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TESTIMONY
Lauren Comito, Librarian and Executive Director of Urban Librarians Unite, on the Impacts of Budget Cuts on Library Staff and Services
4:23:50
·
168 sec
Comito testifies that the proposed $58.3 million budget cuts for fiscal year 2025 would severely impact library services and staff.
- The cuts would eliminate Saturday service at most city libraries
- The cuts would reduce purchasing of new materials for libraries
- The cuts would continue the hiring freeze, exacerbating staff shortages
- Staff shortages are leading to burnout and physical injuries for library workers
- Comito describes an incident where a staff member injured their shoulder moving heavy book bins due to delivery delays caused by staffing issues
- She argues against austerity measures and calls for investment in libraries to allow staff to safely provide vital services
Lauren Comito
4:23:50
Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify today on the devastating budget proposal for fiscal year 2025.
4:23:59
My name is Lauren Capito.
4:24:00
I'm a librarian here in New York City, and I'm the executive director of Urban Librarian, a 501c3 worker advocacy organization dedicated to supporting library workers in urban areas.
4:24:13
I know that none of the members of this committee need to be told to this but political and budgetary decisions have consequences.
4:24:20
And those consequences fall most heavily on the communities with the higher need highest needs and the workers who meet those needs every day.
4:24:28
That's the case here.
4:24:30
$58,300,000 in cuts will eliminate Saturday service at most of the city, further reduce the purchase of materials, and continue the library's hiring phrases.
4:24:40
And that's what I'm going to talk about today.
4:24:44
The budget cut induced short staffing is stretching library staff to the point of burnout, and in some cases, physical injury.
4:24:53
Library work is an emotional, intellectual, and physical job.
4:24:57
You think of us as grandma is sitting in reading books at desks because you don't always see us hauling 50 to £75 tubs of books back and forth as we process holds.
4:25:09
As workers try to keep up with the holds and the moving materials and the pressure of doing more work with fewer people, it puts more pressure on them physically.
4:25:20
These shortages are affecting all sorts of logistical issues, but the one I'd like to highlight actually did cause a staff injury Because of a lack of drivers in the hiring freeze, some libraries in the city are only receiving book deliveries every other day.
4:25:34
This could mean that instead of 4 or 5 bins of, again, £50 of books, staff are attempting to process 10 in one day.
4:25:43
Staff care deeply about getting these books to our patrons on time.
4:25:47
They care about making sure people have the resources they need, and they are pushing themselves too far in an attempt to meet that need.
4:25:54
I know of one staff member who injured their shoulder attempting to do this.
4:26:01
The city budget isn't just numbers on a spreadsheet.
4:26:03
It's human beings.
4:26:05
There it's the human beings trying so hard to meet the commitment to service that they signed up for their jobs for.
4:26:13
With ever shrinking resources, we know from decades of trying that austerity never results in growth.
4:26:19
We know that growth comes from investment and that the sheer human potential of the people of New York City is worth investing in.
4:26:26
Libraries amplify that potential in every neighborhood of this city.
4:26:30
Please continue to invest in that amplification and help libraries work WORKERS DO THEIR VITAL WORK SAFELY WITH THE RESOURCES REQUIRED TO DO IT.
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Matthew Zadrozny, President of SaveNYPL.org on Restoring Extensive New York City Public Library Service Hours, Including Sundays
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David S. Pecoraro, President of the Friends of Rosedale Library, on Budget Cuts Impacting Public Library Services and Programming in Queens