Preface

Abstract

The field of librarianship has undergone traumatic shifts (mostly downward) due to the global financial meltdown that began in the fall of 2008. While libraries were not mentioned in the motion picture, Inside Job (Marrs & Ferguson, 2010), they were, and still are, deeply affected by the worst recession since the Great Depression. Worse yet is that current dialogues and negotiations about declining library budgets show promise of continuing well into 2012. Permanent reductions to budget support for libraries by all levels of government in the United States have resulted in library closures, loss of staff, reduced material purchases, deferred maintenance, and fewer or altered services in all types of libraries. Library associations experienced similar strains with the Canadian Library Association facing a budget crunch and the American Library Association giving staff a week's unpaid furlough in 2010. Five library systems in Illinois sought government approval to consolidate into one system and some consortia/networks merged or, like Nylink (NY), simply closed their doors.

Citation

Woodsworth, A. (2011), "Preface", Woodsworth, A. (Ed.) Librarianship in Times of Crisis (Advances in Librarianship, Vol. 34), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. xi-xvii. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0065-2830(2011)0000034003