The Library is governed by the Library Board of Victoria, which is overseen by the Victorian Minister for the Arts.
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. He chairs the Executive Appointments and Remuneration Committee, and is Chair of the 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, a Trustee of the global Rhodes Scholarship Trust and a Director of the Melbourne Stars Big Bash cricket team. He chaired the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust from 1999 to 2013, was a board member and Honorary Treasurer of the Florey Neurosciences Institutes in Melbourne and was a member of the Finance Committee of the Melbourne Grammar School.
John holds an MPhil 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.
Bruce Akhurst Bruce Akhurst was appointed to the Board in May 2010, and reappointed in June 2013 and May 2016. He is a member of the Redevelopment Project Steering Committee, the Executive Appointments and Remuneration Committee, and the Finance Committee.
Bruce is Executive Chair of Adstream, an international services organisation for the advertising industry. He was previously CEO of Sensis Pty Ltd, Chair and Director of Foxtel, and a Director of Soufun, the leading Chinese real estate portal.
A lawyer by training, Bruce relinquished the position of managing partner with Mallesons Stephen Jaques to join Telstra in 1996, where he worked for 16 years in numerous senior positions.
Bruce is a member of the RMIT University Council, and Chair of its Infrastructure and Information Technology Committee. He is also a board member of Paul Ramsay Holdings, Tabcorp Holdings and its Audit Committee, and Chair of the Peter McCallum Cancer Foundation.
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.
Professor Carolyn Evans Carolyn Evans was appointed to the Board in 2015 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.
Carolyn was the Dean of Melbourne Law School from 2011 until July 2017, and is now the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Graduate Programs) and Deputy Provost at the University of Melbourne.
Carolyn has degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne, and a doctorate from Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. In 2010, she was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship to travel as a Visiting Fellow at American University and Emory University, examining questions of comparative religious freedom.
Carolyn is also the Honorary Secretary of the Victorian Rhodes Scholarships Selection Panel.
She is the author of several books, including The legal protection of religious freedom in Australia .
Dennis Goldner Dennis Goldner was appointed to the Board in May 2010, and again in June 2013 and May 2016. He chairs the Audit and Risk Management Committee and the Advisory Committee on Public Libraries.
Dennis has had experience at senior levels in both the Australian and Victorian public sector, particularly in the areas of public policy economics, competition policy, trade and investment promotion, and was a longstanding partner at Deloitte. He retired from the Deloitte partnership in May 2009, having led the firm's government services practice in Victoria.
He is currently National Leader, Responsible Business at Deloitte, Chair of the Deloitte Foundation, Chair of Oxfam Australia and a board member of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. Dennis has an honours degree in economics and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Adam Lewis Adam Lewis was appointed to the Board in April 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.
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 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.
Karen Quinlan Karen Quinlan was appointed to the Board in August 2013 and again in May 2016.
Karen has more than 20 years' experience working in the visual arts sector. She has been Director of Bendigo Art Gallery since 2000, where she has been instrumental in building a nationally significant art collection and has brought international exhibitions to regional Victoria.
In 2016 Karen became a Professor of Practice, La Trobe University. She is Director of the La Trobe Art Institute, and is responsible for the La Trobe Collections and its arts engagement.
Karen has been a board member of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria since 2013, becoming Chair in 2014.
