History group hits the books at new home

Heralding the opening of the Narre Warren and District Family History Group's new home at Cranbourne Library are, from left, local history librarian Heather Arnold, Libraries CEO Chris Buckingham, group president Lynne Bradley and Cardinia mayor Brett Owen. 173670 Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS.

By Brendan Rees

Cranbourne Library is now home to the Narre Warren and District Family History Group and Local History Archive for Casey Cardinia.
Group members gathered at Cranbourne Library on Tuesday 17 October to officially herald the move from the old Narre Warren Library.
Casey Cardinia Libraries’ CEO Chris Buckingham said the archive could be accessed through the local history librarian Heather Arnold.
“We are delighted to have the Family History Group and the archive move to Cranbourne. I think it’s a core role the public library is to support local heritage, it’s given the library a boost already and we’re looking forward to working closely with them.”
Mr Buckingham said the response from the community had been “really positive”.
“We’re about to launch Writing the War (exhibition). We’re hoping these two things together will provide a point of interest for the Cranbourne library and local community and hopefully have a regional function.”
“The Narre Warren library was closing because of the relocation to Bunjil Place. Together with Casey we sat down with stakeholders and worked through what’s the best alternative and we had space at Cranbourne,” Mr Buckingham said.
Narre Warren and District Family History Group was founded in 1989 and provides family history resources and expertise to the public.
The Local History Archive has a rich collection of documents, maps and photos of people, places and organisations in the Casey Cardinia region.