Library of Congress staff could face furloughs under funding plan

Three- and four-day furloughs could be in offing for staff at the Library of Congress (LoC) in the coming months, if the government fails to pass a budget for the remainder of this fiscal year.

In a hearing Thursday, LoC staff leaders painted a bleak personnel picture, one that included furloughs and hiring freezes, should funding levels remain as they now are under the continuing resolution.

{mosads}The hearing took place before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch.

Congress has yet to pass a budget for fiscal 2011, and the government has been operating under a series of short-term continuing resolutions.

When asked by subcommittee chairman Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) what impact operating under a six-month continuing resolution would have, Library Chief of Staff Robert Dizard Jr. said that 3 percent cuts would likely result in hiring freezes, as well as reducing contracts for equipment and custodial services.
 
“We would probably in that period be looking at three to four days of furloughs across the Library,” Dizard added.
 
According to Dizard, if the Library faced 5 percent cuts beyond the six months, it would result in more furloughs.
 
Dizard also warned that if the Library entered into an even greater fiscally constrained environment, one that involved decreasing acquisitions or tightening and restricting collections policies, it would change “the fundamental nature of the institution.”
 
Cutting back on personnel would also mean a significant hit for the institution, according to the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington.
 
“If you start cutting into personnel, which is bulk of the [fiscal 2012] budget [request], you are going to be losing people prematurely on whom in many cases we’re the most dependent,” Billington testified.
 
Library staffers possess a wide variety of talents and perform work not being done anywhere else, he said, adding that the average age of employees is 49 and the average term of service is 16 years.
 
The Library’s fiscal 2012 budget request totals $660.7 million, an increase of $23.3 million over the previous year.

The headline of this article was clarified on April 1 at 11:05 a.m.