Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 44 No. 5. March 30 1981

Staff Cuts by 1982

Staff Cuts by 1982

The greatest problem for the library this year, and probably in years to follow, which the budget has not been able to remedy, is in the lack of staff. In fact the situation has been improved since last year, with the unfreezing of 4 of 5 positions initially frozen in 1976, at the end of last year and the beginning of 1981. But we may all wonder whether this improvement could be reversed by 1982, as university councils throughout NZ seek ways to implement the government's demand that 150 non- academic staff positions be removed over the next 3 years. Alison McCloud, the library's head of circulation, has pointed out that although the demand for services, especially in terms of book issues, has continually increased over the years, no extra staff have been acquired to compensate for the extra work involved. There are not the staff available to allow for the introduction of undergraduate interloan requests or telephone information requests, and staff are increasingly tied to their desks to cope with paper work, rather than being able to move out into the library to act in a more advisory capacity.