State Library staff revolt over treatment of pro-Palestine writers

  • 📰 theage
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 48 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 23%
  • Publisher: 77%

Australia Headlines News

Australia Latest News,Australia Headlines

One-third of the staff working at the library have accused management of damaging the institution’s reputation.

More than 100 staff members at State Library Victoria have written to its chief executive expressing anger at the postponement of a series of writing workshops, claiming the events were scrapped because of the pro-Palestinian views held by the writers hosting them., which were to be conducted by six writers - four of whom had publicly expressed strong opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza - were suddenly cancelled last week without giving the hosts or attendees a clear reason for the move.

Two other library staff, who were not present in the meeting, said they had been told that is what occurred by other staff members who were present. State Library Victoria did not answer specific questions about whether Duldig or the board had discussed Sakr’s views, or whether concerns were relayed to staff.The library said the postponement of the events was unrelated to the political views expressed by the writers involved, including Sakr.

The library’s head of audience engagement, Angharad Wynne-Jones, resigned last Thursday. Three library sources said her resignation was directly related to postponement of the events. Wynne-Jones did not respond to questions, and the library said it did not comment on individual staff. “As State Library Victoria staff, we object to library leadership’s decision to ‘defer’ Teen Writing Bootcamp events seemingly because of the authors’ support for Palestine,” the letter from staff says.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 8. in AU

Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Pro-Palestine Writing Workshops Postponed at State Library VictoriaThe management of State Library Victoria in Melbourne is under fire for postponing writing workshops, allegedly due to authors' support for Palestine. Concerns over child and cultural safety were cited as the reason for the postponement.
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

One pinned by rocks, one in hospital, 29 rescued after Victorian gold mine collapseOne worker is trapped, another is fighting life-threatening injuries in hospital and 29 have escaped unharmed.
Source: 9NewsAUS - 🏆 10. / 72 Read more »

Metcash, Seek: A tale of two transformational IT projects, one a failure, one a successThe learnings should be of interest to the broader economy, because badly handled IT projects – and there are too many to name – are a heavy drag on productivity.
Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »

Metcash, Seek: A tale of two transformational IT projects, one a failure, one a successThe learnings should be of interest to the broader economy, because badly handled IT projects – and there are too many to name – are a heavy drag on productivity.
Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »

Extended interview: One-on-one with Australian cricket captain Pat CumminsTrusted and independent source of local, national and world news. In-depth analysis, business, sport, weather and more.
Source: abc730 - 🏆 14. / 63 Read more »

Sharri Markson hails ‘major win’ as pro-Palestine activist unmasked as alleged kidnapperSharri Markson hails ‘major win’ as pro-Palestine activist unmasked as alleged kidnapper
Source: SkyNewsAust - 🏆 7. / 78 Read more »