Public Employee Press

Local battles NY Public Library on tuition cut

When William Hall was interviewed in 2005 for a Librarian Trainee position, he was happy to hear that the New York Public Library contributed up to $6,000 toward tuition for a master’s degree in library science.

Nearly a year later as a NYPL employee, Hall was shocked to learn that his employer — which requires trainees to enroll in a master’s program — was cutting the reimbursement from $6,000 a year to $3,300.

“I felt betrayed,” said Hall, who has taken the lead in a group grievance that New York Public Library Guild Local 1930 filed in September on behalf of all clerical titles and Information Associates.

“For a world-class institution that prides itself on being a progressive employer to renege on its commitment to employees’ career development is outrageous,” Local 1930 President Lynn Taylor said.
Rep Lisa Riccio and Assistant General Counsel Kim Hsueh assisted Taylor with the grievance, which charges the Library with violating a past practice.

“What was amazing is the way the Library did this,” Taylor said.

“They announced in May that they were ‘reviewing’ the reimbursement plan, then they quickly cut summer reimbursement from $2,000 to $1,100. The full-year cut from $6,000 to $3,300 is a hard hit for our members.”

All told, about 50 Librarian Trainees work at NYPL. As a condition of employment, applicants must be either enrolled or accepted in a master’s program. Clerical and other workers do not have to meet that requirement.

“This disastrous news was broken without warning,” Hall said. “New York City is very expensive and many of us are living virtually hand-to-mouth.”

Librarian Trainees earn around $30,000, so $6,000 was a significant boost for members pursuing their graduate degrees. Hall said it covered the full cost of his studies at Queens College, where he takes two courses a semester during the regular school year and also studies in the summer.

At schools with higher tuitions, such as the Pratt Institute and Long Island University, members are hit even harder.

“I love my job and the people I work with,” said Hall, who said he felt bound by principle to file the grievance despite his otherwise positive feelings about the NYPL, which has a multi-million dollar budget and a huge endowment.

The trainee title is a feeder program, he said, “so it behooves them to treat you well, since they expect you to work there for a while and not leave soon.”