Australian Museum#19th century|South Australian Institute]] (1838, then 1847–),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31829387|publisher=South Australian Advertiser|title=South Australian Institute|date=27 October 1863|page=4|website=Trove|access-date=18 May 2019}}</ref> was the forerunner of the [[State Library of South Australia]], the [[South Australian Museum]], and the [[Art Gallery of South Australia]].<ref name=pothist>{{cite web|title=A Brief History of the South Australian Museum|url=http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/Upload/files-about/a-potted-history.pdf|date=2004|publisher=South Australian Museum|access-date=18 May 2019 |archive-date=1 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401154508/https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/Upload/files-about/a-potted-history.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first institute in 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.<ref name="mivhist"/> Many mechanics' institutes, athenaeums, schools of arts and related institutions in the state of [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]] are well documented by the Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria, Inc., whose members range from the well-resourced [[Melbourne Athenaeum]] to the tiny Moonambel Mechanics' Institute in [[Moonambel]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Victorian Members | website=Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria Inc. | url=http://www.mivic.org.au/victorian.html | access-date=1 January 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref name=what>{{cite web | title=What is a Mechanics' Institute? | website=Prahran Mechanics Institute | date=8 November 2012 | url=https://www.pmi.net.au/home/mihistory/ | access-date=2 January 2022}}</ref>

The first [[Western Australian]] institute was the [[Swan River Mechanics' Institute]], established in 1851, later renamed the Perth Literary Institute.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48146125 |title=The Perth Literary Institute. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth |date=13 January 1951 |access-date=28 October 2011 |page=22 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite QHR|14847|Brisbane School of Arts|600072|accessdate=1 August 2014}}</ref>

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.<ref name=what/>