books

In Conversation with Chris Hammer

21/10/2024 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm $10 Humffray Room The Valley Chris Hammer. The sins of the father | The love of a daughter | The secrets that divide them. The international bestselling author of: Scrublands & The Seven The latest stunning thriller from the bestselling author of Scrublands and The Seven. Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic are back – and Nell is thrown…

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In Conversation with Benjamin Stevenson

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

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In Conversation with Tea Cooper

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

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book cover and author

In Conversation with T.L.W. Robb | From The Top: From Ballarat to Baghdad

19/09/2024 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm $10 Heritage Reading Room From the Top T.L.W. Robb. From Ballarat to Baghdad – an extraordinary life. Traveller – Outlaw – Producer. A moving and inspiring memoir of a young man and his journey from Ballarat, Australia, to the international stage where he and his partner Luis Moreno, produced showstopping Moulin Rouge and Las Vegas style

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In Conversation with Louise Le Nay

16/07/2024 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Edenhope Louise Le Nay. ‘A moving story about one woman’s unconditional love, the kindness of strangers, and what’s right as well as what’s wrong with the way we live now.’ Amanda Lohrey, Miles Franklin Award-winning author of ‘The Labyrinth’ Marnie is sixty-three and downwardly mobile. Her middle-class marriage is long gone, her only

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portraits of both authors with book covers

In Conversation with Leah Kaminsky & Jacinta Halloran

29/07/2024 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Leah Kaminsky Leah is a physician and award-winning writer. Her debut novel, The Waiting Room, won the Voss Literary Prize. The Hollow Bones won both the Literary Fiction and Historical Fiction categories of the 2019 International Book Awards, and the 2019 American Book Fest’s Best Book Award for Literary Fiction. She is the

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Fundraiser for Ballarat RSL & BMI

$33 per person

Minerva's Secrets Night Tours

Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults

Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm. 

BMI Fundraising Events book donation promotional image

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.

Spring Season, History Talks:

Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!

Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm

Christmas Holiday Closures | Library

Monday 23 December – Sunday 5 January

Vintage Fashion Parade

Bubbly on arrival featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop

Sunday 6 September at 2pm - Cost $65

The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2026 Calendar

Featuring illustrations from our Heritage Book Collection $40

Tax Deductible 

Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.

We need
your help.

2024 End of Financial Year Appeal 

Or alternatively go to our Donations web page.

Our Challenge

Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges. 

We thank you for your support.