Quarry Green Street Library

Our library is a joint venture of the MustardSeed Op Shop (run by the Mustard Seed Uniting Church, Ultimo) and Uniting Harris Community Centre. It was the brainchild of Ms Ingrid Mueller, a Joint Coordinator of the Op Shop, in early 2017 when our street library books were originally stock from the Op Shop. These books were housed in special cardboard boxes on tables provided by the Community Centre on the verandah of the Op Shop/Community Centre. Since its establishment, the library has been very popular with young families and it has been a joy to see a child and parent sitting on the verandah reading a book together.
Early in 2019, Mr Oscar Sanchez, Coordinator of the Community Centre, and Ms Maree Burnett, Joint Coordinator of the Op Shop, decided to upgrade the boxes with something more permanent. The Pyrmont Ultimo Glebe Men’s Shed came to the rescue, they built and donated our magnificent new library. Local artist Mr Alejandro Martinez (Peque) painted the new library, taking inspiration from the mural on the western wall of the Centre that he had previously painted.
Young children are often seen with the lower doors open, selecting their books to take down onto the Green to read. The upper level shelves are the province of the adult readers and there is an ever-increasing selection of books available as people exchange books they have read for others from the library. Books from the Op Shop are used to top up the library and the Ultimo Public School P&C also donates books to our street library. It is a ‘community’ street library in every sense of the word.