Public Employee Press
District Council 37
July 2003

Hit library for “assault on the profession”

Local 1930 is battling a restructuring plan at the New York Public Library that protects the jobs of high-paid administrators while it shrinks the ranks of middle managers and unionized staff.

The downsizing plan, known as “Customers First, Positive Change in Volatile Times,” will hurt library services, cut promotional opportunities and undermine the librarian profession, said Ray Markey, president of Local 1930.

Union members are also alarmed by another plan supported by NYPL’s top management with a grant from HSBC bank. This scheme would open up a new library — run by volunteers — in Bryant Park, next to the library’s main building with its famous lion statues.

“This is an assault on the profession, not just the union,” Mr. Markey told a group of about 100 members at an emergency meeting at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 455 Fifth Ave.

Under the downsizing plan, the Library has eliminated the children’s specialist position in borough offices. As a result, children’s librarians are denied a promotional opportunity and losing mentors who used to provide crucial support for activity planning, career development and resource development.

A couple of months ago, the Library held its last storytelling program in which children’s librarians met to practice reciting books from memory and get feedback from colleagues. The decision to cut this beloved program ends a 94-year tradition.

The Library has eliminated four Office Associate 3 positions and four Regional Librarian posts by consolidating its six regional offices into four district offices. It has slashed positions at the Mid-Manhattan Library, closed its central book ordering office, and left vacancies in specialty titles, such as Rare Books Librarian.

Managers, not librarians
Meanwhile, NYPL isn’t touching its top management structure, which is headed by President Paul LeClerc, who enjoys an annual compensation package of $586,000. Of the 14 top managers, who each earn at least $136,000, only three have librarian degrees.

The staff “flattening” came as the NYPL faced a 14 percent budget cut after years of cutbacks. Noting that Local 1930’s membership has plummeted by more than 200 since NYPL imposed a hiring freeze in October 2001, Vice President Lynn Taylor said, “They are gutting services at the public’s expense.”

Librarian Susan Pine said that as a result of staff shortages, many librarian duties are now being carried out by Information Assistants, Local 1930 members who are college graduates but do not have a master’s of library science degree. “What we are talking about is the elimination of the M.L.S.,” she said.

Members charged that the Bryant Park plan for a library staffed by volunteers, but not librarians, also threatens the profession. The Bryant Park Restoration Corp., whose directors include Mr. LeClerc, NYPL administrators Michael Zavelle and T. Dennis Sullivan, and former trustees Marshall Rose and Andrew Heiskell, oversees the project.

“Why in the world would the top leaders of the New York Public Library support another institution in the Library’s back yard with services provided by volunteers?” Mr. Markey asked.