The story behind the scene and the people who created it

Three residents in Braddon opened their living room on Lonsdale Street in March 2019 for the first monthly reading of the Braddon Book Circle, and the group now hosts 90 attendees at each session held in the Dickson Library community room.

Book clubs and reading events have drawn steady new members across the ACT since 2023 as residents sought regular in-person gatherings after years of restrictions on public meetings. Canberra's population growth and the return of evening activities at venues near Civic have supported the expansion, with organisers tracking participation through simple email lists and library booking systems rather than large commercial platforms.

Origins on neighbourhood streets

The Braddon Book Circle began when three neighbours pooled copies of a single title and invited friends via handwritten notes left at the local post office. Similar efforts started at the same time in Yarralumla, where a retired teacher organised fortnightly discussions in the Yarralumla Neighbourhood Centre on Bentham Street. These early groups relied on word of mouth and free use of community halls, with no paid staff or ticket sales at the outset.

By 2022 the Braddon organisers had formalised a partnership with the ACT Library Service, which provided meeting space at no charge in exchange for open registration. The Yarralumla group added a quarterly author visit supported by Paperchain Bookshop in Manuka, where participants receive a 10 percent discount on featured titles.

Current scale and access

ACT Library Service records show 1,450 people registered for book club programs across its branches in the 2025-26 financial year, up from 980 two years earlier. Sessions at the Dickson Library run every second Tuesday at 7pm with an annual membership fee of $12 that covers printing of discussion notes. The Yarralumla group charges nothing but asks attendees to bring a plate for the shared supper after each meeting.

Anyone can join the Braddon Book Circle by emailing the listed contact on the ACT Library Service website or by signing the sheet at the Dickson Library front desk before the next session on 21 July. The Yarralumla group posts its schedule on the noticeboard inside the Bentham Street centre and accepts new members at the door.