Mechanics' Institute, Sorrento

The Mechanics' Institute, Sorrento is a building classified by the National Trust of Australia and located at 827 Melbourne Road, Sorrento, Victoria, Australia.

Mechanics' Institute, Sorrento.
In July 1876, the Mechanics' Institutes Trust received the land, believed to be a donation from local landowner, parliamentarian and 8th Premier of Victoria, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy. The Trust built the first hall using local limestone and the building was opened on 3 February 1877. Performers at the opening ceremony concert included local landowner, comedian and parliamentarian, the Honourable George Coppin and his daughter, Blanche.

By 1910, the institute's library contained 2015 books and various magazines. The hall was used for concerts, dances, lectures, church socials, political meetings and other functions. It also housed the Court of Petty Sessions. During World War I and World War II, the hall was used by the Red Cross for making items and packing parcels for Australian troops.

On 24 January 1885, a special concert was held at the Institute featuring Dame Nellie Melba.

Mechanics' institutes were a Victorian-era institution set up primarily to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working-class men, which spread to the corners of the English-speaking world, including the Australian colonies, where they were set up in virtually every colony. In some places, notably throughout the colonies of Queensland and New South Wales, they were often known as schools of arts.

Most institutes incorporated a library, and many of the old institutes evolved into public lending libraries, while others were converted for other uses or demolished to make way for modern buildings.