With talk of establishing a local School of Arts & Music it is a good opportunity to recall that Schools of Arts once flourished in Glen Innes and surrounding villages. However, these historic institutions were very different from the current proposal. Our Schools of Arts, a name interchangeable with Mechanics Institutes, Literary Institutes and Miners Institutes all provided at least a library service in the very early days. School of Arts were established at Ben Lomond, Deepwater, Dundee, Furracabad, Glencoe, Red Range, Shannon Vale, Skeleton Creek, Stonehenge, Tent Hill and Waterloo, a Miners Institute at Emmaville and a Literary institute at Ben Lomond. Glen Innes also had a Postal Institute.
1922 the Glen Innes School of Arts had been ‘used by 700 persons, and 13,000 books had been issued.’
Sommerlad wrote in The Land of the Beardies, 1922..…‘Though great difficulty was experienced in establishing a School of Arts in Glen Innes, subsequent events have proved that those responsible acted on wise counsels.’
The institution dates back to October 31, 1877, when it was decided to enrol members of the Public Library and Reading Room at 1/- per month. The Reading Room was situated in the Council Chambers, which was the old post office, just then superseded by a new building, the site being that of the present Town Hall.
Hitherto the Council had held its meetings in the Temperance Hall, but on taking possession of the vacated post office, promptly responded to the public demand for the establishment of a reading room.
Previously the town’s reading was drawn mainly from chemist Mr AJ Dodd’s lending library, which, according to advertisement, ‘ had a range of 1,000 books to select from’.
The School of Arts’ own premises took a long time in coming and eventually was built to Alex Hutchison’s design for £310 by Henry Kendrick.
Activities included cards, reading, chess, draughts, dominoes, billiards, table tennis, quoits and darts.
The Glen Innes Examiner noted on 12 th April 1901: ‘The gymnasium at the School of Arts will be re-opened on Friday night when it is hoped there will be a large gathering of young men. The gymnasium should be one of the finest institutions in town.’
[Maybe this Gym could be considered the earliest forerunner of today’s Moveology’s Move Brolates??]
The School of Arts Closed in 1967 and the building now houses The Community Centre.
