The Reading Room (2pm in the Library for a start @ 10.30am – 12noon)

This volunteer run reading and discussion group meets monthly. It is anticipated that members will read the selected book prior to attendance.
If you would like to be a part of this group (free to BMI members) please complete the Expression of Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we progress this great new initiative. 
 
Expression of Interest to participate >

 

For more information go to

Books That Saved My Life | Michael McGirr

More about the Author.

JUNE SESSION

Here are forty texts to read at some stage in your life- forty texts that can enrich you in all manner of ways. Some are recent, like Harry Potter; some ancient, like Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world’s great novels, from George Eliot’s Middlemarch to Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Our guide, in entertaining short essays about personal encounters with each of these works, is Michael McGirr- schoolteacher and former priest, reviewer of hundreds of novels and lifelong lover of literature.

His humour and insight shine through in stories that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them. Never prescriptive, and often very funny, this book is an invitation to reflect on-and share with others-the extraordinary gift of reading. ‘It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,? McGirr writes. ‘The excitement has never worn off.?

About the Author

Michael McGirr is the bestselling author of Snooze- The Lost Art of Sleep, Things You Get for Free and Bypass. He has reviewed almost one thousand books for various newspapers; his short fiction has appeared in Australian and overseas publications; and he has been a publisher of Eureka Street and fiction editor at Meanjin. 

Review a title

Why not review a book for the benefit of our members. We will publish these reviews in our social media and website from time to time.

My Book Review >

This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

Library closure Festive Season

10/12/2025 No Comments

The Library will be closed from Monday 22 December  and re-opening on Monday 5 January 2026 We wish you a Merry Christmas. Special Membership offer Please remember we still have our Special Membership offer (only $50) running through to 5 January However if you wish to offer membership as a Christmas Gift we can arrange a voucher for you to pick up from the Library desk prior to 20 December. Purchase here

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Celebrating our Volunteers & Members

09/12/2025 No Comments

We hope everyone enjoyed our Members and Volunteers Christmas Thank you. We loved having the Ballarat Singers and The Little Brass Band entertain and share the celebration. Below is special 12 Days of Christmas composed just for us by Fiona Watson and the team.  Paula Nicholson The BMI’s 12 Days of Christmas On the first day of Christmas Mechanics gave to me A year’s membership for free. On the second day of Christmas Mechanics gave to me Two Twilight Talks

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Ballarat Organs & Fine Music Festival

08/12/2025 No Comments

9 -13 January 2026 Each January, the Ballart Goldfields come alive with beautiful music, warm community spirit, and the glow of summer. Over five inspiring days audiences are invited to experience world-class performances in the region’s historic churches and grand heritage venues. Ballarat Organs & Fine Music Full Program. Festival Events at the BMI BMI events will be listed here as information becomes available. 1 event found. Today Upcoming Upcoming Select date. List of events in Photo View Ballarat Festival

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Rosemary’s Book of the Week

08/12/2025 No Comments

The Hidden Bryan Brown The heads was once a small village on the NSW north coast. Now it’s a large village with a lot of action below the surface. A shipment of coke, a crime  quad investigation and a drug overdose keep the local sergeant pretty busy. Someone is preying on the women of The Heads.  And what does the discovery of buried roosters in the forest mean to a young boy? Will Sergeant William Jarrett uncover what is really

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Rosemary’s Book of the Week

02/12/2025 No Comments

Dead Man’s Tale Quintin Jardine His native Scotland stands on the cusp of a new era of international expansion under its charismatic new leader, but former top cop Sir Robert Skinner is settled happily in Spain with his family, fully engaged in a new and unexpected career. Hs is focused on a business issue, only to be drawn suddenly homewards as a family member finds himself a witness to a homicidal attack, and under fire himself. Skinner drops everything to rush

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