‘It’s been one of the hardest things we’ve had to deal with’
Christine Christian is preparing to end her time at the State Library of Victoria, leaving behind an institution reformed in more ways than one.
During her tenure, Christine Christian had to deal with the fallout from the library’s controversial decision to cancel teen writing workshops because of the authors’ views on Gaza. Eamon Gallagher
Before she was the chief executive of Dun & Bradstreet, the first Australian woman to lead a management buyout, and a company director, Christine Christian grew up in the country, an hour out of Melbourne. Every Sunday, her father would take her and her siblings to the big smoke, where the Victorian State Library was a regular haunt.
“I got to know every nook and cranny in this place when I was young,” she says from a quiet room at the institution. “We’d look at the big maps and atlases, and dream of where we might go. I still remember walking up the steps as a little kid. It was all just … so grand, so awe-inspiring.”
Myriam RobinSenior writerMyriam Robin is a senior writer based in the Melbourne newsroom. She has previously been a Rear Window columnist and editor, and before that reported on financial markets and media. Connect with Myriam on Twitter. Email Myriam at myriam.robin@afr.com
