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

Update from Liam Mudge, Venue Manager | Stage Ready

27/11/2025 No Comments

Stage Ready The BMI has received funding to launch Stage Ready – a new Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute funded to launch “Stage Ready” — a new non-formal technical-theatre training program for regional creatives. The Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute (BMI) is pleased to announce it has secured $22,946 to deliver Stage Ready, a new non-formal technical-theatre training program designed to support emerging production talent and strengthen regional creative capability. Launching in 2026, Stage Ready delivers practical, real-world experience in lighting, sound, stagecraft, and venue operations. The program

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A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | December 2025

27/11/2025 No Comments

Hello everybody, it is hard to believe we are writing the December edition of the BMI newsletter, but while the year seems to have dashed by, a lot has been achieved at the BMI, for you the Members and for the wider community. Much of this activity has been internal, with Finance and HR audits almost complete led by the Finance Committee and the Board respectively, cyber security and IT upgrades generously led by volunteer Travis Charlton, website overview and

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Rosemary’s Book of the Week

24/11/2025 No Comments

It’s A Scorcher: Tales of the Australian Summer William McInnes Don’t miss Willima at the BMI on Tuesday 2 December at 6pm If there is a quintessence of Australia at its best William McInnes has diestilled it – The Age From one of Australia’s favourite storytellers There is something about long, hot summer days that stirs our emotions. It’s all about holidays, festivals, family and Christmas; a time for swimming, a hit of backyard cricket or firing up the barbie.

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Rosemary’s Book of the Week

17/11/2025 No Comments

The Courageous Life of Weary Dunlop Peter FitzSimons AM Don’t miss Peter at the BMI on Thursday 20 November at 6.30pm The Courageous Life of Weary Dunlop: Surgeon, prisoner-of-war, life -saving leader and legend of the Thai-Burma Railway Australia’s bestselling non-fiction writer Peter FitzSimons AM will be in Ballarat to celebrate his latest book about Weary Dunlop. The extraordinary story of the heroic doctor whose courage and leadership were a lifeline for thousands of Australian prisoners-of-war on the infamous Thai-Burma

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Rosemary’s Book of the Week

13/11/2025 No Comments

An Ill Wind Margaret Hickey Don’t miss Margaret at the BMI on Tuesday 18 November at 6pm A Small Town Divided – Secrets Are Blown Apart Author of Cutters End and Stone Town High on a hill above the small fictional Victorian town of Carrabeen, 300 wind turbines constantly spin. All except for one, now deadly still with a limp body hanging from one of its huge white blades. Married Detective Sergeants Belinda Burney and Will Lovell are shocked to discover the dead man

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The Guardian | The Rural Newtork – I joined the oldest and most overlooked library in my town – and it feels like being part of a secret club – Dellaram Vreeland

03/11/2025 No Comments

The Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute has had a reading room for 165 years but today it has just 530 members – and tens of thousands of book lovers are missing out. I love my local libraries. I adore the staff, the ambience, the facilities and the free wifi. As a freelancer, hot-desking without needing to pay a dime is my cup of tea. The local government-run library network in Ballarat is made up of three branches and provides a number of

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