State Library Victoria proposes major cuts to its staff and services

The State Library of Victoria plans to halve the number of reference librarians it employs and significantly reduce services, including provision of computers for public use, causing widespread concern and anxiety for staff.

The library bills itself as one of the most visited libraries in the world, with more than 2.8 million people through its doors in 2024-25, and celebrates its 170th anniversary next year, but staff say a proposed restructure would decimate some core services.

Six staff members, who spoke to this masthead on condition of anonymity out of concern for their jobs, say proposed changes are outrageous. As outlined to staff by the library’s senior managers, they include cutting the number of reference librarians from 25 to 10, and dramatically reducing the number of compute