WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.741','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [WorkflowEngine] Engine starting with execution id \"eb382cb025faa0217413a55b5d406419\" for user #guest (frontend)')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.742','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [WorkflowEngine] Engine ready, listening for triggers')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.745','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [WorkflowEngine] Loading all published workflows')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.747','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [WorkflowEngine] All workflows are ready')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.748','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] Reviews module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.748','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] Notices module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.749','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\Debug\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.749','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\InstanceProtection\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.750','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\VersionNotices\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.750','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\Expirator\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.751','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\Settings\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.751','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\WooCommerce\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.752','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\Workflows\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:53.753','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [Plugin] PublishPress\\Future\\Modules\\Backup\\Module module has been initialized successfully.')
January 28 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets Geoff Parkes Susi Fox The First Law of the Bush Geoff Parkes From the author of When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole and The First Law of the Bush. Set in the 1990s in New Zealand’s King Country, The First Law of the Bush is the scintillating new rural noir from the author…
January 28 @ 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm $25 Minerva Space Living with inner peace is not something we have to wait for. It is something we can actively cultivate every day. Our mind has incredible power. It can create stress and unease, or it can support a life filled with stability, joy, and meaning. In this course, inspired by Buddha’s teachings, we will explore how…
February 4 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 Lending Library, ground floor These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peace through meditation and Buddhist teachings. The in-person setting fosters a supportive community and offers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance. Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve…
February 11 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 Lending Library, ground floor These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peace through meditation and Buddhist teachings. The in-person setting fosters a supportive community and offers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance. Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve…
February 12 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm Minerva Room Animated Animal Ecofable We begin 2026 with a beautiful animated film about a wide-eyed curious cat and other animals seeking refuge on a boat as their human-free world of eerie buildings and enormous statues is inexplicably and rapidly flooded. As the waters carry them along, they traverse magical, submerged landscapes, and are exposed to dangerous elemental…
February 14 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm $10.00 Minerva Space Get tickets My Sweet Monster: A Cautionary Tale of DesireTori BaxterBook launch for My Sweet Monster: A Cautionary Tale of Desire and live conversation event with Author Tori Baxter and Journalist Abby Dinham around motherhood, survival and domestic violence partnerships. My Sweet Monster | Tori Baxter About ToriTori Baxter is a Melbourne-based writer whose…
February 15 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm $5 – $40 Minerva Space Get Tickets This event was designed to bring world class quality world music to Ballarat, where locals frequently have to travel to find music of such high quality. Joseph Tawadros AM is a leading Oud virtuoso, composer and 8 time ARIA-award winner. Born in Cairo, his chosen instrument, the Oud is an Arabic…
February 18 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 Lending Library, ground floor These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peace through meditation and Buddhist teachings. The in-person setting fosters a supportive community and offers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance. Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve…
February 25 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets The One Remaining Paula McLean The One Remaining is a captivating story of overcoming loss, finding the courage to trust those who believe in us, and the self-healing power of writing our stories. Hilary Mason is thirteen when her sister Elaine disappears. She fears someone close to the family is involved but…
February 25 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 Lending Library, ground floor These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peace through meditation and Buddhist teachings. The in-person setting fosters a supportive community and offers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance. Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve…
February 28 @ 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm $20.50 Humffray Room Get Tickets 'A celebration of resilience, a hymn to the unwavering power of the human spirit, a poetic whisper that echoes into eternity'Experience a mesmerising night of art rock, spoken word, and experimental sound as Danielle Whalebone presents Whispers of Shadows an immersive live performance that blends music, projections, and emotion into a…
March 2 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm $21.00 Minerva Space Get Tickets Presented by Pub Cinemas: In the Shadow of the Gallows In 1873 a frail figure was walked to the gallows at the Adelaide Gaol. She had been convicted of murdering her husband, and there would be no reprise. The hanging of Elizabeth Woolcock has gone on in Australian true crime history…
Minerva's Secrets Night Tours
Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults
Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm.
Remembrance Day:
A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia
Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm.
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
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
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.
2 course dinner & lots
of dancing
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:54.983','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: [WorkflowEngine] Engine finished processing request (1242 ms)')
WordPress database error: [The table 'S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug' is full]INSERT INTO S1JQUJ_postexpirator_debug (`timestamp`,`blog`,`request_id`,`trigger_activated`,`message`) VALUES ('2026-07-26 17:22:54.987','0','6a66426db4aac',0,'DEBUG: Shutdown')
