Contents include: The establishment of mechanics' institutes in Western Australia: a case study of the Swan River Mechanics' Institute p3. The Sandhurst Mechanics' Institute and Free Library p41. The decline and fall of Kyneton Mechanics' Institute p55. Colin Badger as an 'enlightened layman' and his role in the campaign for free public libraries 1926-1945 p117. Leigh Scott in the formative years of the University of Melbourne Library 1926-1945 p133. K.A. Lodewycks and the Baillieu Library 1968-1973 p145. History of the Library of the Congregational College of Victoria p159. Central Catholic Library, Adelaide p173. Libraries in the nineteenth century Victorian prison p189..