Following consultation with library users, staff and Traditional Owners through the Future Libraries Framework in 2020, and drawing inspiration from our pop-up libraries, we’re updating City Library to meet the changing needs of our diverse community.
The ground floor will be revitalised, making it quick and easy to browse books and their items. The first floor will be fitted out to provide spaces for the community to come together for meetings, study and co-working.
Works at City Library begin in early 2024, and the library will fully re-open in mid-2024. To stay updated, subscribe to our newsletterOpens in new tab, download our libraries app or follow us on social media.
Reservation pickups are still available from Tuesday 2 April from Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm and Saturdays, 10am to 1pm. Returns are available 24/7.
In the meantime, you can access our other six neighbourhood libraries, the mobile library service Mel-Van, or explore our new library and family services centre, narrm ngarrgu, in the heart of the Queen Victoria Market precinct.
City Library Collection
City Library users have told us they want more spaces available for community meetings, study and co-working in this location. The refreshed City Library will meet the needs of our community while continuing to be a welcome and safe space for the community.
Based on this feedback and analysis of borrowing trends for our books, the collection at City Library will be curated with city residents, workers, students and visitors in mind.
The collection will contain fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, books for children and young adults, community language collections as well as magazines, DVDs and CDs. Borrowers will still be able to access the City of Melbourne’s entire collection by reserving and picking up items from City Library – or by visiting other library branches.
Our team is working with library collection experts to re-design the collection. Books that are not retained will be dispersed across the library network, donated, or recycled (if books are unfortunately too damaged to rehome).
We regularly review and update our collections across our entire library network to ensure we have a range of much loved and new books for our community to enjoy.
