City Library’s lifeline

City Library’s lifeline

By Jake Pike

The City of Melbourne will decide the fate of the City Library on November 24, just weeks before the library’s sublease is set to expire on December 15.

Council management has recommended that councillors vote to accept a new two-year lease agreement, with the possibility of a third-year renewal, at the library’s 253-256 Flinders Lane location.

The library has been at the current premises since 2000, but the council has attempted to find a new home in anticipation of the lease expiring in December.

The proposed new two-year lease would give the council the time to finalise the transition to a new home.

The property is currently leased to the coun- cil from the Box Hill Institute for a rental price of $1 million per year.

In 2017–18 the City Library was one of Australia’s busiest public libraries, with an average of 224 visitors an hour and 50 to 60 new memberships a day.

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