A new chapter for Rosanna Library

Published on 19 April 2024

We are writing a new chapter for Rosanna Library!

Works are now underway to remove the old building, which will make way for the new library expected to open in late 2025.

The new library will be double the size of the existing 50-year-old library and will feature a much larger space for children, co-working and study spaces, community meeting rooms, reading areas, quiet spaces and a rooftop terrace.

Banyule Toy Library and the relocated Rosanna Maternal and Child Health service will also be housed in the new building.

This project will also continue the revitalisation of the Rosanna shopping precinct, giving locals of all ages – especially young families – a new and modern community hub that will serve them for another 50 years.

This project is being delivered in partnership with Woolworths, which will give our community a new library at a fraction of the cost when compared to building a new library independently.

Woolworths will also cover the costs of the town planning, authority approvals, demolition of the old library, and building the shared underground carpark – saving us even more money.

A building shaped by Banyule locals

You spoke, we listened.

Thanks to the many meaningful conversations with the community in 2022 about the new library, we identified even more opportunities for the building.

Our community told us they wanted more services and spaces – so we added an additional floor and even a rooftop terrace, which will bring more services into the one space.

What’s next?

At a Council Meeting on Monday 8 April, Council agreed to a fixed-cost build of the library’s warm shell.

To ensure we get good value for money, the cost of the library’s 'warm shell' was reviewed and analysed by an independent quantity surveyor, who determined the build was a fair and reasonable price.

We have agreed to pay $7,992,280 for the 3-level ‘warm shell’ construction. We remain responsible for the fit-out design of the library and is working very closely with the stakeholder groups to ensure the library, maternal child health services and the toy library deliver excellent long-term outcomes for the community.

The cost of this project is helped offset by:  generous $1.5m grant from the Victorian Government’s 2021-2022 Living Libraries Infrastructure Program. $2,750,000 from the sale of the 828 square metres of land to Woolworths.

We will also save money on the town planning, building permit, authority approvals, demolition of the old library, and the build of the shared underground carpark. Costs for all these are being covered by Woolworths.

The total project budget allocated in our current and proposed budgets in $16.5m.

We do not currently have plans for the Rosanna Maternal and Child Health Centre building at 35 Hillside Road, Rosanna, which will continue to operate until it moves into the new Rosanna Library.

The pop-up library remains open at 56 Beetham Parade, Rosanna.

Learn more about the project at Shaping Banyule.

Says Tom Melican, Mayor of Banyule, “We truly believe this partnership will provide Rosanna and those in surrounding suburbs with a very positive community, social and economic outcomes, in a much shorter time compared to a standalone project.”

“The old library served our community well over its 50+ years, and this new community hub will provide for the future needs of a changing and expanding community.”

“The new library will meet the needs of everyone in our community now – from our youngest residents to older people – and well into the future.”