New Rosanna Library opening 21 January 2026

Jump to first appearance: Cr Mayor Alison Champion, Shawn Neilsen, Nicole Rudden (GAICD), Luke Claringbold, Joe Kelly.

1. 00:00:01–00:00:03 Cr Mayor Alison Champion You can do that. Yeah. Go on, let’s do that.

2. 00:00:03–00:00:18 Shawn Neilsen You can see I’m very one note my humour here. That’s going to be my new job. He’s in the podcast studio again. What’s he doing? Sound effects. But it’s pretty amazing to be in a podcast room in a library, I think.

3. 00:00:18–00:00:21 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) First time. Yeah.

4. 00:00:21–00:00:23 Shawn Neilsen Yeah? Across how many libraries?

5. 00:00:23–00:00:25 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) We have 10 libraries.

6. 00:00:25–00:00:30 Shawn Neilsen Do you see this being a feature of future buildings? Future libraries?

7. 00:00:30–00:00:33 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) Yeah, 100%, and very responsive to community needs as well.

8. 00:00:33–00:00:41 Shawn Neilsen I was chatting to one of the staff members before who said there are 35 people on a wait list across both this, the podcast studio, and the music recording studio.

9. 00:00:41–00:00:42 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) Definitely.

10. 00:00:42–00:00:49 Shawn Neilsen Although I said, and Luke, maybe you know the answer to this, I asked, “How soundproof is the recording studio?”

11. 00:00:49–00:01:04 Luke Claringbold It’s fairly soundproof. I probably wouldn’t be bringing a drum set, but anything a bit softer than that should be good, guitars, that sort of thing. The walls are really thick and there’s a lot of insulation in there.

12. 00:01:04–00:01:24 Shawn Neilsen Amazing, amazing. We’ll get to talk about some of the different features of the building as we go through, but we’re here, kind of a meta conversation. We’re doing a podcast about a podcast studio in a library, with five special guests. So thanks for joining me this afternoon, from the newly opened Rosanna Library, about two weeks open.

13. 00:01:24–00:01:27 Cr Mayor Alison Champion Officially opened on the 13th of February.

14. 00:01:27–00:01:28 Shawn Neilsen Yeah, that was a beautiful event.

15. 00:01:28–00:01:34 Cr Mayor Alison Champion And it’s been open to the public since the 21st of January, so it’s just over a month open.

16. 00:01:34–00:02:07 Shawn Neilsen And it’s a beautiful space that sits in a really interesting area for us now, which looks vastly different from when I first came to work here 15 years ago at the old squash court next door. We’ll talk a bit about how the area has changed, and how the building responds to that and sits within it. So, joining me today for our first podcast ever at Banyule City Council, and I’m reliably informed we’re expecting it to be extremely popular. So popular that we’ll be back monthly to do further podcasts on different topics, Joe. So keep your diary free.

17. 00:02:07–00:02:09 Joe Kelly We’re very excited about that.

18. 00:02:09–00:02:19 Shawn Neilsen In the room today, it’s a tight, tight room, there’s seven of us. But the people speaking, I’ve got the Mayor of Banyule City Council, Cr Alison Champion. Thanks very much for joining us today.

19. 00:02:19–00:02:19 Cr Mayor Alison Champion Happy to be here, thank you for the invitation.

20. 00:02:19–00:02:28 Shawn Neilsen And our most experienced podcaster, so we’re looking forward to you showing us the way. We’ve got Joe Kelly, who’s our Senior Project Manager at Banyule City Council. Thanks, Joe.

21. 00:02:28–00:02:29 Joe Kelly Pleasure, thanks Shawn.

22. 00:02:29–00:02:39 Shawn Neilsen And one of the driving forces behind the building, Luke Claringbold. Thanks Luke from K2LD. You’re the interior architect who worked on the project.

23. 00:02:37–00:02:39 Luke Claringbold I am, thank you for having me.

24. 00:02:39–00:02:46 Shawn Neilsen I can’t wait to pick your brains on everything that went into that. And Nicole Rudden, who’s the CEO of Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries.

25. 00:02:46–00:02:47 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) Delighted to be here.

26. 00:02:47–00:02:49 Shawn Neilsen It’s a nice place for you to work out of. How often are you here?

27. 00:02:49–00:02:54 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) Frequently. It’s so beautiful. How could you not come here all the time?

28. 00:02:54–00:02:56 Shawn Neilsen Finding excuses. “I’m at Rosanna today.”

29. 00:02:56–00:02:57 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) That’s exactly right.

30. 00:02:57–00:03:13 Shawn Neilsen Very good. So we’re in the new library on the site of an old library that probably most of us know very well, the old bluestone building. So, Cr Mayor Alison Champion, why do we need a new library, and what were the restrictions of the old one?

31. 00:03:13–00:05:29 Cr Mayor Alison Champion The old library was built in the ’70s, at a time when we lived differently. That’s simply it. And 50 years later, we don’t live in a way that that library could meet the capacity and reach all the community needs. It also didn’t allow for accessibility for everybody. It was pretty narrow in what it was able to provide. It was about approximately half the size of this new library, which makes sense, because we had a smaller population back in the ’70s. We had a limited number of study desks, and limited flexible space for story time. Before school and after school are really peak periods for students to come to the library after kinder, and we didn’t have enough space for things like study, reading, or any after-school activities. So we also didn’t have as much information for students to look up. And at the time, it was books. When I was at school in the ’70s and ’80s, we went to the encyclopedia, we went to books. We have more now, and we need space to present those opportunities. We also didn’t have that at Rosanna. And then there’s accessibility. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, if you couldn’t walk on your own two feet, you were really challenged getting from A to B. So if you had a pram, or were in a wheelchair or walker, or even had a walking stick, it was really hard to from A to B, because there were steps everywhere. And from an OH&S point of view, the way the library was set up, the books were stored on very high shelves. Little people couldn’t reach them, and staff had to reach up and manoeuvre themselves to put books back on shelves. So that didn’t help.

32. 00:05:29–00:06:02 Shawn Neilsen I remember when I first started working next door, that was a real feature. Accessibility at the old library was a constant challenge, and even while changes were made, it was an uphill battle because of the old infrastructure. And now we’ve got a fully accessible, much bigger library, which is beautiful. We were also talking before we started about the old train station, really challenging for physical access and for cars. And you were saying how now that the library building is finished, it complements or fits in with the station.

33. 00:06:02–00:06:40 Cr Mayor Alison Champion It does with regards to height. So when that station was first constructed a few years ago and the level crossing was removed, that was great from a transport point of view. But when you came down either end of, Lower Plenty Road, it was just, oh my God, what is that? That is huge. What is that construction? And you go, oh my God, it’s a train station. It’s just enormous. It’s just this big, big structure in the air. Whereas now we have the library, and the third level, which is where we’re on, is actually at the level of the train station. And the train station doesn’t actually look like a train station. It’s much nicer.

34. 00:06:40–00:06:48 Shawn Neilsen It’s quite beautiful. I think when you look at the streetscape that’s been updated, then the new station and now the library really completes the space, and revitalisation of that area.

35. 00:06:48–00:07:07 Cr Mayor Alison Champion And the Woolies is very big and they’re all now, the whole space makes sense. And one resident actually commented to me, when we were here at the official opening last fortnight, ten days ago, she said to me, it’s just like being up in the treetops. It’s like, yeah, we are, we are in the treetops. That’s how high up we are.

36. 00:07:07–00:07:09 Shawn Neilsen That’s so fitting for Rosanna.

37. 00:07:09–00:07:16 Cr Mayor Alison Champion It is. Absolutely. Having said all of that, though, the Heidelberg Theatre Company is still the same Heidelberg Theatre Company. It’s not changing. And it’s just as gorgeous.

38. 00:07:16–00:07:29 Shawn Neilsen Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. Luke, from your perspective, you’re involved in the interiors of the space. What was that process like? What was your inspiration? How did you sort of reference things like the station, existing character?

39. 00:07:29–00:09:17 Luke Claringbold Yes, we did a full, I guess, study of the area before we even started designing anything. So assessing what was surrounding the building, what was there before the new building was constructed. We looked into a lot of the details of the old bluestone buildings, the arch and things like that, and the ways that we could reuse some of the materials from that building itself as well. So when you walk around the new building, you’ll see references to the old arch of the existing building. The bluestone is used in the external landscaping spaces and things as well. And as you mentioned, the feeling of being in the treetops. So the beauty of the site is that we had a lot of existing landscape and existing trees that we really wanted to retain, and really celebrate those as well. So in the planning of the internal spaces of the library, we’ve tried to really celebrate the views to the treetops and feel like you are connected to the trees as well. So you can sort of see in the layout of all of the spaces that a lot of the study zones, that kind of lounge areas, are all to the perimeter of the spaces. So you really do get that sort of connection to the trees, the views across to the station as well. As you mentioned, it’s a beautiful space to look out to. So yeah, they were really key in the overall design. And just in terms of the overarching concept of the space, we looked to the manna gums. So you can see that in the colour palette, the greens, the kind of purpley tones of the bark, the tree trunk and things like that. And then the kind of floral sort of pops into the spaces, like the meeting rooms where they’re sort of colour coded into the yellows and things like that.

40. 00:09:17–00:09:22 Shawn Neilsen So they’re beautiful spaces. I love the mustardy one. I can remember what level it’s on, the lower level through. You get.

41. 00:09:22–00:09:24 Luke Claringbold The level one, in the meeting room.

42. 00:09:24–00:09:30 Shawn Neilsen You mentioned some of the bluestone in the retaining walls at the front, with some of that repurposed from the old building?

43. 00:09:30–00:09:43 Luke Claringbold Yeah. So parts of that were repurposed and then we tried to tie that in with some of the other finishes inside as well, with the sort of bluestone tiles and things. So there’s that real sort of connection from the outside as you walk into the building as well.

44. 00:09:43–00:09:49 Shawn Neilsen And you mentioned, you know, you can clearly see the station, the trees, but the quality of the life in the building is pretty beautiful.

45. 00:09:49–00:10:37 Luke Claringbold It is. Yeah. So that was a really big part of the layout for us as well. We were given the base building from CHC, who were the architects for Woolworths and the base build for the library. And then we worked within that. So we were kind of lucky that we had a lot of windows existing, which was really great. So you can sort of see that we’ve really tried to take advantage of those as well. We also, through the process, added the skylights above the staircase as well. Just in terms of our initial modelling and testing of the space, we found that the very centre of the building was a little bit dark. So adding those skylights gave us a connection to the sky, and a bit of interest as you move up the building as well, up the staircase.

46. 00:10:37–00:10:42 Shawn Neilsen It’s stunning. Nicole, what have you noticed? What’s people’s response when they come to the library in the last couple of weeks?

47. 00:10:43–00:11:23 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) Overwhelmingly positive. On the very first day that we opened, which was prior to the official opening, we had 2000 people through the door, which is just mind blowing. But then in the first two weeks that we were open, we had 11,000 loans and 603 new memberships. So again, just astounding numbers. And I think, you know, and was that, you know, is there a demand for the Rosanna Library? You betcha. There’s a demand like the community. Yeah. It was crying out for it and engaged really well with the pop up across the other side of the station. But yeah, just yeah, we didn’t need to advertise to be honest. Everyone was just so excited about the doors opening.

48. 00:11:23–00:11:27 Shawn Neilsen I’ll pass that on to my team just to kill the advertising.

49. 00:11:27–00:11:29 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) No, please keep it going.

50. 00:11:29–00:11:43 Shawn Neilsen One of the one of the first things to say when you come into the building on welcome anyone’s thoughts on this is that beautiful kids area and the children’s library. I guess with that sculptural sort of tree installation, how are the younger members, the library responding to that space?

51. 00:11:43–00:12:12 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) Look, they’re just engaging with the design, you know, the heights that were spoken about by, you know, Cr Mayor Champion, like the tree. It’s just so warm and inviting. And one of our first story times, we had around about 140 people, which is a lot of people. But the design of the building is such that it’s so light and vibrant that people felt that they just had their own space, and the beautiful stage. And yeah, again, children’s memberships are on the increase.

52. 00:12:12–00:12:44 Shawn Neilsen That’s beautiful to hear. And look, we’ve been speaking about the inside of the building. Obviously the outside is just as equally impressive, but also kind of complex. So I remember this area has been subject to a fair bit of flooding and some issues over time. I remember, you probably remember, Cr Mayor Champion, when we used to have the council offices here, and we had some cars masquerading as boats down the back of the old office at one point. But, Joe, you were involved in the whole project outside and inside. Some of the challenges and complexities of building here?

53. 00:12:44–00:13:24 Joe Kelly Yeah, it was pretty tough. We spent at least 12, 18 months dealing with Melbourne Water. And that was mainly with the architects that Luke mentioned before, CHC, and obviously Woolies, their project management team as well. So it was a combined effort. We did a lot of work with our planning department. But yeah, I think it was based on that the 2015 or 2016 floods. Melbourne Water had a few concerns. Yeah. And like I said, it took a good 12 months to get over that. There were just a few little tweaks that we had to do and a bit of flood modelling. And because it is obviously a fairly large development. But yeah, got it over the line.

54. 00:13:25–00:13:33 Shawn Neilsen And you’ve been involved in a lot of projects for council. You manage some of the bigger projects. How do you feel being sitting here in the space now that it’s kind of done and officially open?

55. 00:13:33–00:13:40 Joe Kelly Well, I actually feel pretty lucky, mate, because you don’t get to do too many libraries. Luke, I’m not sure if you’ve designed any?

56. 00:13:41–00:13:44 Luke Claringbold No, this is the first standalone one we’ve done.

57. 00:13:44–00:14:17 Joe Kelly Yeah. So, no, I actually feel really lucky to be able to deliver or help deliver such a great building. And I had an awesome team. There were so many good people involved, from YPRL and obviously Banyule, and the architects, the builders, and within Banyule as well. There were so many different teams that chipped in, like I say, from our planning team right at the start. I won’t mention everybody. There’s like so many different teams that all chipped in and, yeah, just worked really well together.

58. 00:14:17–00:14:25 Shawn Neilsen You’ve spent probably the most amount of time in the building from anyone in Council at least. What’s your favourite space now that it’s done?

59. 00:14:25–00:14:45 Joe Kelly My favourite space. There’s so many. Even just some of the little tiny nooks. And I think that’s one of the reasons why people will want to keep on coming back. Because, say, if you’re walking down the stairs and you’ve come from level two and you’re about to walk out, you’re like, oh, I didn’t notice that little purple little nook over in the corner there. I’m going to check that out next time I come in.

60. 00:14:46–00:14:58 Shawn Neilsen It’s really interesting you said that. I want your views on that, Luke. So you just mentioned it’s your first standalone library. You’ve done libraries in a school environment, but there are lots of little hidden corners and places to kind of tuck yourself away.

61. 00:14:58–00:16:03 Luke Claringbold Yeah. So I guess, as you mentioned, we’ve done libraries in education projects and things before. Obviously this is on a much larger scale than some of those, but we borrowed some of the learnings and the lessons that we’ve taken from those projects. And I think it was really important to add a lot of variation in spaces into the library itself as well. Obviously, it’s not just about books. We’re here for studying. We’re here for people to learn. There’s the podcast studios and things like that as well. So being able to create all of those different sorts of settings within the library was really key to, I guess, the functioning of it, and offering all of those different spaces to the community as well that haven’t been here before. So yeah. Yeah. The little nooks and things, I think some of the most successful spaces in here are the retreat from the sort of busier spaces, the noisier kids floor on the ground and things like that. But yeah, I think they’ve been really successful in their outcome.

62. 00:16:03–00:16:16 Shawn Neilsen Yeah. And I mean, so many people are going to use it as a library for studying, borrowing, the story times. But there’s more than just a library here, Cr Mayor Champion, isn’t it? So we’ve got other community services all under the one roof. So what else can people expect when they come in?

63. 00:16:16–00:16:35 Cr Mayor Alison Champion So this is where you would come if you need to attend the Maternal Child Health Center. As a maternal child health, this is your home now. You’re going to come to Rosanna Library. There’s also the Banyule Toy Library, which has made it here.

64. 00:16:35–00:16:38 Shawn Neilsen That’s on the ground floor, isn’t it, as you come in?

65. 00:16:38–00:17:15 Cr Mayor Alison Champion Yes it is. I was just in a conversation with Nicole, the CEO. We were just saying, in order to access both those services, you have to come through the library. And for me, a fundamental of survival in an economic world is being able to read. So, if you are well, when you are born and you come to the MCH, from the first, what couple of weeks of your life, this is an opportunity to always walk past books.

66. 00:17:15–00:17:17 Shawn Neilsen It’s an amazing introduction.

67. 00:17:17–00:17:39 Cr Mayor Alison Champion So you’re walking past books, you then go and borrow from the Toy Library. You might not be reading yet, but there’s a toy library right there. So you might borrow from the Toy Library, and you still have to walk past books, or be pushed in a pram or a stroll up past the books. So this is where this particular design works for me from that point of view.

68. 00:17:39–00:18:00 Shawn Neilsen Yeah. It’s great. And you mentioned books a lot there, which is obviously still such a, it’s the fundamental library experience. But Nicole, we’re sitting in the podcast studio, we were talking before about the music studio, where Joe is going to practice his drumming later. But music studios, podcast studios in a library, is that standard? Is that the new normal? What’s your view?

69. 00:18:00–00:18:52 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) I think from a YPRL perspective, the maker spaces are really in response to what the community asks for. And so that’s what the community, Rosanna community, wanted. And in other YPRL libraries, we have different activations. But here, yeah. And the fact that we’ve got a long waiting list already, I think, again, that actually demonstrates the demand. If I can maybe, in terms of the Maternal Child Health and the Toy Library, I probably just wanted to highlight that both of those combined together with the on the children’s floor, it’s really about engaging children in early childhood development. So all, you know, the maternal child health, the children’s collection, the toy library. Combined together, they are actually setting up children and young people for a really positive start in life.

70. 00:18:52–00:18:56 Shawn Neilsen It’s incredible to have that all together under the one roof in such an integrated way.

71. 00:18:56–00:19:22 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) 100%. And in a safe space. So libraries, you know, are considered by communities as safe and inviting spaces. They are free. There are no rules in terms of membership. And so they’re very welcoming to families, and young people alike, as well as also older adults. So it there’s no discrimination from a library’s perspective. And I think that is just key to their success and the value that they bring into a community.

72. 00:19:22–00:19:46 Shawn Neilsen Yeah, I heard, you probably both remember this interesting stat from the launch the other day. There’s more libraries in Victoria than there is McDonald’s, which is a great stat, actually, and one we want to keep on the positive side of the ledger. And Banyule is pretty lucky to have some truly incredible buildings. When you look at Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub, this building, but also there’s more to come, I guess. What else is happening in the library space?

73. 00:19:47–00:21:27 Cr Mayor Alison Champion So 2026 is the year of the library for Banyule. Yeah, we’re just going to claim that. We also have the Heidelberg, the library for Heidelberg West is happening now as well. So up until last, I think it was November, Heidelberg West was the southernmost stop for the mobile library. Yeah. Two years earlier it celebrated 70 years, another 12 months. So it’s the southernmost stop compared with, Whittlesea and the Olympics. So the mobile library is mostly serviced in Whittlesea and Nillumbik, due to the rural, more rural kind of landscape for those communities there. Heidelberg West, there’s been a redesign of the Olympic Leisure Centre. So in that space will actually be a design for a library, a library that’s actually going to be open for the community. I think it’s about 30 hours a week. I’m happy to be wrong there. I don’t mind, but it’s about 30 hours a week. It doesn’t move. It stays there. And again, another welcoming, safe space where you are not timed. If you go visit you, you are not timed. You know what? You don’t even have to be a member to go into the library. You can just walk in and sit down and read and walk around and look at the architecture and people watch if you really want to. But there’s no timing there. So that will be, that has started. That process has started. And obviously Joe can help you a little bit more with that.

74. 00:21:27–00:21:31 Shawn Neilsen Another one Joe working on I think it’s, and it’s going from one library to another library?

75. 00:21:31–00:21:41 Joe Kelly Yeah. Now that’ll be great. And we’re, yeah. Into the design process for the library at the moment. The gentleman to my right is actually assisting us again. K2LD giving us some help.

76. 00:21:41–00:21:57 Shawn Neilsen Fantastic. Well, and we’ll have more to say about that project as it moves along. I might even do a follow up podcast in here once that one’s closer. And I wanted to just quickly touch on Watsonia Library in the year of the library. Some works happening down there as well?

77. 00:21:57–00:22:21 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) Yeah, most definitely Shawn. So we’re actually creating different spaces in terms of full, community hire. So a beautiful room that we have at Watsonia Library. And then we’re also creating more of a quiet study hub environment, as such. So we’re separating those two a bit more. But yeah, amazing investment, from council and the community.

78. 00:22:21–00:22:23 Shawn Neilsen When are those works happening?

79. 00:22:23–00:22:34 Nicole Rudden (GAICD) They’re in the process of happening very soon. I think we’re just sort of getting a few things signed off. But yeah, won’t be long and everything is planned and ready to go.

80. 00:22:34–00:23:28 Shawn Neilsen So Banyule’s libraries punching well above their weight. Some of the best in the state, beautiful spaces, designed well with pretty much something for everyone, regardless of your age, regardless of your interests. You’ve got something. And it’s beautiful to be sitting in here and talking about this one that’s just opened. Congratulations to all of you for the different parts that you’ve played, and obviously for council, for a long time coming, a lot of work and planning goes into those decisions, Cr Mayor Champion. But it’s beautiful to be sitting here and we have no doubt that people are going to enjoy this space for many years to come. So if you haven’t already been down to the Rosanna Library and you’re listening to this podcast, as people are looking through the window at us wondering, what are you doing down there? Come down, have a look, go to the children’s library and catch the train here. And make the most of what is a really, truly beautiful space to sit and spend time in. Thank you Nicole, thank you Luke, thank you Joe, and thank you Alison for your time. Have a great day.

81. 00:23:28–00:23:29 Joe Kelly Yeah. Thanks, Shawn. Thanks, everyone.

82. 00:23:29–00:23:30 Shawn Neilsen Thanks.

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