Mechanics' Hall Library

The Portland Mechanics’ Hall Library was founded in 1820 to accommodate the rapidly increasing industrialized society forming in New England.[1] Affiliated with the larger Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, the aim of both the library and the association are to support local mechanical and artistic trades and provide a space for apprentice education. Located at the heart of downtown Portland, the Mechanics’ Institute is still fully functioning with lecture series, maker spaces, book clubs and after school clubs for youths.

The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association was also founded in 1815 with sixty founding members in total. The aim of the association at the time of its creation was to relieve “the distresses of unfortunate mechanics and their families, to promote inventions and improvements in the mechanic arts, by granting premiums for said inventions and improvements, and to assist young mechanics with loans of money.”[2] Mechanics institutions and social clubs were gaining popularity at the time due to changes in manufacturing processes and new business methods that promoted new class-based groups to form.[3] By 1859 the institute was moved to its current location on Congress Street. In the Nineteenth Century the institute offered full library services, as well as fairs, dances, drawing (mechanical, architectural and hand drawing for women), debates and financial lecture series. The building was made a national Historic Landmark in 1972-1973.[4]

The Mechanics’ Hall Library was originally created to provide the burgeoning apprentice class a space to learn how to read and write, useful skills that would enhance their employability as craftsmen. This ideal was very much set in its time, as in early Nineteenth Century America public education and university level trainings were subpar. By 1859, the library already contained 4,000 volumes, and by 1915 this had increased to 16,000.[5] The social nature of the library was key to its successful membership.[6] This is reflected in the analysis of book genres held at the library. For example, in 1883, 6,946 of the 8,742 books in circulation were fiction, showing the role of the library as a place for sociability as well as apprentice-style learning.[7] 

The context of mechanics’ institutes originated in Great Britain, particularly out of Glasgow and Birkbeck, during the mid-to-late Eighteenth Century.[8] Many of the concepts that are embedded in the mechanics’ and mercantile libraries derive from Enlightenment ideals. British and French rationalism, acceptance of the scientific method, and utilitarian philosophy all underlie the aims of mechanics’ halls. In the United States, the mechanics’ halls added another ideologically democratizing factor to these libraries. By granting membership to lower classes than most social libraries at the time, Americans used the knowledge of workers’ educations to combat the power that is associated with knowledge from remaining solely in the hands of the privileged few. The mechanics’ institutes therefore acted as locations of utilitarianism, designed to benefit the many rather than the highest classes. 

In Eighteenth-Century New England, social libraries, which included mechanics’ and mercantile libraries, were quite popular and were found in most major cities in the region. Before 1876, there were already 175 social libraries designated for a specific age or group, which included mechanics’ libraries which were designed for working-age men.[9] These libraries were often small and depended upon the active engagement of its members to keep it running. In most cases, these libraries died out due to competition with the rise of public libraries and economic hardships felt in the United States during periods of economic depression. The Portland Mechanics’ Hall Library remains one of the few continually functioning libraries, as well as libraries included in the America’s Membership Libraries organization with locations in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and more.[10]

The Portland Mechanics’ Hall Library is constantly working on restoration and upkeep. A problem with many mechanics’ institutes that remain in their original location, the older buildings provide issues with up-to-date storage and book care.[11] The restrictions of listed-building status locations can often prevent large-scale renovations from occurring. However, the Mechanics’ Hall Library continues to make small renovations such as floor refinishing, new light fixtures, repositioning of the original ornate shelving and window restoration. All of these renovations seek to enhance the original charm and quality of the library while continuing to be accessible and useable by their modern patrons. During the 1990’s the library recatalogued the entire system to Dewey Decimal standards and is currently attempting to digitize their catalog on LibraryThing, making their current collection of 30,000 volumes open to all members.[12]

[1] Maine Charitable Mechanic Association. ‘Maine Charitable Mechanic Association’. Accessed 2 December 2020.

https://mainecharitablemechanicassociation.com/MCMA/MAINE_CHARITABLE_MECHANIC_ASSOCIATION.html.

[2] Ditzion, Sidney. ‘Mechanics’ and Mercantile Libraries’. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 10, no. 2 (1940), p.198

[3] McMullen, Haynes. ‘The Very Slow Decline of the American Social Library’. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 55, no. 2 (1985), p. 222.

[4] Maine Charitable Mechanic Association. ‘Maine Charitable Mechanic Association’. Accessed 2 December 2020.

https://mainecharitablemechanicassociation.com/MCMA/MAINE_CHARITABLE_MECHANIC_ASSOCIATION.html.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ditzion, ‘Mechanics’ and Mercantile Libraries’, p. 197

[9]McMullen, Haynes. ‘Prevalence of Libraries in the Northeastern States before 1876’. The Journal of Library History (1974-1987) 22, no. 3 (1987), p. 322.

[10] Mechanics’ Institute. ‘Membership Libraries’, 22 December 2015. Accessed 2 December 2020. https://www.milibrary.org/membership-libraries.

[11] Fenn, Kirsty, and Adrienne Muir. ‘Preservation Management in Private Subscription Libraries in the United Kingdom’. Library Management 24, no. 4/5 (1 January 2003), p. 205.

[12] Mechanics’ Hall. ‘Mechanics’ Hall Library’, 2020. Accessed 2 December 2020. https://mechanicshallmaine.org/library/.

Ditzion, Sidney. ‘Mechanics’ and Mercantile Libraries’. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 10, no. 2 (1940), pp. 192–219.

Fenn, Kirsty, and Adrienne Muir. ‘Preservation Management in Private Subscription Libraries in the United Kingdom’. Library Management 24, no. 4/5 (1 January 2003), pp. 204–15.

Maine Charitable Mechanic Association. ‘Maine Charitable Mechanic Association’. Accessed 2 December 2020.

https://mainecharitablemechanicassociation.com/MCMA/MAINE_CHARITABLE_MECHANIC_ASSOCIATION.html.

McMullen, Haynes. ‘Prevalence of Libraries in the Northeastern States before 1876’. The Journal of Library History (1974-1987) 22, no. 3 (1987), pp. 312–37.

———. ‘The Very Slow Decline of the American Social Library’. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 55, no. 2 (1985), pp. 207–25.

Mechanics’ Hall. ‘Mechanics’ Hall Library’, 2020. Accessed 2 December 2020. https://mechanicshallmaine.org/library/.

Mechanics’ Institute. ‘Membership Libraries’, 22 December 2015. Accessed 2 December 2020. https://www.milibrary.org/membership-libraries.