This Committee provides advice on all matters related to the concerns of academic librarians and the profession at U of T.
Listening to our colleagues was the theme for the Librarian’s Committee this year. With the new Policies for Librarians being in effect for a little over a year, we wanted to hear how its implementation has been working out for our broader membership. We hosted three drop-in sessions: one at UTSC, one at St. George, and one at UTM, with the purpose of hearing from librarians. We also conducted a survey within our Committee to understand the issues our constituency may be facing.
In our March 12, 2025, meeting, we learned about some of the knowledge gaps on issues that academic librarians have identified. We heard from UTFA Vice-President Sherri Helwig about the Grievance process and Chair of the UTFA Pension Committee, Lisa Kramer, about our pensions. Our constituents have noted concerns about artificial intelligence (AI), UPP divestment, navigating benefits, and workload.
Through Salary, Benefits, and Workload bargaining we obtained an agreement in principle that Librarian Research Days and Professional Development Days are self-directed and we increased the number of days allotted from 14 to 16. Further, as librarians we can now request more than those allotted days should we require more time to fulfill our research agendas–rather than making requests on an exceptional basis. On a more personal note, I served as an advisor on the Salary, Benefits, Pensions, and Workload Negotiating Team for the first time this past year, and appreciated both the opportunity to learn a great deal and to contribute to such an important and complex process.
My thanks to UTFA’s Staff, the UTFA Executive, and members of the Librarians Committee for all their considerable support.
James Mason
Chair, Librarians Committee