Library of Congress Guild Opposes Reduction of Services

(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.