
Melbourne Rare Book Week 2026
Melbourne Rare Book Week 24 Jul – 2 Aug 2026 | As BMI associated events are confirmed they will be listed HERE.
The Reading Room (2pm in the Library for a start @ 2.30pm – 4pm)
NOVEMBER SESSION
Past the Shallows | Favel Parrett
Brothers Joe, Harry and Miles live with their father, an abalone fisherman, on the south-east coast of Tasmania. Everyday their dad battles the unpredictable ocean to make a living. He is a hard man, a bitter drinker who harbours a devastating secret that is destroying him.
Unlike Joe, Harry and Miles are too young to leave home and so are forced to live under the dark cloud of their father’s mood, trying to stay as invisible as possible whenever he is home. Harry, the youngest, is the most vulnerable and it seems he bears the brunt of his father’s anger…
This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

Melbourne Rare Book Week 24 Jul – 2 Aug 2026 | As BMI associated events are confirmed they will be listed HERE.

The Model Murder Amanda Hampson Don’t miss Amanda who will be in conversation with local radio presenter Prue Bentley talking about Amanda’s new book at BMI on Wednesday 27 May at 6.30pm A Tea Ladies Mystery A model vanishes – A man is murdered – and the Tea Ladies are back on the case. Sydney, 1968. In a shadowy city lane, a young man is shot dead. His glamorous fiancée, a rising fashion model, disappears without a trace. The police think they’ve found their

After the Noise Kerri Rogan Don’t miss Kerri who will be talking about her new book at BMI on Wednesday 13 May at 6.30pm Lee squinted in the sunlight and patted around her. It felt like a mattress and a dog. For the first time in months, she had slept in a bed. Oh, dear. Moose. She had fed her a bottle before she had come to bed last night but not after that.… Lee Evans stands alone in the
The Marriage Trap Victoria Purman Don’t miss Victoria who will be in conversation with radio presenter Prue Bentley at the BMI on Monday 11 May at 6pm In 1960s Australia, the scent of freedom is in the air… From bestselling Australian author, comes the story of a mother and her two daughters, set in the tumultuous extraordinary decade of the 1960s. A time of great change; the effects of the pill, rebellion and new ideas on ordinary Australian women… as, alongside
Stella Day Out, Ballarat 5 November 2025 | As events are confirmed they will be listed HERE.
Rosemary’s New Releases and Recommendations | Author Talks – Live Music – Film – LIve Theatre – Twilight Talks – Message from the Chair – Ballarat Heritage Festival
Minerva's Secrets Night Tours
Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults
Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm.
Linen & Lace Exhbition
Includes Devonshire Tea | $20
Sat & Sun 22, 23 Oct
10am-4pm
Remembrance Day:
A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia
Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm.
Coming soon…
Rozzi Bazzani. Stella Day Out: Katia Ariel & Samah Sabawi, Rachael Johns
Coming soon…
Dianne Dempsey, Chrissie Bellbrae, Paula Gleeson, Rozzi Bazzani.
Coming in November…
Stella Day Out, Ballarat, Rachael Johns & Margaret Hickey
Australian Heritage Festival
Minerva's Secrets
25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets.
Spring Season, History Talks:
Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!
Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm.
Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60
The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2026 Calendar
Featuring illustrations from our Heritage Book Collection $40
Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.
Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges.
2 course dinner & lots
of dancing