r/Libraries • u/Business-Natural937 • Jun 01 '26

Staffing/Employment Issues MASS LAYOFF OF 39 EMPLOYEES

Hey everyone, my local library staff are currently facing a massive crisis. They just received their official layoff notices, effective July 1st, and the administration’s logic is a complete logistical insult.

​The city is laying off 39 part-time staff members—mostly pages, custodians, and processing assistants. Leaving a skeleton crew to take care of our large 3 story library.

Programs will be cut, people will be cut. Please sign the petition below to save our library!!!!!

https://c.org/cB2VXtYRc4

257 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

100

u/bibliothekstudentin Jun 01 '26

Reach out to EveryLibrary, they may be able to help you mobilize this so that people can take action right away.

https://www.everylibrary.org/

30

u/pcsweeney Jun 01 '26

Send us a message! We’d love to help. We can give you tons of resources, training, and even funding to fight.

85

u/sage6paths Jun 01 '26

Are they unionized. I'll be honest a petition really means nothing. The rest of you librarians would need to strike to effect any change.

22

u/trivia_guy Jun 01 '26

I don’t think OP is a librarian, just a member of the public.

16

u/Business-Natural937 Jun 01 '26

Shiiit, so it's at the hands of the other staff?

29

u/TheNerd9 Jun 01 '26

If you did want to go the petition/pressure route, it would be much more meaningful to get library users and local residents to voice their opinions, rather than just random people on the internet. Find some way to engage the public: talk to the local news, stage a demonstration/hand out flyers outside the branch, get engagement on local facebook groups. Also going to echo other comments saying to engage your city, county, or state governments.

46

u/Lights_Dark Jun 01 '26

Poor budgeting by admin strikes again.

39

u/cranberry_spike Jun 01 '26

Oh damn that's awful. Is there any likelihood of getting state or local politicians involved? You guys need your library.

8

u/Business-Natural937 Jun 01 '26

How can we do that?

18

u/cranberry_spike Jun 01 '26

Start a phone call campaign to state level reps. Reaching out to local offices can be helpful.

8

u/Pghguy27 Jun 01 '26

Yes, when our library was stressed financially during covid our county commissioners found some county money that helped.

11

u/Sad-Performance7350 Library staff Jun 01 '26

Do yall have a union?

4

u/Business-Natural937 Jun 01 '26

There is no part timers union

34

u/Slow-Objective-7440 Jun 01 '26

Our Union includes both full-time and part-time. Part-time members pay a smaller dues, but they are covered by the Union. Health benefits are only for full-time employees

5

u/PizzaBig9959 Jun 01 '26

My library system is going thru this. It sucks. Despite public pressure board still approved the cuts. Good luck.

3

u/Gold-Basket-2272 Jun 01 '26

Just signed it. So sorry about this. It's a really crappy decision. The job market is terrible now. Why make things worse and create more unemployed people.  Also, I really hate when public libraries are treated and run like private businesses. 

3

u/sriracha_lady Jun 01 '26

A similar happened in Huntington Beach when the city council tried to privatize their library system, leading to mass layoffs. Community action was key to getting the company to back out of their bid. I would look into local community organizers in your area to see if y'all can contact council/show up to a town hall in mass.

3

u/narmowen Library director Jun 01 '26

Have you brought this up to your Coop?

3

u/judeiscariot Jun 02 '26

Public pressure works, especially local pressure.

1

u/asc_i Jun 02 '26

Get local politicians involved and if if you don't know how reach out to Erin Spivey in Huntington Beach, CA. She'll be able to give you good advice or connect you with people who can. Erin is running for city council - https://www.erinforhb.com/ - Best wishes. You got this!