“As someone who’s been in libraries for over 20 years, it’s a crushing decision and the emotion around it has been, do I sleep at night? Not well. Because we are laying off 49 really terrific people, and at the end of December, we literally shut our libraries. I’ve never been through that before.”

Reardon says 11 neighborhood branches will close their doors to the public for good on December 31st. However, librarians working in those branches aren’t necessarily the ones being laid off. The layoffs are system-wide and depend on an employee’s job class, seniority, and evaluation. All employees selected to be let go do have the right to appeal and will be paid through January 16th.

While bombarded with emails from upset residents, Reardon does have the backing of her employees. That’s according to executive union board members of AFSCME District Council 47 Locals 2186 and 2187, which represent the city’s library workers. We turned to the union for comment since the city has fordidden library employees to speak publicly on the issue. But library workers who hold union leadership, including Local 2187 recording secretary Steven Wright, are protected and can speak on behalf of their colleagues:

“My colleagues feel they are tied to the communities. They feel they’re being ripped out of the communities and feel a great sense of loss. They feel a great responsibility towards the communities, especially the 11 branches that are targeted for closing.”

Union members speaking for city library workers (from left to right): Steven Wright, Irene Wright, Rita Urwitz, Jim Quinn, Kahim Boles

Nutter’s support to close libraries has left library employees stunned. That’s because when Nutter was a council member in 2005, he fought to keep libraries open. (For a refresher about what happened back then, read this article about Nutter’s library triumphs, which won him national recognition). So when Nutter ran for Mayor in 2007, the librarians stood behind him. Now, Local 2186 executive board member Jim Quinn says they feel betrayed:

“Speaking for librarians, they’re just appalled. They’re shocked. They believed in the Mayor when he was a City Councilman. But now, who do you believe in when they do this to you?”

Or as Local 2186 vice president Rita Urwitz, who’s not a librarian but a trained social worker, puts it- she never expected Nutter to be the mayor who would close libraries:

“This is a Mayor that ran on an anti-crime, pro-education platform. I think the cuts he’s decided to make in services encourages crime and poverty. I’m personally very disappointed in Michael Nutter, and I think my members are very disappointed in Michael Nutter.”

These union members say they are not giving up and will fight to see these 11 branches eventually reopened. They believe redistributing branch services through community initiatives, which the Mayor has suggested, is not an equal substitute.

Residents from the community have been protesting the library cuts over the last several weeks with Save the Library rallies. A major one is scheduled for tomorrow at noon in front of the Central Library.