Library of Congress Guild Opposes Reduction of Services
Monday, April 7, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The Library of Congress Professional Guild (AFSCME Local 2910) last month
called on the Librarian of Congress to stop the planned merger and reduction of
specialized reference collections and services and to keep the
LOC's Science
and Business Reading Room (right)
open. The Library’s plan to consolidate collections and
services “will result in the homogenization of reference service and
diminishment of the subject expertise which has been a hallmark of the Library
for decades,” Guild President Saul Schniderman warned. “The Library of
Congress
is in the midst of a great transition, the outcome of which is far from
clear,”
Schniderman told a House Subcommittee. “We hail Dr. Billington’s digital
initiatives which many of our members are working hard to implement. But in
2014 and beyond, it is the consensus of reference librarians that closing
reading rooms will degrade reference service and ultimately undermine the
mission of the Library of Congress. Please listen to the Library’s veteran
knowledge navigators." Click
here to read the complete statement and resolution.