Staff at Time Inc.’s editorial research library were told May 31 that the library would be closed and half of the three-dozen staff members would be asked to resign; the remaining staff will be employed in smaller research units at Time and Fortune magazines.
The New York Times reported June 4 that at least half of the library’s clipping files and books will be moved to off-site storage outside of the building. The facility currently occupies a floor and a half of the Time-Life Building, as well as extensive warehouse space.
The move is among numerous cost-cutting measures imposed in the wake of last year’s merger of AOL and Time Warner. The Times noted that that although the library is available to all Time Inc. magazines, Time and Fortune pay for its overhead out of their budgets, which are under increased scrutiny since the merger. Sports Illustrated and People already have their own research libraries.
Although a senior Time Inc. executive told the Times that a memo to staff members said the department was being “dissolved,” Time Inc. spokesman Peter Costiglio preferred to characterize the closing of the library as an act of decentralization.
Posted June 11, 2001.