Dear colleague,
We’re writing today to ask you to show your support for our colleagues in Rutgers Libraries as we share an Open Letter to Rutgers calling for an end to the regime of disrespect and austerity overseen by library management. More than 640 faculty, grad workers, staff, students, alumni, and community members signed the statement. It is being released with ads in the Daily Targum (New Brunswick) and The Observer (Newark). Please pass along the open letter to colleagues and share our social media posts from Facebook and Twitter.
You’ll remember that our union had to fight last spring against management’s attempt to keep Rutgers Libraries open when the pandemic first surged. With the partial reopening this fall, we again had to battle for proper safety protocols. Nevertheless, those who returned face the consequences of mismanagement. Some were ordered to do cleaning work because of layoffs; others were asked to act as security.
Callous and autocratic behavior has been the hallmark of University Librarian Krisellen Maloney’s management for years, but the blame also falls higher up the chain. The former Barchi administration starved the libraries of needed funds and resources, using the RCM budget system as the excuse.
President Jonathan Holloway has pledged to strengthen Rutgers’ standing as a world-class Research I institution. That goal is undermined if Rutgers Libraries are deprived of funds and our faculty and staff are treated with contempt. We all need an effective, properly funded, and well-managed library system to fulfill our shared mission.
We urge President Holloway to meet with our members, without Krisellen Maloney or other top library management present. As our open letter, signed by hundreds of you, ends: “We, the undersigned, demand the restoration of funds and services to our libraries and an end to the regime of disrespect and austerity that the current library management has instituted throughout our library system.”
In solidarity,
Todd and Becky
Todd Wolfson, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rebecca Givan, Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rutgers AAUP-AFT Facebook page: https://facebook.com/RUaaup/
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @ruaaup
Find the latest messages to members and union statements here.
Watch Todd’s video about our union’s plans.