Instituting The Past: The inner mechanics of the PMI Victorian History Library
Instituting The Past: The inner mechanics of the PMI Victorian History Library is a blog from the members and staff of the PMI Victorian History Library.
For the last 170 years we have been a community owned and run library specialising in the history of Victoria, Australia. The library collection is the only lending collection of its kind in Australia – with over 30,000 books for loan and over 40,000 items on site, including titles that are unavailable elsewhere.
This blog contains news about the library and research happening within it’s walls. We have everything from professional historians, to fiction writers, to architects and family historians visiting us, so this blog will always have something interesting. We also include book reviews from both our members and our staff.
We hope you enjoy Instituting The Past and if you’re interested in the library come down and say hello, our professional staff are always happy to help with any historical queries you might have.
The Chocolate Chronicles: A Sweet Journey Through Time
Today, chocolate is a global phenomenon, enjoyed in countless forms, from bars and truffles to hot drinks and desserts. This is a short history of influential confectioners in Victoria, and how they became household names.
New Books in February
During February, we have had plenty of new books (and a film!) come into the Library. Some of these titles include The Merger, directed by Mark Grentell, Black Convicts: How Slavery shaped Australia by Santilla Chingaipe and Yarra Birrarung: Artists, writers and the river by Dr Judith Buckrich. All of these titles and more are available for loan at our Library.
Food and Drink Books at the PMI Library
Here at the PMI Library we have plenty of books relating to food and wine. Many of these books have either been published by well known Melbourne restaurants or the collaboration between small town Victorian communities. All of these books are available to loan from our library.
Engaging LGBTQ+ Literature at the Prahran Mechanics Institute Victorian History Library
The Prahran Mechanics Institute (PMI) Victorian History Library boasts an impressive and diverse LGBTQ+ collection, offering patrons access to a wide range of literature that celebrates and explores the experiences of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex,...
Silver Medal
In the immortal words of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, “Second comes right after first!” Sure, this is a joke from The Simpsons, but it leads me to a very interesting topic – second place. We often hear of the “world’s first” or “the first of its kind”, but what about those...