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

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 250 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.

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 chief executive 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, another by the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) – also sent to the Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks – has 2958 signatories, while an Instagram account called Save Our Library has also been set up.

In a statement to this masthead, the library’s acting chief executive John Wicks said the open letter is “factually incorrect” and ignores the detail and intent of the proposed changes.

“A false and misleading narrative has emerged suggesting that the library is planning widespread cuts to staff and services,” he said.

The statement continued: “Under the proposed structure, the library would maintain at least 71 librarian roles across the organisation.

“Within Research and Reader Experience specifically, 20 librarians are proposed to support research and reference interactions. This is not a reduction of professional capability – it is a redeployment of skills to better meet contemporary demand.

“State Library Victoria’s commitment to the people of this state has never been stronger. As Victoria’s major research and reference library, we remain a world-class collecting institution and a trusted guardian of our state’s history. Our mission is clear and enduring: to enrich the cultural, educational, social and economic lives of all Victorians.”

Outgoing library board chair Christine Christian said in a statement that the library “is evolving just as our community, our technology and our cultural context are evolving”.

“Our responsibility is to prepare the organisation for the future so that it can continue to deliver on its founding purpose: to be a place for learning, discovery, creativity and connection, free and open to every Victorian,” the statement continues. “The reorganisation proposal does exactly that. It strengthens our services, modernises our structure and positions the library to meet the needs of the next generation.”

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 hugely popular 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 professors Judith Brett, Graeme Davidson and Clare Wright, and journalist Gideon Haigh. Having used the library to research his 52 books, Haigh is aware of the critical services it provides and the expertise of the librarians and staff more broadly; he is appalled by the proposed plans. His 84-year-old mother is also a decade-long volunteer at the library.

In The Guardian this week, Haigh wrote: “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.

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