Adelaide’s Library Wanted Electric Light for Its Books
The board complained about leather bindings and the night-time air. Old service pipes later carried the new wiring.
Published October 31, 2026 · Updated October 31, 2026 · 2 min read
“AdelaideMortlockLibraryAug08.jpg” — Pdfpdf, August 2008. The Mortlock Wing from its courtyard. CC BY-SA 3.0.Photo: Pdfpdf · Source · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Full-frame resize and JPEG recompression. Original has no ICC or colour-space metadata; untagged RGB retained without colour conversion. No crop, retouching, recolouring, exposure change, denoising or AI alteration. Image derivative retains CC BY-SA 3.0.
The books had a place in Adelaide’s argument for electric light. In its 1910–11 annual report, the Public Library’s board complained that gas damaged leather bindings. It also objected to the air breathed by students and other people using the library at night. The State Library’s history reproduces that appeal for an early electrical installation. [1]
Charles Todd had urged the change as early as 1884, when the building now called the Mortlock Wing opened. The government declined because of the cost. The library’s historical account dates the eventual installation to 1914—thirty years after Todd’s proposal. [1]
Where is this place?
Mortlock Chamber, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide. This map locates the town or region, not a verified exact historic event site.
Some of the old services found a new use. A 2025 South Australian Government account records that pipes formerly used for heating or lighting carried the electrical cabling. [2]
Two original gas “sunburner” lamps survive in offices at the southern end of the second floor, according to the library’s guide. Elsewhere in the chamber, the glazed lantern roof admits daylight above the galleries. The guide distinguishes the old heating system, too: its vents received warmth from hot-water pipes connected to a basement boiler. [1]
“SLSA - Mortlock Wing interior.jpg” — Bahudhara, 14 October 2012. The chamber’s galleries, glazed roof and globe lights. CC BY-SA 3.0.Photo: Bahudhara · Source · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Full-frame resize and JPEG recompression. Original EXIF sRGB interpreted as sRGB and an sRGB profile embedded. No crop, retouching, recolouring, exposure change, denoising or AI alteration. Image derivative retains CC BY-SA 3.0.
Sources & further reading
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This article was developed with AI-assisted research and drafting, with source-based checks and editorial review. The publication does not claim firsthand visits or interviews unless explicitly documented.
