The Library is governed by the Library Board of Victoria, which is overseen by the Victorian Minister for Creative Industries.
The Board's functions are set out in the Libraries Act 1988 and include:
ensuring the maintenance, preservation and development of a state collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Victoria and the people of Victoria ensuring that the state collection is available to Victorians, subject to any conditions the Board makes ensuring the availability of services and facilities in relation to library matters and library material (including bibliographic services) arranging the publication and sale of reproductions of any library material in the state collection overseeing the exhibition of material from the state collection for information, education and entertainment overseeing cooperation in programs with libraries and information organisations to promote access to library and information services and resources exercising leadership and promoting high standards in the provision of library and information services providing advice to the minister on any matter concerning libraries and information organisations performing any other functions appropriate to the Board that the minister may approve The Board's functions should also contribute to the cultural, educational, social and economic development of Victorians.
About the Board members Board members are appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister for the Arts. Members represent interests in academia, business, government, information technology and the humanities. Up to 11 members serve on the Board for up to three years. Members are eligible for reappointment.
John Wylie AM, President John Wylie was appointed President of the Library Board in May 2012, and reappointed in May 2015 and May 2018. He chairs the Executive Appointments and Remuneration Committee, and is Chair of the Vision 2020 Redevelopment Project Steering Committee.
John is principal of investment firm Tanarra Group. He was formerly CEO of financial services firm Lazard Australia, co-founded advisory and investment firm Carnegie Wylie & Company, and was Chair of Investment Banking at Credit Suisse Australia.
John is involved in a wide range of not-for-profit community activities. He is Chair of the Australian Sports Commission and Chair of Tanarra Philanthropic Advisors. Previous roles include serving as a Trustee of the global Rhodes Scholarship Trust, Chair of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust, and board member and Honorary Treasurer of the Florey Neurosciences Institutes.
John holds an M.Phil in Management Studies from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a Bachelor of Commerce with First Class Honours from the University of Queensland.
Christine Christian, Deputy President Christine Christian, Deputy President Christine Christian was appointed to the Board in August 2013 and reappointed in May 2016. She is the Board's Deputy President, Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Executive Appointments and Remuneration Committee, and the Foundation Council.
Christine is Chair of Kirwood Capital, and a Director of FlexiGroup Limited, ME Bank Limited, Lonsec Fiscal Group, the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority and New York–based Powerlinx Inc., an innovator in the emerging partner economy. She serves on the boards of La Trobe University and the Cranlana Programme. Christine is past-president of Chief Executive Women.
Previously, Christine was CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Australia and New Zealand from 1997 to 2011. In 2006, she was appointed to the additional roles of Chair of D&B Consumer Credit Services and the D&B Worldwide Board, and in 2011 was appointed Executive Director of Dun & Bradstreet India. Christine was a board member and Committee Chair of UNICEF Australia, and a member of the State-Government-appointed TAFE Assessment Panel and the ASIC Business Advisory Council. She was the Founding Chair of the Business Information Industry Association – Hong Kong and Middle East, and Director until 2012.
Adam Lewis Adam Lewis was appointed to the Board in May 2018 and is a member of the Redevelopment Project Steering Committee.
Adam is an alumnus of McKinsey & Company, where he spent 20 years as an advisor to major firms and governments around the world. He was a partner for 14 years, a managing partner for Australia and New Zealand for seven years, and a member of McKinsey’s Asia council and global Senior Partner election committees.
Since leaving McKinsey in 2010, Adam’s roles have included Chair of Message Media, Chair of Southern Innovation, Chair of Palette and Director of FIIG Securities. Adam has previously been a Director of the Melbourne International Film festival, a member of the Australia Council for the Arts, and an advisory board member of the Smith Family. He is also the former Chair of Aconex Pty Ltd.
He holds a B Eng (Hon) from Curtin University and an MBA (Hon) from the University of Illinois.
Maxine McKew Maxine McKew was appointed to the Board in 2015, and reappointed in May 2018.
Maxine is an Honorary Fellow of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. A published author, her books include 2014’s Class act , a study of the key challenges in Australian schooling, and Tales from the political trenches .
As a journalist, for many years Maxine was anchor of ABC TV’s 7.30 report and Lateline . Her work has been recognised by her peers with both Walkley and Logie awards.
Leaving journalism for politics, Maxine defeated Prime Minister John Howard in the Sydney seat of Bennelong. In government she was Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood and, later, for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
Maxine is also a board member of Per Capita and the John Cain Foundation.
Maria Myers AC Maria Myers was appointed to the Library Board in 2015, and reappointed in May 2018. She serves as Chair of the Foundation Council. She was previously a member of the State Library Victoria Foundation Executive Committee from 2002 to 2009, and one of the original Foundation Council members from 2013 to 2014.
Maria is also Chair of the Kimberley Foundation Australia and a board member of the Australian String Quartet, the Loreto Ballarat School Board and the St Mary's College Council at the University of Melbourne.
Maria is a member of the Nature Conservancy Australia Advisory Board.
Donata Carrazza Donata Carrazza was appointed to the Board in May 2019.
Donata is a graduate of Italian language and literature from the University of Melbourne, and has been chair of the Mildura Writers Festival since 1995.
Donata has more than 20 years' experience in the hospitality industry, notably at the Mildura Grand Hotel working with Stefano de Pieri. She has edited two books with New York poet and academic Paul Kane: Vintage: a celebration of ten years of the Mildura Writers Festival (2004) and Letters to Les (2005). Her writing has been published in Australian Book Review , PEN Quarterly and Imprint . She has been on the Committee of Management with Writers Victoria since 2017.
Cheri Ong Cheri Ong was appointed to the Library Board in May 2019.
Cheri is the founder and chair of the Asian Australian Foundation. She is a member of the governing council of International House, University of Melbourne, and the chair of its Risk Committee.
Cheri was previously a board member and chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee of Multicultural Arts Victoria. She was formerly head of regulation and compliance at KPMG Australia and the Asia Pacific chief operating officer for KPMG risk management. She has held various legal counsel roles at a number of financial institutions.
Cheri has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Law from Monash University, and is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She presents regularly, including previously at the World Chinese Economic Summit.
Hugh Williams Hugh Williams was appointed to the Library Board in May 2019.
Hugh is a technology entrepreneur and academic who co-founded CS in Schools, a philanthropic program that helps teachers to teach coding. He is also an adjunct professor and distinguished fellow at the Melbourne Business School, an adjunct professor at RMIT University, and an experienced non-executive director and company advisor.
He was previously the vice president of Google Maps, and has held executive roles at eBay, Microsoft, Tinder and Pivotal. Early in his career he spent more than ten years researching and developing search technologies, and five years running his own startup and consultancy.
Hugh has published around 120 works, mostly in the field of information retrieval. He is one of the inventors of Infinite Scroll and holds 33 US patents, with another 25 pending. He has a PhD from RMIT University.
Karen Wood Karen Wood was appointed to the Library Board in May 2019 and has been a member of the Library's Foundation Council since 2016.
Karen is the chair of South 32 Limited and a non-executive director of Djerriwarrh Investments Limited. She serves on the board of the Robert Salzer Foundation and is a vice president of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Karen had a distinguished career at BHP with global roles in the senior executive team. She joined the company in 2001 as group company secretary and served on the senior executive team from 2006 until her retirement in 2014. She served as chair of the BHP Foundation from 2015 until 2019.
Karen was general counsel and company secretary at Bonlac Foods Limited before joining BHP. She is a fellow of Monash University and served as a member of the Takeovers Panel from 2000 to 2012.
