Like organisations around the world, Geelong Regional Libraries has been significantly impacted by COVID-19, both operationally and financially. The pandemic has also provided us with a unique opportunity to reflect on our activities; to improve what we do to ensure we are best meeting the needs of our communities and stakeholders. In 2020, the Word for Word National Non-Fiction Festival was taken online in response to the pandemic. We were proud to be able to forge ahead and deliver the festival in this way. While the digital format has a number of benefits, we acknowledge that many festival-goers and presenters missed gathering in person for the event. The ongoing nature of the pandemic means there are still many questions about the viability of running a large scale literary event at this time, and whether an online, in-person or hybrid model is best. To this end, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Word for Word National Non-Fiction Festival in 2021, to allow us time to undertake a thorough review of the festival format. We hope that the festival will be back in 2022, and will continue to share updates on our website and social media channels. We understand that news of the festival’s cancellation in 2021 may be disappointing, and we thank you for your understanding as we work to navigate these difficult times. As a public library, we take seriously our role in promoting literacy and supporting authors in our community. We continue to run a wonderful program of author talks at our libraries and online. To explore these events please visit our website.
Thank you for your support.
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Please be advised that all our libraries will be closed for the upcoming King’s Birthday public holiday on Monday 9 June.
The Warm Winter Read is a state-wide challenge that aims to help encourage everyone to slow down and get reading! And yes—there are prizes involved!
We're experiencing a technical issue affecting access to our library catalogue from our website.
This year's theme is Bridging Now to Next inviting us to consider the ongoing connection between past, present, and future.
At its Board meeting held on Thursday 1 May 2025, GRLC resolved to place the Draft Budget 2025-26 and Strategic Resource Plan 2025-29 on public exhibition in preparation for adoption on Thursday 26 June 2025.
We're reorganising things at Lara Library to improve the interior space and your access to the collection.