The MCC Library collection has been described as one of the best sport-related collections in the world. The collection consists of some 20,000 monographs, periodicals, newspapers, programs and ephemera, and microfilms, videotapes and CD-ROMs.
The major emphasis is on cricket, although there are healthy representations for Australian Rules football, tennis, the Olympic Games, golf and athletics. More than 90 sports are represented, although some, such as hurling, boast only one book.
The cricket collection consists mainly of biographies, histories of clubs and competitions, and statistical material. There is a large collection of rare books, some dating from the 1600s, some in mint condition, others watermarked and "written in" by previous owners.
The library itself has an interesting history, and it can be seen partly as a microcosm of club life, and its sophistication over time.
The first proposal for a library was recorded in Bell's life in Victoria on October 3rd 1863. "The room 'Rowley' [Rowland Newberry, the groundsman] now occupied, it is proposed to fit up as a library for the members." Unfortunately we have no record of this action having taken place.
It is almost another decade before the donation of 13 bound volumes of The Australasian newspaper (1866-1873) by its proprietor, led to the foundation of the Club Library, as recorded in the minutes of the MCC Annual Meeting of 6 September 1873.
A 'reading room' was established at the MCG in 1881 when a room in a second members' stand was set aside to house the growing newspaper collection.
The English periodical Cricket - a weekly record of the game for 28 February 1884 noted: 'On the second floor are a large luncheon room, a reading room and a billiard room with two capital tables.'
There is a long gap in the club records before the library is referred to again, but in 1957 under new secretary and former Australian cricket captain, Ian Johnson, the library was located at the northern end of the 1927 members' stand - the third members' stand to be erected on the site.
The honorary librarian, John R. McEwan, an expert and collector on the life of the opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba, supervised the library. Mr. McEwan was assisted by Howard Head and John Weickhardt who were also titled as 'honorary librarians'.
In October 1972, the library began lending its books to members, but there were always difficulties in keeping the borrowing system under control. Library hours were strictly on match days only, and it was very much a members' library open, 'one hour before a match, at luncheon, afternoon tea or half-time intervals'.
In August 1978, Mr. Weickhardt retired from his post as joint Honorary Librarian (as well as from the post as joint Curator of the MCC Museum) and his place was taken by Mr. Bill Burnett, an old friend of the Library who was a regular in the reader's seat on match days.
Enter here in 1978 another of the library's stalwarts, Mr. Horrie Webber, whose research papers on aspects of women's cricket, lacrosse and 'Victorian Rules' have broken new ground in sports history. Horrie was the most senior of the library's volunteer corps, and he first used the library as a researcher in 1965.
In early 1982, again under the guidance of Ian Johnson, the library was re-located to its current, more accessible position at the northern end of the Long Room, in a tasteful cedar-panelled room with red and blue MCC carpet.
The old library had contained a number of small collections of books from various donors and estates - E.H.M. Baillie (journalist with The Sporting Globe), Sir Robert G. Menzies (a cricket fan and MCC member), George Collis and the Rev. Dean Chamberlin.
It was now decided to integrate these materials into one collection and evaluate it with an eye to the future. Very little appeared to have been done in the way of upgrading the collection for some time. In particular there were noticeable deficiencies in periodicals and literature from 1960 onwards.
Meeting every Monday, a voluntary group of varying size, each with a specialist sporting interest was guided by former federal government economist, Rex Harcourt who now acted as honorary librarian.
Members of the group included, over the years:
Eric Panther, Kevin Kelly, Stan Bird, Ross Peacock, John Goldsworthy, Lee Semmens, Norm Sowdon, Paul Purtell, Ken Woolfe, Alan Chegwin, Alf Batchelder, Ken Hoyle, Jim McCulloch, Ernie Power, Bill Watt, Tom Wanliss, Bruce Chalk, Ron Fear, Ray Webster, Lesley Turner, Stan Bannister, Alastair Wilson, Ann Rusden, Mark Oswald, David Allen & Ken Williams.
The new library was seen as a focal point for many of those who clamoured to enjoy its riches on match days. The library also became known to researchers, sports historians and other academics.
In March 1982, Professor John Mulvaney visited the library and the seeds were sown for a full revision of Cricket walkabout, the story of the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England. This revision made use of documents held by the MCC that he had not previously seen.
Gillian Hibbins and Anne Mancini's pioneering research on the history of Australian Rules football was published as Running with the ball in 1987.
Other researchers over the years have included Ian Harriss, Bob Stewart, Rob Pascoe, Rob Hess, June Senyard, Richard Cashman, Ian Jobling and Geoffrey Blainey - all noted sports historians, and in August 1983 the Sporting Traditions Conference which led to the formation of the Australian Society for Sports History (ASSH) was held at the MCG under the guidance of library personnel.
Three more aspects of the period 1982-1989 deserve special mention:
- The arrangement made with Carringbush Regional Library to acquire books stockpiled at the Richmond library under the public library Minterlib pool in the category of sport. This gave the MCC a huge boost in basic sports texts.
- The building extensions of 1985 which doubled the physical space of the main library.
- The successful purchase of the collections of Queensland cricket connoisseur Pat Mullins in August 1988, which boosted the library's collection by about 7,500 items.
Pat Mullins grew up in Tully and fondly recalls listening to the bodyline series in the only place that had a radio - the SP betting shop! Pat was influenced by the sight of Bradman, and the radio broadcasts of Neville Cardus. His interest in cricket led him to build the most comprehensive cricket library in the country.
Among the purchase from Mullins were beautiful copies of Love's Cricket: an heroic poem; Surrey triumphant; the copy of Luckin's History of South African cricket originally presented to Australian wicketkeeper Hanson Carter; as well as an eclectic collection of Queensland cricket brochures.
In addition to these developments, the library laid the foundations for the arrival of a general and Olympic sports museum, the Australian Gallery of Sport, which was opened in November 1986.