The heritage-listed, former council chambers in Crawford Street Queanbeyan have taken on a new life as the Queanbeyan-Palerang Heritage Library.

Thursday’s opening was attended by members of the community, current and former councillors, the Member for Monaro, Steve Whan and guest speaker Kevin Bradley, the former assistant director of collections at the National Library.

The space is now open to the public from Tuesday to Thursday, 10am-4pm (and by appointment) and features a range of activities and exhibitions during the Queanbeyan-Palerang Heritage Festival.

The Local History Collection, which features historical resources and  books on the history of Bungendore, Braidwood, Queanbeyan and the surrounding region, has also moved to the Crawford Street premises and now forms part of the Heritage Library.

The collection includes The Queanbeyan Age from 1860, The Queanbeyan Chronicle from 1976, The Bungendore Mirror from March 2004 to September 2015, The Bungendore Bulletin from May 1990 to December 2013 and The Braidwood Dispatch from October 1966 to June 1970.

There is also general genealogy collection, maps, historic monographs from the old Queanbeyan School of Art, early Queanbeyan rates books, the Sheedy Memorial Local History Collection, and the collection of Frederick J McCauley, as well as digitised images from the collection of the Queanbeyan District Historical Museum and the Braidwood District Historical Society.

Brigid Whitbread, QPRC’s local history librarian, says the collection in its new home will be  part of the Heritage Festival, with an open day on May 11.