From the Chronicle of Higher Education: A regional public college that faced declining enrollment tried to stem the bleeding two years ago by laying off over 100 people, including all of its faculty librarians. Now Western Illinois University has to hire the librarians back. An arbitrator ruled in late May that Western Illinois improperly laid off all of its faculty librarians and two additional faculty members, and ordered the university to rescind the layoffs, provide back pay, and reinstate those who wish to return.
Altogether, Western Illinois issued layoff notices to 124 faculty and staff members in 2024, including nine librarians, but the library was the only department to lose all of its faculty members. The university cited a decline in student enrollment of 20.6 percent since 2017. The decision to gut the library drew national attention and reignited a longstanding debate about the role of the librarian in academe today...
The university is reviewing the arbitrator’s decision “while working with [the union] to determine the details of implementation and next steps,” according to a written statement...
Full story at https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-regional-college-laid-off-all-its-librarians-in-2024-now-it-has-to-hire-them-back.
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