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Posted February 11, 2005.

Berkeleyites Link Proposed Layoffs to RFID Costs

Some 100 Berkeley (Calif.) Public Library workers and patrons voiced their displeasure at a February 9 library board meeting regarding the proposed layoff this July of up to 13 people to close a projected shortfall of $1 million over the next two fiscal years. Protestors questioned why, under such dire fiscal circumstances, BPL is continuing its $650,000 project to place self-checkout RFID (radio frequency identification device) tags in all 550,000 items in the collection. The library has borrowed $500,000 from the city with a commitment to repay the loan in five annual installments of $100,000 each.

“Maybe they should have spent the money on the staff—they wouldn’t have to lay off people.” BPL employee Noah Rosenthal said in the February 11 Berkeley Daily Californian.

If approved by the city council in March, the downsizing would be the system’s second set of layoffs in 12 months. Last summer, the cash-strapped library scrapped 16 positions, eliminated Sunday hours at the central library, and slashed the materials budget by 25%—cuts that officials were unable to restore when voters rejected a property-tax hike in November.

BPL Director Jackie Griffin defended the library actions, explaining that the self-checkout will save $2 million in worker compensation claims for repetitive motion injuries over five years. “We’ve had people who had to retire early [because of strain injuries],” Griffin told the Californian.

Posted February 11, 2005.