Prahran Mechanics' Institute is a subscription library situated at 140 High Street, Prahran, Victoria, Australia.
Established in 1854 in Chapel Street, Prahran by subscriptions of the local community, it is one of the oldest surviving Mechanics' Institutes in Victoria and one of only six still operating a lending library. It is the only mechanics' institute in Victoria still governed by its own Act of Parliament, which was enacted in 1899.
In 1908 the Prahran Mechanics' Institute established the Prahran Technical School which operated on the High Street site from 1915 until 1971. In 2004 the High Street building was included in the Victorian Heritage Register[1] for its architectural and cultural significance.
Today Swinburne University of Technology partially occupies the buildings under the auspices of a lease granted to the Victorian Minister for Education in 1947 for the accommodation of the Prahran Technical School. The lease was for a shilling per year for a term of 99 years.
Since 1980 the library collection at Prahran Mechanics' Institute has specialised in the history of Victoria and, as the only lending collection of its kind in Australia, is a valuable resource for researchers.
In the long tradition of mechanics' institutes around the world, Prahran Mechanics' Institute runs a programme of educational activities including free public lectures. It also operates Prahran Mechanics' Institute Press, a not-for-profit publishing service for authors of works about aspects of the history of Victoria.
On 26 May 2009 Keith Dunstan OAM accepted patronage of the Institute.