State Library abandons controversial restructure plan

2 months ago 18

State Library Victoria has abandoned a proposed restructure after an outcry against it from staff, their union and hundreds of Australia’s most prominent writers and academics.

The Age revealed in November that library employees had been told the proposed changes included cutting the number of reference librarians from 25 to 10, scrapping other key public-facing roles, introducing new digital roles at the expense of core business, and significantly reducing the number of computers available to the public.

The library claimed its proposal had been misrepresented in media reports.

Christine Christian, outgoing chair of the State Library Victoria board.

“After careful consideration of the feedback that we received during the entire consultation process – since September – we’ve decided to withdraw the reorganisation proposal,” Christine Christian, outgoing chair of the library’s board, told The Age.

“The library developed the reorganisation proposal to strengthen its services in response to surging demand and to better manage the new and different ways people are engaging with the library,” Christian said.

In a statement to this masthead, the library said “elements of the proposal created unintended concerns” and that withdrawing the proposal meant “we can refine our approach and ensure it best supports our community, our staff and our long-term vision”.

“More Victorians are seeking new forms of digital access and expecting services that reflect contemporary learning and engagement,” the statement said. “To meet these expectations, we must continue to evolve – just as our community, technology and cultural context evolves – while remaining committed to our core purpose: supporting research, learning, public access to information and preserving Victoria’s treasures.”

A public rally had been planned for Saturday afternoon at the library, organised by some of the more than 250 signatories – who include prominent writers such as Helen Garner and J.M. Coetzee – to a recent open letter to Christian in protest at the proposed changes.

The open letter called for transparency about the planned changes, arguing a new governance structure was needed. A similar petition on Change.org had 9517 signatories, while another set up by the Community and Public Services Union, which represents library staff, had 4425.

Christian, who announced in June that she would be stepping down, said young library users want experiential-based learning, so instead of going into the library and speaking to a reference librarian, many go online instead. To her mind, innovations such as Mouthful of Dust – the library’s “cinematic web experience” about Ned Kelly – are critical, adding that the number of downloads for that project had been extraordinary.

“They are accessing the library in a very different way,” she said. “We are still committed to our role as Victoria’s major research and reference library; that is a key focus.”

The State Library will celebrate its 170th anniversary next year.

Of the five-strong current library executive management team, three are in acting positions, including CEO John Wicks, previously chief operating officer. Wicks took over as CEO from Paul Duldig in August. Kath Brown is acting chief operating officer and director, people and partnerships; Canberra-based Roxanne Missingham is acting head of collections; Joel McGuinness is head of engagement; and Paula Bray is chief digital officer.

Those three positions – CEO, chief operating officer and head of collections – have been advertised, locally and internationally, according to Christian. “We pride ourselves on now being recognised as a world-class library.”

According to the State Library’s annual report 2024-25, there is surging demand for reference librarians year on year, with a 30 per cent increase in online research guide usage and page views (1,141,354), a 40 per cent increase in hours spent on deferred inquiries (6300 inquiries), and 52,000 total inquiries at reference desks. Librarian desk and phone inquiries are up 68 per cent, and research guide views are up 30 per cent.

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