In proud partnership with the Buloke Shire Council, the Wycheproof Community Resource Centre was delighted to facilitate the grand opening of the Wycheproof Library on May 3.
Albeit a chilly morning forty-five participants gathered, and as the rain stopped, a blue sky welcomed guests to the beautifully painted doors of the new library for a ribbon cutting ceremony between BSC Councilor Bernadette Hogan, and lifetime WCRC founding member Jill Grant.
First proposed in 2020, the Wycheproof library build has been a journey of which the Shire, WCRC, and community celebrated its long-awaited completion with excitement.
Guests were welcomed inside the new library space for a smorgasbord of delicious morning tea and coffee, catered graciously by Tuscan on Calder, before sitting down to enjoy the storytelling of guest speaker Jade Miles for the library’s first author talk.
Jade Miles is an author, farmer, podcaster and CEO who describes herself as a strategist with “the bush in her bones and business in her head… a regenerative farmer devoted to reweaving connection between people, place, and food”.
As part of her tour for her latest book “Huddle”, Jade invited community members into contemplations of connection to place and community, to greater humanity and systems; notably the food systems of which rural people are so deeply ingrained, and the simple humility of knowing the name of the person who grows your food as means to strengthening community for greater global health and environmental belonging. It was a regaling and moving talk that was appreciated deeply by the captive audience and further accentuated by the sell-out book sales and book signings at the end.
The event concluded over cups of tea and the last of the sweet treats, and the tangible ambience of the connected community that Jade had spoken to. Guests mingled over conversation until the last of the chairs were packed away and the dishes tidied by conscientious volunteers; a common occurrence of community-led events and testimony to the community spirit upheld across the Buloke Shire and further promoted by the WCRC.
The Wycheproof Library is another third-space place of connection in the Shire and will serve as a central hub for the Buloke Libraries, welcoming all community members for book borrowing services, events and activities, interactive learning for all ages, and social belonging.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 21 May 2026.
