30 good years: Footscray Library Celebrates a milestone birthday

Published on 14 March 2024

The much-loved Footscray Library will be celebrating a milestone this month, as the flagship site reflects on 30 years serving the community.

City of Maribyrnong Mayor, Cr Cuc Lam, said all of Maribyrnong Libraries – and particularly Footscray – offer so much more to the community than just books.

“Our libraries are refuges for the community – a space to retreat in extreme heat, a quiet place to study for students and a space for our youngest residents to dive into literacy with Baby Rhyme Time,” said Mayor Lam.

“The programs offered by our libraries are reflective of our community’s needs – Tai Chi and tech help for older people, book groups, school holiday programs and bilingual story times – there really is something for everyone. Libraries really do change lives,” Mayor Lam continued.

Maribyrnong Libraries member Simone and her family joined the library when they moved to the area in 2010. Simone reflects, “As a new mum, baby rhyme time and story time were a fun way to get out of the house, keep the kids entertained, and meet up with other mums and bubs from the local area.

“I'm not sure how we would have got through the COVID lockdowns without our local library. While the branches were closed, the staff would deliver packages of reserved books directly to our house. These deliveries were absolutely the highlight of the week,” said Simone.

To celebrate, Footscray Library will be hosting a party for the community on Saturday 23 March with a local DJ, craft activities and of course, cake. Setting the scene for the celebration, local artist and former ArtsBox resident, Kate Robinson, was engaged to create decorations to ‘takeover’ the library – paying homage to her mural located next to the Library, which includes icons of Footscray and book covers from  local authors.

Party-goers will also be able to commemorate the milestone birthday by sharing a message in birthday cards flanked with throwback photos of the library from the past 30 years.

The party will continue with Get a Taste of Creative West, a free live performance and arts showcase on Saturday 6 April. If successfully funded, Creative West could provide our vibrant and creative community with much needed access to greater learning and cultural opportunities through the redevelopment of Footscray Library into a new library, creative and community hub, known as Creative West.

30 Good Years: Footscray Library’s Birthday - Maribyrnong City Council

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