Helen Garner, Trent Dalton lead outcry against proposed State Library cuts

3 months ago 19

Top writers, professors and researchers have united to express alarm about the major changes proposed for Victoria’s State Library and have demanded transparency.

Helen Garner, Trent Dalton, Geraldine Brooks, JM Coetzee, Alexis Wright, Don Watson and Charlotte Wood declared their concern in an urgent open letter addressed to the outgoing chair of the State Library Victoria board, Christine Christian.

The letter, signed by more than 200 people, demands a public meeting to reveal what management has planned for the much-loved institution and why. It also argues a new governance structure needs to be set up to ensure the library is protected from any such changes in the future.

Helen Garner is one of hundreds outraged at proposed changes to services provided by the State Library.

The letter comes in the wake of revelations by The Age that the library’s executive management team is proposing a major overhaul of the services to be provided, despite several of that team – including CEO John Wicks, previously the library’s chief operating officer – being in acting positions. None of the library’s seven board members and only two members of the current executive team have significant library experience.

A petition called “Save The State Library of Victoria” has been circulated, signed by 4459 people, while an Instagram site called Save Our Library has been set up.

The services provided by State Library Victoria would be dramatically reduced under a proposed restructure.

While the library has denied much of the reporting, this masthead has seen the restructure document detailing the proposed cuts.

Current and former staff, speaking anonymously, say references to “spill and fill” have been used regularly, undermining experienced, knowledgeable staff. Several senior staff have left the institution in recent years.

The open letter is signed by library alumni Shane Carmody, a former director of collections, and Des Cowley, a former rare books collections manager.

Signatories also include musicians Paul Kelly and Tim Rogers, Professor Peter Doherty and Brit Tom Holland, co-host of the podcast, The Rest is History.

The letter reads: “We the undersigned writers and researchers esteem the State Library of Victoria, and believe strongly in the importance of its public mission. We are therefore alarmed at the unilateral cuts to its workforce proposed in October 2025’s ‘Strategic Reorganisation Change Proposal’, in particular the halving of the number of reference librarians. We recommend a public meeting where the board explain their plans and reasoning in detail. We further recommend reforming the library’s governance, following common practice overseas, to incorporate the views of stakeholders including scholars and other public users, whose interests have not been considered in the proposal.”

The letter is the brainchild of journalist Gideon Haigh. Having used the library to research his 52 books, he is aware of the critical services it provides, the expertise of the librarians and staff more broadly, and is appalled at the proposed plans. His 84-year-old mother is also a decade-long volunteer.

In The Guardian this week, Haigh said: “The people running the library seem not to see their institution as a library at all, in the sense of furthering the diffusion of knowledge or the nourishment of community. They see it as a cultural destination or an events space, the books and artefacts serving a largely scenic purpose. This would explain present trends, whose logical conclusion being a library without librarians – the perfect counterpoint to Yes Minister’s hospital without patients.”

The library executive team includes acting CEO John Wicks, previously chief operating officer; an acting chief operating officer, Kath Brown, also head of People and Culture; Roxanne Missingham, acting head of collections (who is based in Canberra and commutes to Melbourne); Joel McGuinness, head of engagement; and Paula Bray, head of digital.

In a recent statement to this masthead, a State Library Victoria spokesperson said the organisation had an obligation to review its provision of services.

“We are currently reviewing how to best support the needs of our visitors, users, and the community now and into the future,” the spokesperson said. “We are consulting with staff and have shared a proposal for feedback; we value the professionalism, expertise and contribution of our staff and look forward to continuing to receive their input.

“Our approach to this process and the proposed changes is in line with our obligations under the Cultural and Creative Enterprise Partnership Agreement 2025.”

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