City of Ballarat Council will receive a valuable investment in the future of its local libraries, thanks to the Andrews Labor Government’s Public Libraries Funding Program. 

$731,084 is being invested into City of Ballarat’s three public libraries in Wendouree, Ballarat Central and Sebastopol.  

 The funding will assist with staff salaries across the three libraries and will also support the hardware maintenance of the RFID security system. 

With an increase in people seeking electronic resources throughout the pandemic, the funding will go towards the purchase of items for the library’s e-collections, as well as assisting with the purchase of items for the physical collections.  

This investment will also fund the “Let’s Read” baby book program, which is run in conjunction with the City’s maternal child health program. This initiative provides a book to every family with a one-year-old to encourage a lifelong love of reading.     

The Public Libraries Funding Program provides annual funding for public libraries across Victoria so that they can provide valuable library services. This funding will expand library collections, boost online services, and provide library and outreach programs.  

The Public Libraries Funding Program has been allocated $48.1 million in funding for the 2022-2023 financial year.  

Since 2015, the Labor Government has invested more than $354 million through the Public Libraries Funding Program. Local libraries are much-loved community facilities in Victoria. Across the state, more than two million library members borrow more than 31 million items from libraries every year.  

For information on the Public Libraries Funding Program, visit localgovernment.vic.gov.au. 

 Quotes attributable to Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison  

“Libraries across Ballarat provide points of connection, as well as being great places for lifelong learning. We are proud to support our libraries because we recognise they play such a significant role in supporting social cohesion across our city.”  

Quotes attributable to Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle 

“Libraries are more than a book lending service. They offer so much to our community, from computer services, through to event spaces and reading clubs.  

“This funding means that the wonderful staff of the Ballarat Libraries can continue to create such special places for everyone in our community”.  

Quotes attributable to City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Daniel Moloney 

“This funding boost from the state government will mean the libraries here in Ballarat will be able to offer even better services and a wider collection of physical and electronic items. Libraries are such important community centres and I thank the Victorian Government for their funding contribution to the operation of the three branches of Ballarat Libraries.”