This Committee provides advice on all matters related to the concerns of academic librarians and the profession at U of T.

Over the past year, the Librarians Committee has advanced several key issues of importance to our members, encouraged participation in UTFA’s governance, and created a place of community for members to share and troubleshoot workplace concerns.

Significant Wins Protecting Librarian Working Conditions

This year, the Librarians Committee provided support and feedback for several bargaining and related developments. Some of these are: an increase in librarian research days secured through negotiations; an agreement with the Administration to resolve violations of performance assessment policies and procedures for 2025 to 2026, leading to providing appropriate notice regarding changes in performance criteria and associated rating scheme and clearer and more transparent assessments; negotiating the ability for Librarians to have flexible work arrangements; and the protection of librarians’ academic status. This work continues as we work with UTFA staff and the Legal and Advice Portfolio to push for consistent librarian titles across U of T.

Participation Within UTFA and with Member Organizing

Additionally, the Librarian Committee has successfully encouraged librarian members to engage with the CAUT Organizational and Governance Review benchmarking exercise. We also encouraged librarians to show solidarity by participating in the Fair Pay Petition initiated by several junior faculty in response to the unfair exclusion of many new hires in recent ATB awards (see the Report of the Chair of the Membership Committee). These conversations have reflected a strong commitment among librarian members to our broader community and the importance and mandate of UTFA.

This year has been particularly active, with many librarians actively engaged in UTFA’s teams, committees, and Council. Harriet Sonne de Torrens and I represented librarians and faculty on UTFA’s bargaining committee, negotiating with the University Administration on workload, benefits, and salary. Harriet also serves as UTFA’s Interim Vice-President, University and External Affairs, and Kyla Everall serves as a Member-at-Large on the Executive. Whitney Kemble, Kyla Everall, and Kathleen Scheaffer represent librarians on UTFA Council.

Librarians have also contributed to several UTFA committees. Harriet Sonne de Torrens, Kyla Everall, and myself serve on the University and External Affairs Committee. Whitney Kemble and Kathleen Scheaffer sit on the Equity Committee. Graeme Slaght serves on the Nominating Committee and Kent Weaver and Suzanne Meyers Sawa serve on the Retired Members Committee. I serve on the Pension Committee.

Thank you to all members of the Librarians Committee for their time, engagement, and ongoing contributions.

James Mason
Chair, Librarians Committee