The Free Public Library of Ballarat East was opened to the public on the 1st of January, 1869. The foundation-stone was laid on the 21st of January, 1867, and the building completed on the 20th of December 1868, when it was handed over to the Building Committee. £4,213 4s 6d have been expended in building, fittings, and furniture. The land, being part of the Town Hall Reserve, was granted by the Ballarat East Borough Council.
The ground plan is capable of extension, already meditated, to supply accommodation for classes of students and others in the geological, mineral, and mining departments, likely to prove of the greatest practical service to the population of this extensive and wealthy mining district.
The number of volumes, the use of which is at present offered to the public, is over 6,000.
