About Us
Getting Inspired.
Even before Covid-19 hit the UK, it was clear that for the BMI to survive and prosper, (it nearly didn’t survive), things were going to have to change. Surveys were instructed to be done of our beautiful Grade II* listed building and discussions about the future were reflective of the great history of the BMI. This history is clearly embodied in the Coat of Arms and the unknown Muse who stands regally at its head; with book, telescope, paints and musical score.
We believe, more than ever, that elite art, science, music and literature is for the masses and this has inspired us to modernise and “make it happen”.
Sign up to our newsletter
Draft Strategic Plan: May 2021
The main purpose of this was to determine how to balance the charitable objectives of the Institute with a sustainable commercial proposition. This was clearly demonstrated and a method of raising the expected £4million + refurbishment cost suggested. Two and a half years later the first part of the plan is nearing completion.
This is a very exciting time, and the next few months will see detailed plans being drawn up before the preferred option is chosen and costed. In addition, of course, a long term viability model will be presented to the National Lottery Heritage Fund Committee.
Strategic Plan - May 2021
Future of the Institute - March 2021
-
When I (Dr Bernard Juby) was Chairman of the Governors in 2011, I proposed at an AGM that we should apply for a Grant of Arms.
As the Vice-President I/C Heraldry for the BMSGH (now Midland Ancestors) and an Hon. Fellow of The Heraldry Society I designed them and steered it through the College of Arms via my friend Robert Noel, Lancaster Herald (Now Norroy & Ulster King of Arms.
The shield is essentially in three parts - the top being from the Arms of the Calthorpe Estate (who owned much of the central Birmingham area; the rest are the colours of the Arms of the City of Birmingham divided by the representation of an open end of a book (for the Priestly Library). It is unique in British Heraldry. The three lozenges each with the flaming torch of the Beauchamp Earls of Warwickshire are for the three main counties of MA with Birmingham, Warwickshire as its location.
The crest has a Muse within a coronet. In her hands she holds a book and a painter's palette and brushes while at her feet are a brass telescope and a scroll of music - all representing the Arts & Sciences of the BMI.
The Motto is "Learning without end"
The Letters Patent (featured on the back page of BMI Insight Issue 9, 2011) were presented at a Reception at Hagley Hall by Robert Noel.
The Historical Perspective.
The Birmingham and Midland Institute, is in fact, the product of two institutions of Birmingham.
The Original Birmingham Library was founded as a subscription library in the front room of John Lee Jr, in 1779. There were several libraries in the town at the time, this was the first to be open to anyone who could afford the entrance fee. Membership was expensive, and the opening hours precluded working people, so it was an elite organisation. Dr Joseph Priestley came to the town in 1781, bringing a classification system he had implemented at Leeds Library, the system is still in use today. The front room was outgrown and the Library moved to premises on Union St, and consequently to Margaret St. In 1954, the Birmingham Library was merged with the BMI as a subscription library was no longer viable. The Library is now named the Birmingham and Midland Institute Library and the archive holds all the records of the Library and the BMI.
The Birmingham and Midland Institute was founded in 1854 under an Act of Parliament, which is still the governing document. Established for the dissemination of education to all classes of people in Birmingham and the Midlands, it was aimed at the working man. Playing an important part in the Civic Gospel in the city, the BMI was for the betterment of all people. Championed by such notables as Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Sullivan and Charles Kingsley, the BMI was a place of great reputation. Holding penny lectures alongside academic lectures and performances alongside a School of Music, it was a cornerstone of Birmingham culture. Mechanical Institutes and Technical Schools were taken in and given help while they developed into sustainable organisations. Birmingham Conservatoire and Aston University both started under the wing of the BMI.
In 1889 the library moved to the current building in Margaret Street. In 1966, the BMI moved into Margaret Street as well, after the compulsory purchase of the Paradise Street premises in 1965.
The move was not initially a happy one, as the BMI had been forced to move and the Library didn’t want them in their building. However, more space was added and over the next few years unity was achieved. The Library is part of the International 18th Century Library Project, and is the largest library involved.
To find out more about the history and heritage of the BMI read more on Wikipedia.
Read more
BMI Membership
Access a wide range of exclusive benefits
The BMI offers a range of different memberships tailored to suit any circumstances. A full membership offers the use of the Members’ Room, the use of the library, discount in the BMI Coffee Lounge, discount or free entry to BMI lectures and events and voting at the AGM