	{"id":119473,"date":"2026-02-09T04:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=119473"},"modified":"2026-02-05T12:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T01:59:24","slug":"chance-to-book-in-more-time-at-ballarats-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/chance-to-book-in-more-time-at-ballarats-libraries\/","title":{"rendered":"Chance to book in more time at Ballarat&#8217;s libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EXTRA weekend and evening hours at Ballarat&#8217;s libraries would offer residents more access and flexibility, the city&#8217;s council said.<br \/>\nThe additional time the libraries would stay open for was set to begin Monday 2 February.<br \/>\nBallarat&#8217;s mayor Tracey Hargreaves said the change provided more opportunity for residents to use what the libraries had to offer.<br \/>\nThe additional hours for Ballarat, Wendouree and Sebastopol libraries were announced in the 2025-26 City of Ballarat budget to help residents tackle cost-of-living challenges.<br \/>\n&#8220;We know that locals get a lot of value out of our libraries whether it&#8217;s a young family enjoying storytime, a student using the public study spaces, or someone printing documents,&#8221; Cr Hargreaves said. &#8220;Ballarat city council has committed to ease financial pressure on our community where we can.<br \/>\n&#8220;The extended hours at each of our three libraries are a way we&#8217;re making it easier for residents of all ages to access free resources and programs.&#8221;<br \/>\nThe library on Doveton Street North is set to open every day from 9.30am. It will close 7pm Mondays and Wednesdays, 6pm Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 4pm Saturdays and Sundays.<br \/>\nSebastopol library will be open Mondays to Saturdays from 9.30am. The library will close 7pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6pm Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 12pm Saturdays.<br \/>\nWendouree library will open 9.30am to 5pm on weekdays. It will open 9.30am to 2pm on Saturdays.<br \/>\nA library card is free. It offers access to a range of items such as books and DVDs, and services like free WiFi, storytime, workshops and the Maker Space.<br \/>\nVisit <a href=\"http:\/\/libraries.ballarat.vic.gov.au\">libraries.ballarat.vic.gov.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXTRA weekend and evening hours at Ballarat&#8217;s libraries would offer residents more access and flexibility, the city&#8217;s council said. The additional time the libraries would stay open for was set to begin Monday 2 February. Ballarat&#8217;s mayor Tracey Hargreaves said the change provided more opportunity for residents to use what the libraries had to offer. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/chance-to-book-in-more-time-at-ballarats-libraries\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":119475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-119473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chance to book in more time at Ballarat&#039;s libraries - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ballarat libraries are extending weekend and evening opening hours from February, giving residents more access to free resources and programs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/chance-to-book-in-more-time-at-ballarats-libraries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chance to book in more time at Ballarat&#039;s libraries - 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