Who: Library members 16 years and over.
When: Sunday 1 June - Sunday 31 August 2025
Where: Penrith City Libraries 

Settle into your comfiest chair, grab a cuppa and join us on our Cosy Reads Challenge, for your chance to win 1 of 3 gift hampers. 

From 1 June to 31 August library members aged 16 years and older can borrow and read a book, fill in the entry form, including a simple review, and place it in a challenge barrel at any of our branches. 

Entry form   Terms and Conditions

Who: Adults
When: Tuesday 22 July | 6.30-7.30pm
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: $5 per person. Bookings are essential.

Join Meg Bignell as she discusses her heartfelt and hilarious new book The Good Losers. 
Callie March is fascinated by human absurdity, including the habits of the upper class. So when she pushes her screen-addicted teenage son to join a local rowing club, she is thrilled to discover a whole new world of odd behaviours, irrational obsessions and riverside rooting. 
Meg's new novel is set in northern Tasmania. It contains profundity, profanity, heart-ache, bum chafe, terrible winners and very good losers. 
 
About Meg Bignell 
Meg Bignell is the bestselling author of The Angry Women's Choir. She was a nurse and a weather presenter on the telly before she surrendered to a persistent desire to write. Since then she has been writing almost every day – bits and pieces here and there, either to earn a crust, to get something off her chest or to entertain herself. She has written three short films, mostly because she wanted to do some acting and no one else would cast her. She sings a bit too, occasionally writes and performs cabaret, but is mostly very busy being a mother to three and a wife (to one). She lives with her family on a dairy farm on Tasmania’s East Coast. 
 
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be provided. 
 
Books will be available for sales and signing. 
 
Please advise on 4732 7891 if you have any accessibility requirements for this event. 

Click here to book now

Who: Adults
When: Thursday 24 July | 2.30-4pm
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: Free. Bookings are essential.

Join us to find out more about protecting your assets from qualified Services Australia staff.
Our representative will be on hand to discuss and answer questions you have on the following topics:
• Life insurance
• Insurance through super
• Private health insurance
• General insurance
• Funeral insurance

Tea, coffee and light refreshments provided.
Please advise us on 4732 7891 if you have accessibility requirements for this program.

Who: Adults
When: Tuesday 29 July | 11am - 1.15pm
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: Free

Join us for a film screening of Mary Shelley, directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour and starring Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth, to celebrate Library and Information Week. A short, 5-minute presentation on Library resources will be given at the start of the session.

She will forever be remembered as the writer who gave the world Frankenstein. But the real-life story of Mary Shelley, and the creation of her immortal monster, is nearly as fantastical as her fiction. Raised by a renowned philosopher father in 18th-century London, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin is a teenage dreamer determined to make her mark on the world when she meets the dashing and brilliant poet Percy Shelley. So begins a torrid, bohemian love affair marked by both passion and personal tragedy that will transform Mary and fuel the writing of her Gothic masterwork. Imbued with the imaginative spirit of its heroine, Mary Shelley brings to life the world of a trailblazing woman who defied convention and channeled her innermost demons into a legend for the ages. 

Rated PG. 

Free, bookings required. Tea, coffee, and light refreshments will be provided. 

Please advise on 4732 7891 if you have any accessibility requirements for this event. 

Click here to book now

WHO: 16+
WHEN: Wednesday 30 July - 17 September  | 2-4pm 
WHERE: Penrith City Library
TICKETS: Free. Bookings are essential.

Join us for this nationally recognised, accredited training with Nepean Community College (RTO: 1223).

Learn to set goals for work, find job advertisements, how to apply for jobs (covering written communication and verbal communication), role plays of interviews to prepare and brush up on communication skills, identifying requirements for job applications, drafting documents such as cover letters and resumes, receive feedback on application documents and interview skills to build on skills.

This course goes for 8 weeks. each Wednesday from Wednesday 30 July, to Wednesday 17 September. Booking for the first session is confirmation of attendance at all 8 sessions. 

Course outline:
Apply communication skills (BSBCMM211)

• Interview prep
• Identifying work goals and interests
• Written communications
• Scenarios for communication
• Roleplays

Who: Adults with beginner and intermediate English speaking skills.
When: Thursdays 31 July - 25 September
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: Free. Bookings are essential. 

Are you interested in improving your English skills? Join us for this 9-week course with Nepean Community College (RTO #1223) for beginner or intermediate English speakers. The course will run for 9 weeks from Thursday 31 July to Thursday 25 September 2025. Registering is confirmation of attendance for those 9 weeks.

On registration, participants must visit Nepean Community College between 28-30 July, 9am-5pm. Please bring along a form of ID such as a Driver Licence or Medicare Card to create a Unique Student Identifier for class.

This training is funded by the NSW government for citizens/permanent residents, or those with a humanitarian or refugee visa. Tea, coffee and light refreshments provided. Please advise us on 4732 7891 if you have accessibility requirements for this program.

Level 1 (Beginner)

9.30-11.30am | Course Code: RTO#1223

This course for beginner English speakers will focus on developing sentences, basic spelling, pronunciation and understanding abbreviations. Previous exposure to English is essential to fully grasp this content. 

Click here to book for Level 1

Level 2 (Intermediate)

12-2pm | Course Code: RTO#1223 - VU22386 Engage with texts of limited complexity for personal purposes 

This course for intermediate English speakers covers different types of text, identifying information in English texts, understanding the purpose of texts and communication, and using descriptive details. Activities will include bilingual dictionary/vocab lists, reading texts to understand and identify certain characteristics of characters, identifying different kinds of text and their audience and creating personal texts for social interaction. 

Click here to book for Level 2

Who: Adults and families
When: Wednesday 13 August | 6.30-7.30pm
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: Free. Bookings are essential.

Join us for Science Week as we decode the universe, and discover the tech and techniques behind planet discovery with Dr. Barnaby Norris from the University of Sydney.

Dr. Barnaby Norris is a Research Fellow at the University of Sydney and an Instrument Scientist with Australian Astronomical Optics–USyd. Specializing in astrophotonics, Dr. Norris has led the development of advanced instruments such as the VAMPIRES polarimetric imager and the GLINT nulling interferometer, both deployed at the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. These tools have significantly enhanced high-contrast imaging capabilities, allowing astronomers to directly observe exoplanets and protoplanetary disks with unprecedented detail.

In 2024, Dr. Norris was awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to further his research into innovative imaging techniques for planetary observation . His work continues to push the boundaries of astronomical instrumentation, bringing us closer to answering fundamental questions about the universe and the potential for life beyond Earth.

Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be provided. Please advise on 4732 7891 if you have any accessibility requirements for this event.

Who: Adults
When: Tuesday 19 August and Wednesday 20 August | 10am-11am
Where: Emu Plains General Cemetery, 21 Nixon Street, Emu Plains 
Tickets: Free

Discover the history beneath the grounds of Emu Plains General Cemetery and step into a place where stories live on. This cemetery has long served as a resting place for the people of Emu Plains and surrounding areas, its earliest burial dating back to 1859. 

Please wear comfortable footwear and bring a water bottle. 

Click here to book now

Who: Adults
When: Saturday 6 September | 2-4pm
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: $5 per person. Bookings are essential.

Australia needs all of its stories to inspire the world, not just those told by people in power. A poetry slam is a place for all voices. Listen and get HEARD! 

Who: Adults with disability
When: Saturdays 16 August – 20 September | 10am-12pm 
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: Free. Bookings required

Varuna, the National Writers' House is bringing Writer's Space back! Join us for this free, 6-week program at Penrith City Library. The program will run each Saturday from 16 August to Saturday 20 September. Booking for the first session is confirmation of attendance at all 6 sessions. This program welcomes writers with disability at all levels of experience, working in any genre.

Facilitated by Fiona Murphy and co-facilitated by former Writer's Space participant Shannon Anima, each session of this free writing course will focus on a different theme – from idea generation to developing compelling characters. Using writing prompts and exercises, we’ll spend time writing in a fun and supportive environment. We will also chat about the writing life, including submitting work for publication and how to stay motivated!

In the final week, there will be a special Q&A session with a guest writer.

About Fiona Murphy
Fiona Murphy is an award-winning writer and editor. Her work has appeared in ABC, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian, Big Issue, among many other publications. Her memoir, The Shape of Sound, was highly commended in the 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.

About Shannon Anima
Shannon Anima is a psychotherapist and emerging writer. Recent accolades include a Varuna Flagship Fellowship, Varuna Writers Space Fellowship, WestWords Writer-in-Residence, WestWords-Varuna Residency, Dentro la Terra Residency Italy, Ireland Writers’ Residency; shortlist the Deborah Cass Award, the Tasmanian Women’s Fiction Prize, and a Mascara Varuna Residency; longlist the Spark Hardie Grant prize. She has published short stories in Australia and Canada.

This program is generously supported by Penrith City Library, Create NSW and the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

Please note: Penrith City Library is required to pass on the contact information of those booking for this program to Varuna Writers' House, as part of the grant-funding requirements. Information will be used for program feedback, further opportunities for participants and statistical purposes.

Who: Adults
When: Sunday 5 October | 2-3pm
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: $5 per person. Bookings are essential.

Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and USA Today best-selling author. He is the author of the globally popular ‘Ernest Cunningham Mysteries’, including 'Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone', which is currently being adapted into a major HBO TV series, and the sequels: 'Everyone on This Train is a Suspect' and 'Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret'. His books have sold over one million copies in twenty-nine territories and have been nominated for nine ‘Book of the Year’ awards.

Join us to celebrate the release of 'Everyone in this Bank is a Thief' at Penrith City Library. The new instalment of the million-copy bestselling mystery series.

What if an Agatha Christie style murder mystery happened inside OCEAN'S ELEVEN… Ten suspects. Ten heists. A puzzle only Ernest Cunningham can solve. I’ve spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I’ve never been a hostage before. The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, hostages become suspects... Turns out, more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money. Who is stealing what? And are they willing to kill for it?

Purchase a book from our QBD Books pop-up on the night to have it personally signed.

Benjamin Stevenson will be in-conversation with Wai Chim, Chinese-American-Australian author and Australian Survivor contestant.

This event will be Auslan interpreted. 

Please advise us on 4732 7891 if you have accessibility requirements for this program.

Second Tuesday Book Club

When: Second Tuesday of the month | 10.30-11.30am
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: Our group is currently at capacity.

Third Tuesday Book Club

When: Third Tuesday of the month | 2-3.30pm
Where: Penrith City Library
Tickets: Our group is currently at capacity.

Join one of Penrith City Library’s book clubs and discuss great reads with a group of fellow literary lovers. Places are limited.

Who: Adults
When: 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month | 10am-12pm
Where: St Marys Library
Tickets: Free. Bookings not required. 

Bring along your knitting, crochet or other craft project, and work away with other like-minded creators at St Marys Library. The group meets twice a month for a chat, cuppa and to work on their latest project. This free group meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month.

Need help with learning to use your smartphone, tablet or laptop?

Want to learn to send messages and emails, or to shop and pay bills online?

Book a one hour, one on one training session with a Tech Mate from the Digital Literacy Foundation on Tech Tuesday at Penrith City Library, or Web Wednesday at St Marys Library.

Tech help topics may include:

• Creating and using an email account
• Creating documents
• Attaching files and photos
• Using subscription library resources
• Downloading and streaming content like movies, books, and audiobooks, and more.
• Using your device
• Searching the Internet

Please bring your device and passwords with you. We look forward to helping you!

To book, call 02 4732 7891, submit a request at my.penrith.city or see one of our friendly staff at any of the library branches.

For T&Cs and more information about technology at Penrith City Libraries, visit the library’s technology page.