The Committee, led by Treasurer Kevin Quigley, has undertaken a revision of the rules which govern the operation of the Melbourne Athenaeum. These were last revised and registered in 2007.

The outcome is a draft set of rules which are comprehensive, easy to read, compliant with current legislation and reflective of current practices. Members will have an opportunity to raise any questions about these draft rules at the AGM, which will take place in the Library at 1pm on 17 April.
You can read an annotated version of these draft rules by clicking here and can view the current approved rules by clicking here

Partnerships

Bistrot d'Orsay


Members enjoy a 10% discount on their bill when dining or enjoying coffee at the Bistrot d'Orsay(184 Collins St, Melbourne). Just present your membership card to receive the discount.
Reservations can be made by calling 9654 6498. More information about the restaurant can be found on their website.

 

Sisters in Crime

The Melbourne Athenaeum Library supports the famed Scarlet Stiletto Awards with $1500 in prize money offered for the awards' Body in the Library category.


2022 Scarlet Stilleto winner, Jem Tyley-Miller, with Athenaeum committee member
Barbara Gliddon and Nicole Chamoun, star of ABC's Troppo.

The annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards, run by Sisters in Crime Australia, are a crime and mystery short story competition conceived in Victoria in 1994 with the purpose of discovering and supporting new female talent. In the Body in the Library category, the only criteria is that the author's story must include the words "body in the library" and have a strong female protagonist. The Sisters in Crime website has information for would-be award entrants.

Below is a list of winners and runners-up of the Body in the Library category, including links to digital publications by recent recipients:

2022

1st Prize: Jem Tyley-Miller for The Surrogate
2nd Prize: Maeve James for Armchair Detective
                                         Read it here!
Read it here!

2021

1st Prize: Clare Fletcher for Death's Waiting Room
2nd Prize: Susan Green for Creativity Now!
                                  Read it here!
Read it here!

2020

1st Prize: Kristin Murdock for The Irony of Silence
2nd Prize: Fin J Ross for Murder by the Book
                                    Read it here!
Read it here!

2019

1st Prize: Blanche Clark for At Length I Would Be Avenged
2nd Prize: Kelly Gardiner for Death in the Catacombs		                     Read it here!
Read it here!

2018

1st Prize: Fin J Ross for Deadly Ernestine
2nd Prize: Kat Clay for Lady Loveday Investigates		                                    Read it here!
Read it here!

2017

1st Prize: Narelle M Harris for Jane
2nd Prize: Natalie Conyer for In Memoriam		                                                Read it here!
Read it here!

2016

1st Prize: Catherine Moffat for The Team from Information Services
2nd Prize: Ellen Vickerman for Where Yellow Ends		         Read it here!
Read it here!

2015

1st Prize: Jenny Spence for Caught on Camera
2nd Prize: Katie Mills for To Drive Out Evil Spirits		                                      Read it here!
Read it here!

2014

1st Prize: Natalie Conyer for The Book Club
2nd Prize: Fin J Ross for The VOTOS Solution		                                         Read it here!
Read it here!

2013

1st Prize: Dawn Farnham for The Body in the Library
2nd Prize: Aoife Clifford for The Case of the Vanishing Husband		             Read it here!
Read it here!

2012

1st Prize: Kath Harper for Brought to Book
2nd Prize: Aoife Clifford for QUIT		                                               Read it here!
Read it here!

 

Rare Book Week

Held every July, this event sees more than 60 free events held at libraries, literary and historical societies, and bookshops throughout Melbourne. The Melbourne Athenaeum Library is a proud supporter of Rare Book Week and we offer an artist-in-residence program and talk, and a literary talk each year. For more information on our recent artists-in-residence please see Creative Friends. A perennial favourite for our literary talk during Rare Book Week has been Richard Overell, who was the Rare Books Librarian at Monash University Library and is now cataloguing rare books at the State Library of Victoria.
We look forward to a long association with Rare Book Week, which showcases the city's position as a UNESCO City of Literature.

 

History Week


As part of the library's 175th birthday celebrations in 2015, we introduced the inaugural Marcus Clarke lecture which has become an annual event during History Week in October. Speakers including Deborah Cheetham AO, Dr Andrew Lemon, and Professor Stuart Macintyre (pictured above) have delivered lectures designed to celebrate and challenge Melbourne's rich history.

 

Melbourne City Precinct

The Melbourne Athenaeum Library is pleased to be a member of the City Precinct, a group that connects small business members and encourages supportive relationships to foster community in the Melbourne city centre. the City Precinct provides relevant small business news and event information to members, and hosts educational networking events, one of which was held earlier this year at the library. The City Precinct brings together small, local, niche retailers, hospitality and other service providers that together make the Melbourne story unique.

 

Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller

Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller is an internationally-renowned bookshop in the semi-basement of the impressive neo-Gothic Assembly Hall Building, next door to the Scot's Church. It offers a special experience for readers and collectors of fine and rare books dating from the 15th to the 21st centuries.
http://www.kaycraddock.com/

 

Our Creative Friends

Find out more about our creative partnerships here.