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Library staff and union leaders urge higher wages, warn of grant cuts to Camden County Library System
Summary
Library employees and an AFSCME union leader told commissioners they face staffing shortages and possible budget cuts if federal Institute of Museum and Library Services funding is reduced; speakers urged higher county salaries to retain staff.
Sarah Junich, head of youth services at the Camden County Library System and president of AFSCME Local 1454, told the Board of Commissioners the library system is facing staffing shortages and possible program cuts if federal funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is reduced.
Junich said the State Library of New Jersey receives IMLS funds that then support local library programs and that Camden County Library could lose about $283,000 if IMLS funding were cut—an amount she attributed to a statement by Library Director Linda Devlin at an earlier Library Commission meeting. Junich described systemwide impacts including fewer story times (only two of eight branches currently have staff-led story times), reduced literacy services and fewer museum-pass checkouts.
Junich criticized local salary levels for professional librarian positions, citing the Camden County Library System salary for a Librarian 1 as $46,438.76 and a Librarian 2 as $48,759.44, and contrasted those figures with a 2025 New Jersey Library Association recommended minimum salary of $64,022. She said low pay drives applicants to neighboring systems that advertise higher starting pay.
Junich also asked commissioners to consider the role of grants in staffing the Literacy Department and warned that continued pay disparities could force additional branches to reduce hours; she said the South County branch will close early on Thursdays indefinitely because of the staffing shortage.
Junich asked county elected officials to address compensation during upcoming contract negotiations with AFSCME Local 1454, AFSCME 2307A and CWA employees.
No action was taken by the board during the meeting on library compensation; Junich's remarks were part of the public-comment portion of the meeting.
