The Governor was especially pleased to have a tour with myself and Ellen. I’d like to thank Katrina Hill for her involvement in the tour.
Her Excellency was then thrilled to join staff and Collection and Library volunteers for a morning tea prepared by Malcolm Roberts. She enjoyed a chat with the small group where she had many questions about the Heritage Building, the collections and the current operations.
We would like to thank Ethan Laurie and Jonathon Bourke from Government House for accompanying Her Excellency and we hope she will visit us again. There will be more details of the visit and photos in the next newsletter.
At the BMI we have been doing some traditional spring cleaning! Apart from the fact that it was well and truly due, we were spurred on by the most auspicious visit by the Governor of Victoria, Her Excellency Margaret Gardner on the morning of the 23rd of October. Arranged by our Curator, Ellen Becker, this visit was to commemorate the 165th anniversary of the opening of the first Reading Room at the BMI (now the Lending Library) late in the year in 1860.
Governor’s Visit
Executive Manager
Interviews have now been completed for the position of Executive Manager at the BMI, these were conducted by myself, and Board Members Jane Valpied and Chris Hutton. We were thrilled with the response and the interest in the position from the wider community from many high calibre applicants. We thank all the applicants and will announce the appointment shortly once finalised.
Nicholson Construction – Thank You
Our Spring cleaning has been supported by Nicholson Construction through the provision of “a man and a truck” to clean out rubbish and debris in the alleyways and then followed up by cleaning of the surfaces to remove dirt, moss and bird poo. This has made a huge difference to these external areas and we thanks Nicholson Construction for their support with this effort.
School Tour
On 9 October, the BMI hosted students from Lucas Primary School, Lal Lal Primary, Delacombe Primary, Buninyong Primary and Mt Egerton Primary this month for a Writing Workshop as part of the Young Authors Group. The place was buzzing as 100 young students made their way through the building and were able to touch some of the books and artefacts with correct instructions and clean hands of course! They were entertained and educated by our very own Katrina Hill and Tim Harris as part of their program. Students enjoyed their tour around the building (especially the basement) and a more concentrated session on poetry including discussions about Mark Twain. The day was supported by Collins Booksellers on Lydiard where the group started their day. Thanks to Katrina, Tim and Liam Mudge for putting this together and inviting these young people into the BMI.
Find out more about this tour and student feedback.
ballartmi.org.au/ school-tour-bmi
Community Partner – Ballarat National Theatre
Sadly the season of Ballarat National Theatre’s production of God of Carnage was cancelled due to a serious accident involving a key cast member. We sincerely wish the cast member involved a speedy recovery and we look forward to welcoming BNT back into the building very soon.
Membership Drive
Some of you might have noticed that we are in the middle of a Membership Drive to attract new Library Members to join our community. Thanks to Roland Rocchiccioli for his recent piece in the Ballarat Times to kick this off! Listen out for the radio ads and remember to tell all your friends that from now until Christmas new members can join for $50! There are so many local people that are not aware of “the other Ballarat Library” and we hope this campaign assists us to spread the word and we look forward to welcoming new Members to our community.
AGM
Thank you to those who attended the Annual General Meeting on the 29th September and congratulations to Marion Blythman on her appointment as a Life Member of BMI. The President’s and Treasurer’s reports were very positive and well received and will be available through the website shortly. Thank you to all my fellow Board Members, staff and volunteers for a wonderful contribution to financial year 2024-2025 and their ongoing hard work.
Author Talks
Author talks continue to be a big success with a wide variety of authors already signing up to take part in the program in 2026 Christian White, Josh Pomare & Paula McLean to name a few. We continue to enjoy the support of Collins Booksellers on Lydiard (thank you Tracey and Lyle) and the cooperation of many publishers thanks to Rosemary’s dedication and energy in this program. The Twilight Talks program offers a variety throughout the month of November (details below), thanks again to Phil Roberts for all his efforts to continue to deliver a varied and interesting series season after season!
Fundraising – Open Garden & Devonshire Tea
The much loved Open Garden will happen again in November (22-23 November), at the beautiful Errard Hall. This day is brought to you by our very own Malcolm Roberts and Michael Stubbs, as they open their garden and provide Devonshire Tea for your enjoyment whilst you tiptoe through the tulips so to speak!
Open Garden
Saturday & Sunday 22 & 23 November, 10am – 4pm
$25 includes Devonshire Tea
Season 4
Remembrance Day: A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook, Presented
by Dr Jean Douglas
Wednesday 29 October, 5.30pm
Remembrance Day: Recent War Memorabilia, WW2 to Afghanistan, Presented by David Wright
Wednesday 29 October, 5.30pm
Season 5 coming soon…
Author Talks
