{"id":126008,"date":"2026-01-19T16:26:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T05:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T05:26:32","slug":"geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/","title":{"rendered":"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE chief executive officer of the Geelong Regional Libraries Corporation (GRLC) is on the way out, and it is unclear who will replace her or when this will take place.<\/p>\n

Earlier today (Monday, January 19), the GRLC board stated Vanessa Schernickau had announced her resignation, with her final day as CEO to be February 27.<\/p>\n

The GRLC board stated it was “currently considering interim leadership arrangements” but the organisation’s “Executive Leadership Team will continue to work together to ensure continuity of leadership”<\/p>\n

Ms Schernickau’s tenure as CEO began in June 2021.<\/p>\n

Chair of the board Cr Liz Pattison said Ms Schernickau had enrolled in a PhD by research at Melbourne University considering the role of public libraries in responding to disinformation, misinformation, and malign influence.<\/p>\n

“The board thanks Vanessa for her leadership and service and wishes her every success for the future.<\/p>\n

“Under Vanessa\u2019s leadership, Geelong Regional Libraries has seen the delivery of major initiatives, including the opening of Boronggook Drysdale and Biyal-a Armstrong Creek Libraries and the implementation of new systems such as the Library Management System.”<\/p>\n

One recent initiative under her leadership was the Library of Things<\/a>, offering tech and practical items for community members to borrow.<\/p>\n

Another milestone for the GRLC during her tenure was the launch of the Biyal-a Armstrong Creek Library<\/a>, a modern community hub with extensive resources.<\/p>\n

Cr Pattison said the board acknowledged the positive cultural shift across the organisation during Ms Schernickau\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

“She has demonstrated a strong commitment to staff engagement, community connection and building a confident, capable senior leadership team to deliver the Library Plans. She has led the organisation through periods of operational and environmental challenge with professionalism and care, ensuring continuity of service to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cVanessa has consistently exceeded the expectations of her role and has made a significant contribution not only to Geelong Regional Libraries, but also to the broader library and regional sector through her leadership roles beyond the organisation, including as [resident of Public Libraries Victoria and serving on the board of G21.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE chief executive officer of the Geelong Regional Libraries Corporation (GRLC) is on the way out, and it is unclear who will replace her or when this will take place. Earlier today (Monday, January 19), the GRLC board stated Vanessa Schernickau had announced her resignation, with her final day as CEO to be February 27. […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":126009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-126008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGeelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Geelong Regional Libraries CEO Vanessa Schernickau to depart, final day February 27; board to consider interim leadership arrangements.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""Geelong Regional Libraries CEO Vanessa Schernickau to depart, final day February 27; board to consider interim leadership arrangements.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-19T05:26:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\"},\"headline\":\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-19T05:26:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":346,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/\",\"name\":\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart - Geelong Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-19T05:26:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO Vanessa Schernickau to depart, final day February 27; board to consider interim leadership arrangements.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":538,\"caption\":\"Vanessa Schernickau became CEO of the GRLC in June 2021. Photo: SUPPLIED\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"width\":248,\"height\":37,\"caption\":\"Geelong Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\",\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Taylor\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/author\\\/james\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart - Geelong Times","description":"\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO Vanessa Schernickau to depart, final day February 27; board to consider interim leadership arrangements.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart - Geelong Times","og_description":"\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO Vanessa Schernickau to depart, final day February 27; board to consider interim leadership arrangements.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/","og_site_name":"Geelong Times","article_published_time":"2026-01-19T05:26:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":538,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"James Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Taylor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/"},"author":{"name":"James Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45"},"headline":"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart","datePublished":"2026-01-19T05:26:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/"},"wordCount":346,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/","name":"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart - Geelong Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png","datePublished":"2026-01-19T05:26:32+00:00","description":"\"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO Vanessa Schernickau to depart, final day February 27; board to consider interim leadership arrangements.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Vanessa-Schernickau.png","width":1024,"height":538,"caption":"Vanessa Schernickau became CEO of the GRLC in June 2021. Photo: SUPPLIED"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-regional-libraries-ceo-to-depart\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Geelong Regional Libraries CEO to depart"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","name":"Geelong Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization","name":"Geelong Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","width":248,"height":37,"caption":"Geelong Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45","name":"James Taylor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Taylor"},"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126008"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=126008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}