Layoffs at the library: one blogger's story

While the politicians and unions haggle over whether the next round of city worker layoffs will actually happen, at the Los Angeles Public Library they already are happening. Yesterday, the librarian who helps curate the Central Library's collection of cookbooks got the word. She posts at her blog, Cook and the Books:

I was one of the people who were told that their position had been eliminated. The layoffs were based on seniority for librarians....

Some of the system’s best librarians lost their jobs. In fact, the youngest, freshest, most enthusiastic librarians lost their jobs. If these layoffs had been based on performance, it would have been an entirely different group of workers who were laid off. The injustice saddens me more than the job loss.

Library hours will be cut again, effective July 6. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.

Los Angeles libraries, including the essential Central Library, are going to five-day weeks starting in July.