Libraries in Australia: A Revolution Comes of Age

In the six Australian colonies which only became the Commonwealth or Federation of six States in 1901, libraries began with subscription libraries, both the working class mechanics' institute kind, and the middle class circulating library kind; but as it became apparent that there was hardly enough middle class to support its own libraries, even in the capital cities, and the finer class distinctions broke down, the two merged in the literary institute under different names. And at the same time it was realised that for what we might now call culture, education and science, there must be free public libraries, which were either made out of literary institutes, or established separately.