On Thursday, October 19, the Chicago Public Library will have its annual Budget Hearing with the City’s Committee on Budget and Government Operations. For logistical details on attending online or in person, see our Calendar event for the hearing.
In preparation for the budget hearing, our union colleagues at AFSCME Council 31 review the proposed budget, flag potential concerns, and communicate with elected representatives. Local 1215 members have repeatedly raised concerns that touch on budget issues this past year at our union membership meetings. The most frequently raised issues are understaffing, health and safety concerns (bomb threats to CPL being only the most recent), and facilities problems.
Some of these concerns were also raised by alders at last year’s budget hearing, which is available on the City of Chicago Vimeo archive here. In the video from the 2022 hearing, CPL administration’s overview begins at the 21:00 minute mark. At the 53:00 minute mark, an alderperson asks about the current number of vacancies, and CPL management replies that 345 of the 1380 budgeted positions are vacant–-a 25% vacancy rate.
As of October 16, 2023, information from the City’s data portal indicated that CPL currently has 1,075 total staff, of whom 753 are full-time employees, and 322 are part-time, making for 914 full-time-equivalent employees. Using the more generous figure of 1,075 staff, if the total number of budgeted positions remains 1,380, then CPL currently has aobut a 22% vacancy rate–a marginal improvement on last year’s 25% vacancy rate. Given the recent “hiring fairs” held at CPL, this rate may improve in the near future. We certainly hope that it will, since the Sunday hours expansion has combined with continued understaffing to create coverage gaps, stress, and burn-out among workers across the system.
To stay informed about CPL’s budget for the coming year, make a plan to attend or watch the budget hearing, remind coworkers that it’s happening, and bring your questions to our membership meeting on October 27.