Education

Librarians in Oregon face more stress amid financial cuts, state agency says

Oregon Public Broadcasting | By Joni Auden Land

Published January 7, 2024 at 8:09 AM PST

FILE: Blare Stew uses the Belmont Library in Multnomah County last summer. Libraries in some Oregon cities and counties are facing financial cuts that could result in increased stress for librarians.

Libraries across Oregon are facing substantial cuts in their budgets, which industry leaders worry could lead to more stress and burnout among library workers, according to the State Library of Oregon.

“Library work is important. It’s also exhausting, falling upon library workers whose training and education may ill prepare them for such emotional labor,” state library leaders said in the release.

Buzzy Nielsen, the program manager for the State Library of Oregon, said cities and counties are cutting the budgets of other departments as well, but that they’re reducing libraries’ budgets a disproportionate amount.

“The road department being having more money to build roads is clearer,” he said. “That I think can often make it easier to cut a library than another department in the city.”

One example is Salem. City officials there plan to significantly decrease the number of hours the downtown library is open, while the West Salem location will only be open two days a week, as first reported by the Statesman Journal.

Libraries in Beaverton and Eugene are also anticipating significant cuts to their budgets, according to the state library news release. Linn-Benton Community College’s library recently eliminated all faculty positions.

Bridget Esqueda, Salem’s acting city librarian, said city leaders proposed cutting the library’s funding by nearly $1.2 million, about a sixth of its overall budget. Those trims are part of a citywide cut to services due to a budget deficit.

Esqueda said the library has multiple vacancies that will likely go unfilled, placing more pressure on the remaining workers.

“To run a big organization like the Salem Public Library, it does put a strain on the most valuable resource which is its employees,” she said.

Compounding the problem facing libraries are national attempts to remove books about LGBTQ people and people of color, Nielsen said. In Oregon, that’s resulted in an increased number of books challenged for remova l.

Some of these removals are orchestrated by local conservative groups, as was the case at the Crook County Public Library. Workers at the library reported an increase in verbal attacks from the public.

An audit of the Multnomah County Library published last month found that nearly 75% of staff that work with the public report feeling unsafe at work. Many staff, the audit found, frequently have to interact with those experiencing mental health crises.