Lightning Ridge Library

The Lightning Ridge Library began as a cupboard of 800 books tucked into the Memorial Hall on Morilla Street (now the Ella Nagy Hall), looked after by Mrs. McNair from around 1960. In 1970, Mrs. Robinson took over library duties, with the help of local miner and chef Chris Troy. It was Chris who reached out to a friend in Sydney, who offered 6,000 books, on the condition that Lightning Ridge could arrange transport. The Lightning Ridge Miners Association covered the cost, and 1,500 children’s books were given to the school while the rest formed the backbone of the town’s first public library.

By 1973, a small standalone library building had been built, and a group of volunteers met every Wednesday night to sort, catalogue, and shelve the collection. A year later, the building was extended. Another extension was added in 1979. By the end of 1980, Lightning Ridge held a remarkable 30,000 books.

The library became an informal community hub, staffed by a string of committed locals. In 1995, the library closed its Morilla Street location and reopened days later at the new sports complex building on Pandora Street. It was now managed by Moree Regional Public Library, though the old collection remained local.

Article: Edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 182; Lightning Flash Newspaper, 28 June 1973, October 1969, 6 April 1978, 27 December 1980, 26 April 1979, 7 September 1980, 2 November 1995, 16 November 1995, 25 January 1996.