History

Having survived numerous challenges over the years, the Maldon Athenaeum stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of community and volunteerism. It was founded on the worldwide principles of mechanics’ institutes, described by historian Ruth Baragwaneth as:

…the original ‘do-it yourself project’, planned, built, furnished, named, organised, financed, owned and used by each community according to its needs. Apart from small government grants … all fundraising was done locally, it was a case of ‘for the community, by the community’ with labour, time, expertise and donations freely given.

The Maldon Athenaeum still operates on these principles and is entirely run by volunteers drawn from the community. Volunteers are its heart-beat, its life blood.

For much of its history, the Athenaeum’s volunteers were exclusively men. The first record we have of women volunteers is in 1933 when a ‘ladies committee’ formed with Mrs L Thomas as president and Mrs Ure as secretary. Their purpose was to raise funds after fire partially burnt the building, with their efforts becoming all the more crucial after a second fire in 1934. At the reopening ceremony in December 1934, however, these women were not mentioned except by Dr Sheilds, MLA, who, as reported in a local paper, ‘remarked that the ladies had been omitted from all praise but he was certain that it was the ladies who had carried the bazaar to a success and congratulated them on their efforts.’

Over the years the library has had countless volunteers whose names are, sadly, lost to us. However, there are some early individuals whose information we do know. Among these are:

• John Hornsby – a founding father of the Athenaeum who served on the committee for 34 years. Hornsby was instrumental in securing the reservation of Crown Land for the Athenaeum.
• Mr Hicks – a non-committee member who organised an ‘entertainment committee’ in 1886 to put on a series of fund-raising concerts.
• F. Thureau – working tirelessly to revitalise the Athenaeum at a time when, as reported in the Tarrangower Times, it was ‘at a low ebb’, Thureau successfully increased the number of subscribers from 12 in 1897 to 118 two years later.
• J. Huish – elected in 1908 (the year the Athenaeum opened its billiard room), Huish was awarded a silver tea service and oak tray in 1917 in recognition of his dedication. He went on to serve for a total of 41 years, making him the longest serving secretary.
• Louise Tobin and Beryl Evans – the backbone of numerous committees between 1948 and 1984. They were awarded Life Memberships for their contributions.
• Maldon Postmaster Edward (Ted) Webb – a volunteer from 1975 to1985, Webb successfully fought to retain the library in Maldon at a critical time in the history of mechanics’ institutes in Victoria.
• Phyllis Alexander – in 1985, Phyllis became the first woman elected to the role of president, thus breaking a 102-year tradition.
• Clare Warn – in 1988, Clare took on a huge task, described in the Maldon & District Post as ‘professionally cataloguing, marking and indexing all the books and establishing a recognised card lending system’.

By 1994 the Maldon Athenaeum was again at a low ebb and The Tarrangower Times carried reports of it urgently seeking more volunteers to keep the library functioning. These newspaper appeals were heeded by some new residents who were keen to maintain a library service for the community, including:

• Joy Leneaux-Gale – after volunteering for the committee in 1994, Joy became president in 1998 – a position she held for the next 23 years, making her the longest-serving president in the Athenaeum’s history.
• Lynn Carey – also joining the committee in 1994, Lyn quickly became treasurer. In 2002, she worked with women from Tarrengower Prison to compile a catalogue of all books held in the library.
• Winsome Strickland – after first serving as a general committee member, Winsome was elected secretary in 1997 and later served as Treasurer for 18 years. Among other things, she searched the archives of the Department of Sustainability and Environment for documents relating to the Athenaeum’s history.

This dynamic trio set about reversing the Athenaeum’s fortunes – raising its profile; applying for grants; staging fund-raising events; and making innovative changes. In this they were supported by the other skilled volunteers, such as:

• John Pollard – a photographer who, in 2014, meticulously produced a facsimile of the minute book recording the first 26 years of committee meetings – the original of which is now housed at the State Library Victoria.
• Neil Amor – appointed as the first ‘archivist’ in 2000, Amor began by collecting early copies of the local paper The Tarrangower Times.
• Lesley Rolland-Jones who held fund-raising book sales in her garden and baked many a scone for fund-raising events.
• Margaret Shanks – began barcoding books in 2007 and cataloguing them on computer. By 2010 she had trained all the volunteers to use the Bookmark system (still in use today) for loans and returns.

Four women, who first volunteered during Joy Lenneaux-Gale’s presidency, are still active volunteers today over twenty years later. All – Sue Dawson, Helen McBurney Judy Rush and Jan McKeown – continue to take their turn on the monthly roster to open the library and manage the loans. Jan is also part of the Archiving Team and the Collection Management Team, and every week Judy collects a copy of the Tarrangower Times, which is donated to the library by the local newsagent.

Currently, there are a total of 30 volunteers – 28 women and 2 men – who perform a myriad of tasks including cataloguing; archiving; fund-raising; assisting with grant applications; maintenance; writing weekly news items and book reviews; and participating in community outreach programs.

As the Maldon Athenaeum Library continues to evolve, volunteers remain as important as ever. Whether it is through joining the committee of management, assisting with daily operations, participating in special projects (such as researching and writing the library’s history) or sharing their expertise, they continue to play a key role in maintaining the library and shaping its future.

Tina Fratta 2025

References

(All books are available at the library. Find them in our catalogue).

Baragwaneth, Pam (2000) If the walls could speak: a social history of the mechanics’ institutes of Victoria. Publishing Solutions, Richmond, p. 7.

Library minutes held in the Maldon Athenaeum Archive Collection. For use within the library only.

Newspapers held in Maldon Athenaeum Archive Collection. For use within the library only:

Tarrangower Times, 25 October, 1933.
The Maldon News, 25 December, 1934.
Maldon & District Post, 2 March, 1988.
Tarrangower Times, 24 February, 1994.
Tarrangower Times, 23 July, 1994.

Rhule, Brian (2019) Maldon: A new history 1853−1928. Exploring History Australia, Bendigo, Victoria.

Online sources

National Library of Australia Digitised Newspapers − trove.nla.gov.au

Mount Alexander Mail, 17 April 1917, p.1.
Tarrangower Times and Maldon District Advertiser, 9 October, 1866, page2.
Tarrangower Times and Maldon Advertiser, 8 December,1897, p.3.
Tarrangower Times and Maldon Advertiser, 1 February, 1899, p.2.
Tarrangower Times and Maldon Advertiser, 16 Sept, 1899, p.2.