07/05/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets The House of Kwa Mimi Kwa. The dragon circles and swoops ... a tiger running alone in the night ... Mimi Kwa ignored the letter for days. When she finally opened it, the news was so shocking her hair turned grey. Why would a father sue his own daughter? The collision…
14/05/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets Burning Mountain Darcy Tindale. Five friends went up - Four came down. ‘Dark, wild and cracking with tension, Burning Mountain leaves other outback noir titles in the red dust.’ - Jack Heath Detective Rebecca Giles returns in Darcy Tindale’s highly anticipated sequel, Burning Mountain. Drawing inspiration from Darcy’s childhood in the…
28/05/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets The Limestone Road Nicole Alexander. The Only Way Forward is through the Past... A Modern Australian Classic - Christine Wells. Known for her captivating depictions of historical rural Australian life, bestselling author Nicole Alexander returns with her twelfth novel, The Limestone Road - a stirring narrative about one young soldier’s courageous…
04/06/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets In The Margins Gail Holmes. Vivid, wise and moving - Suzanne Leal. A Sheer Delight - Sally Colin-James. Gail Holmes | Photo Kristian Gehradte In The Margins is an extraordinary debut. A chronicle of a woman who lived and wrote in the margins of time. Inspired by the real life of…
25/06/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets The Mix-Up Kylie Ladd. One Tiny Mistake, Two Families affected Kylie Ladd A beautifully told and thought-provoking novel about a mix-up that leaves two children wondering who they really are and where they belong. What would you do if you found out you'd been raising another couple's child - and they've…
08/07/2025 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm $11.78 TBA Get Tickets J.S. Davidson Hunted: The Aztec Saga If one should fall, they each will fade... Tethered: The Aztec Saga Darkness will come, no one will evade... Hunted: The Aztec Saga | J. S. Davidson Tethered: The Aztec Saga | J. S. Davidson I don’t know how long I have been in this room.…
08/07/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 TBA Get Tickets Ella Stone Breakfast With You Breakfast WIth You | Ella Stone The plan is simple. Nicole will return to her hometown of Riverbanks for the funeral and provide a eulogy for a father she no longer knows. Afterwards, she will slip back to Sydney where she'll wear the infamous Diamond Dress to…
09/07/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets Broke Road Matthew Spencer A Murder at home - A community on edge - Someone is watching. 'A tightly plotted, fast moving, beautifully written whodunnit' - Jane Caro 'Enthralling, Matthew Spencer nails it' - Chris Hammer From the bestselling author of Black River. This July sees the release of Broke Road.…
16/07/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets Shift Irma Gold 'Unforgettable' - Nigel Featherstone. ‘Evocative, propulsive and heartbreaking, Shift is a novel that can change the way you think.’ – Rochelle Siemienowicz, Double Happiness ‘Seductive, superbly atmospheric and beautifully narrated with a painterly, cinemascope feel, Shift will make your heart race.’ – Niq Mhlongo, The City is Mine In the year of…
06/08/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 TBA Get Tickets The Occupation A Woman's Voice Chloe Adams Alli Sinclair 'Assured, deft, sophisticated, Chloe Adams is the real deal' - Emily Bitto A sweeping romantic adventure based on true events of the women's liberation movement The Occupation | Chloe Adams In the autumn of 1949, two women convene in the parlour of an…
20/08/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets The White Crow Michael Robotham She upholds the law. Her family breaks it. 'A twisty-turny, second-guessing great read with a killer ending' - Herald Sun for 'When You Are Mine' Michael Robotham Beloved character Police Constable Philomena McCarthy, from When You Are Mine, returns in a heart stopping thriller from the…
23/08/2025 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Heritage Reading Room The FoolLaura J. Fitzwilson After his parents and brother are assassinated, Leo is forced to become king of the smallest country on a continent that looks an awful lot like Australia. He faces a kingdom on the brink of bankruptcy and a mistimed sneeze away from being drawn into a war; a…
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
