Straws in the Wind - Part 143

From the Duke Chronicle: Through petitions and committees, faculty members have urged Duke to reinstate their subject librarians after a budget cut of $4 million across Duke University Libraries (DUL) saw the termination of 40 staff positions. The librarians’ departures, as part of Duke’s effort to reduce its total expense base by 10% in response to federal funding shortfalls, caught faculty off guard. Many say they now navigate their teaching and research with uncertainty and lack of support.

The international area studies department (IAS), whose librarians provide research consultation and classroom instructional support related to global languages and cultures, was particularly impacted by the personnel cuts after four of its 10 librarians were offered and accepted voluntary severance packages. The department has since been renamed the global studies department.

...The University’s elimination of the librarian position for the department of Slavic & Eurasian studies (SES) raised alarms among interdisciplinary SES faculty and the SES academic community...In a letter addressed to University leadership, 16 faculty from Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and other graduate schools wrote that the termination of the role would “signal the demise” of SES at Duke... 

Full story at https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-faculty-call-for-librarians-to-be-rehired-cost-cutting-voluntary-severance-package-vsip-20251017.