Overdue books are the least of concerns for many Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) employees, as staff face impending rescheduling that threatens their livelihoods.
“I don’t think there’s a single person here who feels valued, or like their input matters,” said one anonymous VIRL employee.
While the details of the changes have not been confirmed or made public by VIRL, rumour and anxiety have run rampant in the community, and among a library staff who’ve been told to keep quiet.
Laurence Amy, vice-president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 401, explained that negotiations between CUPE, BCGEU and VIRL had broken down and stated that the change would need to follow their collective agreement.
Natasha Bartlett, VIRL divisional manager of communications, confirmed that changes are in the works.
“We are implementing system-wide changes, including adjustments to hours and staffing, as part of a sustainable, equitable service model,” said Bartlett.
“These changes will maximize full-time employment, improve equity across communities, align staffing with branch hours, and maintain cost-effective operations.”
Bartlet assured that the changes "will provide more consistent, high-quality services" across VIRL libraries.
Despite the stated benefits of the coming changes, library employees are worried. VIRL scheduling documents provided to the Sooke News Mirror show cuts in staffing and hours among library assistants, who would be primarily impacted.
“It's the library assistants, basically the ones that run the place, that do the checking in and out of books, that fill holds, that answer questions, that do the phones that are on the desk all the time, it's those staff that we're losing,” said the anonymous worker.
Two schedules were provided, a current version and another displaying a new revised schedule. Currently, 11 library assistants are employed at the Sooke branch working schedules of either 35, 28 or 21 hours a week.
The new schedule outlines six library assistant positions, three of which are scheduled for 35 hours a week, while the remaining three are scheduled for 18 hours a week. Overall, it’s a loss of five staff members and a 51 per cent decrease in total hours, a loss that staff can’t afford.
“It's just not possible for us financially,” said the employee.
The change is not official, but it’s enough to scare employees who have begun looking for work elsewhere. Some expected layoff notices to arrive in the first week of June. Instead, employees were informed they would have the opportunity to reapply for new positions within VIRL.
“We can't plan for the future,” the employee said. “There's going to be a lot of people in the system applying for the same jobs, and it could be weeks, months before we find out once the dust is settled and who will still be working here.”
The employee explained that the new schedule would make it more difficult for remaining staff to find second jobs given mid-day shift scheduling, which could also make it more difficult to coordinate childcare arrangements.
The revised schedule also shows reduced operating hours at the branch. The library is currently open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday to Thursday, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Friday to Sunday. If the new schedule were to take effect, the library's operating hours would be 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday to Monday.
While only a nine per cent reduction in operating hours, closing at 7 would mean cuts to programming and has prompted great concern among groups who meet at the library.
“We will have (fewer) programs, less meeting room space for the public, there’s going to be much higher competition to use the space,” explained the VIRL employee.
Paula Johanson frequently uses the library with community groups such as Transition Sooke, Zero Waste Sooke, and Knitters at the Library, all of which regularly use the library between 7-9 p.m.
“It’s public, it’s easy to get to, it’s accessible and it’s free,” said Johanson, who praised the facility.
“There are over 200 community charities and action groups in town, and there are only so many places that people can meet.”
Even if the schedule change means a loss of space for Johanson’s groups, they still plan to show up – bringing flashlights, lawn chairs and blankets to sit outside the library.
Johanson has been advocating against the changes online and to VIRL directly. She plans to meet with an executive director to plead her case. She says that VIRL has told her the changes are intended to bring equity to 39 branches by implementing a standardized schedule among them. But she says this equity shouldn't be achieved by bringing down service hours rather than increasing hours at smaller branches.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Sooke Coun. Al Beddows, who represents Sooke on the VIRL board of trustees.
“I’ve been inundated with emails, I don’t think I’ve got this many emails on any matter that I’ve dealt with in the last six and a half years,” he said.
At the June 9 council meeting, Beddows explained the proposed changes were part of the Standardized Scheduling and Operation Review (SSOR), which began in 2023.
“A lot of rumours are floating around about the cutbacks to the hours, which have some validity – this [SSOR] does involve cutting back hours,” Beddows told council, explaining exact details were confidential. He called it a “cookie-cutter approach.”
“What they want to do is they want the hours standardized throughout all the similar-sized libraries, but it doesn’t take into account the fact that Sooke is unique.”
Beddows explained that with much of the community commuting for work, many don’t arrive home until 6 p.m. A new schedule would greatly reduce access to the library.
“The drastically cutting back of hours, evening hours especially, five days a week, would really harm this community,” said Beddows, who speculated that VIRL’s justification of a more equitable system was simply a cost-saving measure.
The VIRL employee says library workers feel their hands are tied and VIRL sees them as positions, not people. “It’s all about saving money, 'Where can we cut costs and then make it look like it’s in your best interests?'”
Sooke council voted unanimously to write a letter to VIRL requesting that they be consulted before any changes to operating hours and staffing in Sooke.
The Sooke News Mirror has contacted the Vancouver Island Regional Library for comment.
This article has been updated to reflect the current state of negotiations confirmed by a CUPE representative.
