Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, Chief Executive Officer and State Librarian, has stepped down as head of the State Library of Victoria at the end of her current contract.  The Federal Minister for the Arts, Simon Crean, has today announced that she will assume the prestigious role of Director-General of the National Library of Australia.

Ms Schwirtlich has been Chief Executive Officer and State Librarian of the State Library of Victoria since 2003. Prior to her appointment Ms Schwirtlich held various senior positions at the National Library of Australia, the Australian War Memorial and was Acting Director-General of the National Archives of Australia from 2000-2003.

John Cain, President of the Library Board of Victoria, praised Ms Schwirtlich’s contribution to Victoria.

‘Under Anne-Marie’s leadership the State Library has transformed. More than 1.5 million people now visit the Library annually but it is Anne-Marie’s work in securing our collections and increasing access to them that define her tenure as CEO.

Over the last eight years she has ensured that vital funds were delivered to the State Library to enable large-scale digitising of our collections. Thousands of items, more than 50 per cent of our unique Victorian collections, are now available to anyone with internet access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Library also installed two outstanding permanent exhibitions, The Changing Face of Victoria and Mirror of the World : Books and Ideas – both showcasing the richness of importance of the Library collections.

We are also very proud of the Ballarat offsite store – a vital new location to store some of Victoria’s most fragile documentary materials in excellent conditions.

Anne-Marie’s leadership at the Library, and in the arts in general, will be missed. However, Victoria’s loss is Australia’s gain. I have no doubt that Anne-Marie will bring the same level of vision and purpose to our National Library that she has delivered to us over the past eight years.  The National Library is very fortunate to get her.’

Ms Schwirtlich is expected to take up her post at the National Library of Australia in Canberra on 11 March.

Ms Sue Hamilton will act as Chief Executive Officer and State Librarian while the Library Board of Victoria seeks to recruit a replacement.

Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, Chief Executive Officer and State Librarian 2003-2010