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30/10/2024 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret Benjamin Stevenson. Strap yourself in for Christmas hijinks, done the way only Benjamin Stevenson can.’ Hayley Scrivenor An ingenious and hilarious meta-murder mystery. - Sunday Times When a Christmas show takes a dark turn after a magician’s guillotine trick goes awry, who should be in the front…
11/11/2024 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Get Tickets The Golden Thread Tea Cooper. Intricate threads from the past and the present bind together a yellow silk dress, lost gold and a missing grandmother in a twisty historical mystery from the bestselling author of: The Talented Mrs Greenway. Maitland, 1889When nineteen-year-old Constance Montague wakes one Wednesday she expects the day…
16/11/2024 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Free STELLA DAY OUT: Writing about the Future | Kate Mildenhall in conversation with Van Badham | 16 November 1pm - 2pm | Free
16/11/2024 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Free STELLA DAY OUT: Travel Writing | Adriane Howell and Favel Parrett in conversation with Fiona Sweet. | 16 November 3pm - 4pm | Free.
20/11/2024 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $8 – $12 Bar open at 5pm $8 – $12 Humffray Room Get tickets How James became King: The true story of James 'King' O'Malley Speaker: Author, Brian O'Malley Brian O'Malley is a retired Australian Federal public servant with experience in law enforcement functions and wide range of work and travel experience. Has has won the ACT Marjorie…
27/11/2024 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $8 – $12 Bar open at 5pm $8 – $12 Humffray Room Get Tickets Johnny Alloo... of Ballarat notoriety Speaker: Author, John Smyth Article: by Edwina Williams, Ballarat Times - Friday 24 May 2024 When you hear ‘Johnny Alloo,’ you might be like many people in Ballarat who associate the name with a local cafe. But it stems far…
30/11/2024 @ 10:00 am - 01/12/2024 @ 2:00 pm Free Lending Library Books priced from $1 - more for collectable items. Image, artist impression only | Photo by | helloiamtugce Don't miss our book sale this weekend. Admission and parking are free (one hour on Saturday, all day Sunday). There are hundreds of books - some of which are in gently used condition and some…
18/02/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $10 Humffray Room Get Tickets Cleaved Jane Cafarella. A story of loss, legs and finding family It’s important that genuine stories such as this be published to show the extra-ordinary, day-to-day courage of so-called ‘ordinary’ people - Highly recommended - Hazel Edwards OAM Former journalist for The Age and critically acclaimed Australian playwright and cartoonist, Jane…
25/02/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Get Tickets Outrageous Fortunes Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime-writer, and Her Criminal Son 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story, pieced together…
26/02/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $9 – $13 Bar open at 5pm $9 – $13 Humffray Room Get tickets Dancers on the Sea: Stories from Atauro Island, Timor-Leste 1994-2002 Speaker: Gabrielle Samson, Author Gabrielle SamsonGabrielle, a writer of fiction and memoir, has won national prizes for her short stories and has co-written a radio play produced by the ABC. She has lived and…
19/03/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $9.73 – $13.83 Bar open at 5pm $9.73 – $13.83 Humffray Room Get tickets Changes in Ballarat's Car Industry Panel Discussion: Chair, Phil Roberts OAM, Patron & Twilight Talks Coordinator. Dr Phil Roberts OAM Phil Roberts is the co-ordinator of the BMI Twilight Talks and BMI Patron. He is a former secondary school history teacher and school principal and…
24/03/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets Wild Dark Shore Charlotte McConaghy. New York Times Best Selling Author From the New York Times bestselling author of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves, a novel about a family living alone on a remote island, when a mysterious woman washes up on shore. At once a gripping mystery, an exquisitely written ode to the natural…
Trivia Night Fundraiser
26 August Doors open 6.45pm | Tickets also available at the door
$25 per person | $20 BMI members
Minerva's Secrets Night Tours
Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults
Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm.
Calling for Pre-loved books
These donation assist in our Library Fundraising Activities
We can take delivery during regular Library operating hours. See website footer.
Coming in November…
Stella Day Out, Ballarat, Rachael Johns & Margaret Hickey
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
Pre-Sale $60 from 6 Aug to 9 Aug - $65 thereafter
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.
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