Beyond book bans: Western Illinois University axes librarians

Banned books have become a rallying cry for educators-and so many others-who want children to have access to a diversity of stories and to see themselves reflected in their books. But at Western Illinois University, there's another threat to literacy and information access: Every one of the faculty librarians there has been dismissed.

In August, WIU's board of trustees announced that all nine of its faculty librarians, including tenured and tenure-track faculty, will be laid off by May 2025, leaving a skeletal staff of library associates. At the Quad Cities campus, an extension campus in an urban area on the border of Illinois and Iowa, it's even worse: The library will be shut down entirely, replaced with a service desk in a multipurpose building a short distance away.

While a WIU spokesperson says that library associates will continue to provide services to students and faculty, others are skeptical. "There is no way on earth that Western Illinois University can provide the library services they need without their professional librarians," librarian Hunter Dunlap told Inside Higher Ed. "It will not be possible. There will be a dramatic loss of training, expertise and decades of experience. There's no way the university will be able to provide the services they claim they will."

In addition to providing crucial support to faculty researchers, librarians offer key assistance to first-generation students just learning to navigate the academic environment. The librarians can direct them to electronic resources, catalogs of digital information and specialized tools for research projects. They also handle acquisitions and maintain subscriptions and databases for the entire university community.

The union-the Western Illinois University chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois, an affiliate of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the AFT-is working to support the librarians and other staff who are being dismissed, filing grievances and bargaining the impact of all the layoffs, protesting and rallying to inform the community about the threat to higher education.

Layoffs and cutbacks across the board

While no department has been as decimated as theirs, it's not just librarians who are taking the hit. A total of 57 faculty are being laid off across campus, along with 32 staff, and some will be gone before next May. Another 35 people who are on contract did not have their contracts renewed. That's on top of the 35 faculty members who were dismissed last June. The effects have been devastating.

"The board's action today is reckless, shortsighted, and a direct disinvestment in our students and communities," Merrill Cole, president of the WIU chapter of University Professionals of Illinois, Local 4100, told the Labor Tribune, referring to the Aug. 5 vote to dismiss faculty and staff. "This board is directly responsible for the devastating impact the cuts will have on our students, community, and regional economy."

The WIU administration says the cuts are due to budget gaps and the steep drops in enrollment that precipitated them. The university faces a $22 million budget deficit. Enrollment has plummeted by 21 percent since 2019.

It's a problem faced by many regional universities like WIU, which is located in rural Macomb, Ill. The college-age population is declining, campuses are still recovering from enrollment dips during the pandemic, emergency funding is drying up, and competition from private institutions and public flagship universities is fierce.

At WIU, administrators are saying they need to be the "right size" and the "right shape" to accommodate a smaller student body. They are shifting the Quad Cities campus to more career-oriented programs in line with regional workforce demands and moving some in-person classes there online. They've cut departments by at least 25 percent across the board.

Meanwhile the librarians are rallying to save the services they know their students and faculty need. "Faculty librarians serve a crucial instructional role for students and the community," says John Miller, UPI local president. "At a time when fake news and questionable sources are increasingly being used as political tools, and at a time when we are being challenged by emerging AI technology, we need faculty librarians more than ever. Their shortsighted elimination will harm students, faculty and community. We urge the university to work with us to find a different course."

[Virginia Myers]

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