New Harvard Library Working Group

Harvard University
February 20, 2012 Dear members of the Harvard community: I write to you on behalf of the New Harvard Library Working Group, a group of students, faculty, and staff who are concerned about the future of Harvards libraries. Simply put: Harvard University is wealthier than ever but its libraries are suffering. The University has seen its endowment recover almost entirely since the 2008 crash, and yet the administration is continuing its policy of shuttering library services for students and faculty. We are writing to invite you to participate in the University-wide conversation about how to sustain and grow the worlds preeminent university librarythe everevolving body of knowledge and collection of artifacts that, in turn, sustains the intellectual life of our university. In recent years, the Harvard library system has been a consistent target for cuts under the guise of austerity. These measures have included:

Closing libraries: In 2009, the administration reduced hours at many libraries and closed others, including the Quad Library, which served as a circulating library and study space for students living in the Quadrangle. Since the 1990s over 20 libraries across the campus have been closed. Cutting staff: The administration also made extensive cuts to library staff. A combination of voluntary and involuntary layoffs reduced the library staff by 21%, and many jobs were outsourced to off-site, nonHarvard clerical workers or replaced with student assistantships. Shipping out collections: Originally designed to house only low-use holdings, over 45 percent of Harvards physical collection are now stored off-site in the Harvard Book Depository. The over-reliance on this facility, located some 30 miles away, itself incurs substantial costs associated with the transportation of so many high-demand volumes.

Budget cuts since 2009 have meant fewer hours, fewer libraries, and fewer librarians. Yet even more cuts are possible. In January of this year, the Harvard administration announced that the library system would undergo a total reorganization. This reorganization presents a unique opportunity to imagine the library of the future and to rebuild the foundation upon which this university will thrive in the twenty-first century. But the administration

has consistently refused to indicate what concrete steps will be taken during reorganization, and there are worrying signs that other (economic) motives are superseding intellectual ones. The administration has spoken in general terms about efficiency, but has not stated whether more libraries will be closed and hours reduced, or whether the reorganization will affect collection acquisitions. Even as Harvard recovers financially, its libraries are not recovering at the same pace; to the contrary, library budgets, staff, and rate of new acquisitions continue to decline. In the immediate term, Harvard administration has begun another round of voluntary and involuntary layoffs, further reducing an already decimated staff of highly qualified library workers. Just this week, it offered early retirement to all employees over the age of 55 with at least ten years of service. Librarians have expressed deep concerns over the quality of life they will be able to sustain if they accept the administrations terms, but many feel they have no choice, as involuntary layoffs will likely follow. Two hundred and seventy-five library workers qualify for the package, and if each one of them accepts, this would reduce the already-shrunken library workforce by another 30%. The reorganization effectively destroys the current system and erases the jobs that have maintained it. Furthermore, all library employees have been asked to submit resumes and employee profiles. As reorganization proceeds, they will learn whether their positions will still exist, change, or disappear, and whether they have a place in the newly reorganized Harvard library. The library staff welcomes change, indeed, having been at Harvard for decades, they have the most complete knowledge of where it is needed. Increasingly though, it has become clear that the administration is not interested in input from the library staff, and that change, in these conversations, really signifies a further attack on academic resources. The administration is betting that students, faculty, and alumni supporters like yourself will not notice the further degradation of those institutions--the libraries--that lie at the heart of Harvards mission. We write to you today because we depend on the libraries to further our scholarship; for many of us they factored heavily in our decision to come to Harvard. Perhaps you experienced the same draw when you chose to attend this institution. Yet our libraries are overcrowded and closed more frequently than ever before. We are not nave about the need to meet budget shortfalls, but we are convinced that Harvard libraries must be better protected if Harvard is to maintain its educational preeminence in fact and not just in name. Our libraries are not just symbols of Harvards excellence: they are Harvards excellence. To attack them is to attack the University itself. There is still time to join the conversation about how to build a new Harvard library that benefits all, students, faculty, and staff alike. If you share our

conviction, please let your voice be heard. Forward this message to fellow alumni and donors who might also wish to participate in this important moment of transition. Contact the Presidents Office and Alumni Affairs and Development. (Contact information is below.) Please tell them to protect Harvard libraries. Sincerely, The New Harvard Library Working Group Contacts: Presidents Office 617-495-1502 president@harvard.edu Alumni Affairs and Development 1-800-VERITAS (837-4827) hcf_inquiry@harvard.edu Peggy Molander Director of Development, Harvard College Library 617-495-8062 molander@fas.harvard.edu