GLEN INNESThe School of Arts in Glen Innes had its origins on 31 October 1877 when the Glen Innes Municipal Council announced the establishment of a Public Library and Reading Room. The services were to be made available to members for a fee of a shilling per month and were to be housed in the town's original post office building which had become vacant when the new post office was built. A committee was set up in November 1877 and a School of Arts was formally established. Arrangements were made for the purchase of books and periodicals and Mr Thomas McDonald was appointed as librarian and custodian on a salary of fifty shillings a quarter. The library and reading room service was relatively short-lived, however, and the institute closed a year later through lack of public support. Efforts were made to revive the movement in April 1881 but to no avail. Finally, in 1886, enough public interest was aroused to produce donations totalling £85 towards the construction of a permanent building to house a School of Arts. A plan was drawn up by Mr Alex Hutchison and, after amendments by Mr E. Grover, was accepted. The building contract was awarded to Mr Henry Kendricks and the work was supervised by Mr Hutchinson. The building, which cost £350, was officially opened in 1887 by Sir Henry Parkes. It was proudly announced, at the opening, that the debt on the building stood at only £40. A new entertainment room was added in 1920, large enough to accommodate three billiard tables as well as other games such as cards, draughts and chess. Two years later, in 1922, a contract for £3,385 was let to local builder, Mr J. Blair, for the addition of a Reading Room, Library and a Ladies' Recreation Room. At the same time, the front portion of the building, facing Grey Street, was remodelled to provide for two business premises and electricity was installed throughout. Its StoryAs mentioned above, initial attempts to establish a School of Arts in Glen Innes were made in 1877 and again in 1881 but these had met with limited success. The first successful committee was formed at a public meeting on 15 September 1887, following the completion of a new purpose-designed School of Arts building, made possible by local donations and by Government funding. Mr Christopher Legh was elected as the foundation President and Mr Herbert Vincent became the Secretary. Membership fees were set at five shillings per annum and by the end of its first year, the School of Arts had 127 members. In October of 1888, the Committee decided, after lengthy debate, to permit card playing in the School of Arts. This early decision to encourage its use for social entertainment led soon afterwards, in October 1891, to the installation of a billiard table at a cost of £55. Facilities for other games, such as draughts and chess, were soon added. While games and entertainments of one sort or another were a very popular feature of the Glen Innes School of Arts from the outset, it also provided a range of reading facilities. Numerous magazines were available for members to consult on the premises and there was a lending library for books. As with other similar institutions throughout the State, "more serious" books were borrowed from time to time from the State Library to cater for the special interests of members. The period from 1919 to 1924 was one of considerable expansion and development. In 1922, a Glen Innes Municipal Council publication stated that: "The assets of the institution total £8,818 of which £2,000 is represented in land and £5,279 in buildings. While the School of Arts was many years in taking root, it has since struck deep and wide and is now in a most flourishing condition." Under the chairmanship of Mr Bloxham, the Committee undertook extensions to the building which provided greatly improved educational and recreational facilities. New and separate entertainment rooms for men and women were complemented by improved reading facilities. A new billiard room, described as "large and luxurious", was set up with three tables and "generous accommodation" for cards, draughts, dominoes, table tennis, quoits, darts, chess and other games. Billiards remained a popular pursuit for the whole existence of the School of Arts with frequent references to record "breaks" by different players, right through until the late 1950s. Other games also enjoyed long-standing support and it is recorded that "Mr Col Fakes remained the undefeated table tennis champion when the School of Arts closed in 1967." One of the attractions of the games rooms was no doubt their welcoming "warmth-giving fires" during the chilly Glen Innes winters
It is said that the library of the Glen Innes School of Arts was "an excellent one". The Reading Room was comfortable and quiet with a good display of leading newspapers and magazines. During the 1930s, over a thousand subscribers made use of its quite extensive lending library. The years of the 1960s saw a steady decline in the fortunes of the Glen Innes School of Arts. Whereas it had earlier been one of the very few places in town where billiards and other games could be played, the 1950s and 1960s saw the development of similar facilities in clubs and hotels and these steadily usurped one of the School's greatest community functions. Similarly, public libraries developed by the Glen Innes Municipal Council and the Severn Shire Council tended to take readers away from the School of Arts Library. Towards the end, the School of Arts was being patronised by only a few men who had been members for many years. One of these was eighty-three-year-old Mr A. Bilson who had been borrowing books from the library from the School of Arts Library for fifty-two years. Declining membership and revenues eventually spelt its end, despite the best efforts of its long-serving final President, Mr George Priest, who held the position from 1947 onwards. At a public meeting in the Reading Room in November 1967, the Secretary, Mr Reg McCarthy, handed over the keys of the historic building to the Town Clerk, Mr W. R. Parker. The Glen Innes School of Arts came to the end of its eighty year existence and its assets and liabilities were taken over by the Municipal Council. Its Later UseSince its closure in 1967, the School of Arts building has been managed by the Glen Innes Shire Council and has been used as a community centre. Its Significance to the CommunityThe Glen Innes School of Arts provided a very significant social gathering place for the people of the town. From its very beginnings, it provided excellent social and sporting facilities which were extensively used from the 1880s until the 1950s. In addition, it provided very good reading and library services which were heavily patronised over the years and which only began to decline in significance as the Municipal and Shire councils began to develop libraries of their own. Because the institution was heavily involved in the provision of sporting and social facilities, it suffered significant membership decline as licensed clubs and hotels began to develop similar attractions. In this respect, its closure was probably inevitable. The tradition of the School of Arts lives on in Glen Innes, however, as the building continues to serve an important and ongoing role as a community centre.
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