News Alert |

The $2.8 million redeveloped Sebastopol Library Community Hub will open its doors to the community on Wednesday 2 January, 2019.  

This major redevelopment has transformed the City of Ballarat’s Library and Maternal and Child Health services into a vibrant modern community hub, featuring: 

a larger Library space  indoor amenities  an expanded lending library and reading space  a dedicated children’s space  a dedicated youth area  a children’s library  two refurbished Maternal and Child Health consulting rooms  meeting room space, with out-of-hours availability  upgraded technology room and facilities  outdoor areas  additional accessible entrance behind the hub  a 24-hour accessible public bathroom. 

The City of Ballarat contributed $2.2 million and the State Government, through the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), contributed $600,000 to the redevelopment. 

Under the works, which began in late 2017, the façade of the former building was retained along with a section of the original Sebastopol Town Hall and the Vietnam Veterans’ rooms.  

The Library at the new Sebastopol Library and Community Hub will feature four staff while the Library will have longer opening hours – opening Monday to Friday, from 9.30am-5pm, and on Saturdays from 9.30am-12pm. 

The Maternal and Child Health service is expected to begin supporting the families of about 260 newborn babies in 2019, while many families with children from birth to school age will reconnect with this new site, either for the first time or as clients of the former Sebastopol Maternal and Child Health service prior to the redevelopment. 

Three City of Ballarat Maternal and Child Health nurses began working at the site last week. 

The new Sebastopol Library Community Hub will serve as a local hub for a range of cultural, learning and recreational programs just as the site did 154 years ago, when the Sebastopol Mechanics Institute and Free Library opened on 28 April, 1864.  

The old Sebastopol Town Hall was erected in 1868 and opened on 19 March, 1869. The Town Hall was rebuilt in the 1950s and opened on 20 December 1960.  

To make an appointment with a City of Ballarat Maternal and Child Health nurse, phone 5320 5720. To contact the Library from 2 January, phone 5335 7985.