Maintaining Purpose in Shifting Times

By Victoria “Tori” Levang

 Library workers in Ontario are facing many challenges in the current environment. There are ever-increasing slashed budgets and layoffs. As reported in February’s Businesswire, funding support for Ontario universities now charts lowest in Canada, and the human and resource losses abound: “10,000 faculty and staff have been laid off or are sitting on the chopping block; meanwhile, 14 universities are facing budget deficits totaling $400 million. A flurry of restructuring to reduce costs has seen untold departments consolidated and programs slashed.” (Chaudhary). In Ontario academic libraries, the spread of emerging technologies such as AI has furthered worker concerns about “job cuts, furthering bias, privacy concerns, copyright concerns, and conflict with the values of librarianship “ (Emin, 40). This leaves many with a constant sense of anxiety and uncertainty. Will we remain relevant? Will we lose our jobs?

I was recently displaced from my library role at my institution. Because my role no longer focuses on library duties, I have found remaining active and relevant in the field to be challenging. It can be difficult to remain just as passionate, connected and involved in such a time of crisis and precarity.

I would like to share my strategies for staying active in the library field with those who have been displaced or laid off from library roles, or those unable to find a job in the field:

• Strengthen connections with library staff at your institution, or others in the field that you know personally. By growing your professional relationships, you can receive moral support, reassurance, and keep up-to-date on any new developments in your connections’ circles. Join mentorship programs like the Ontario Library Association’s Mentormatch 
• Read books, library journals like DOAJ and In The Library With A Lead Pipe, and follow library social media accounts to keep abreast of any new developments in the library world. Utilize resources from library associations, such as the American Library Association (ALA)’s Library Job Search list of resources, Share your thoughts by publishing in these publications, or research a topic you’re interested in in the field.
• Attend library events like conferences, and join relevant library committees via associations like OLA and CAPAL to share your thoughts and contribute to decision-making processes. Participate in library advocacy whenever possible, especially for events such as Freedom to Read Week  or Open Access Week.

Above all, don’t lose hope. Things are uncertain, but during these times, it’s important to remind yourself why you chose library work. For me, this was a deep passion for equal access to information for all individuals. I feel very strongly about freedom of information, anti-censorship, fighting misinformation, and other library values, and what it means to call myself a librarian. This passion helps propel me forward in these uncertain times, and I hope it will do the same for anyone else in this position.

Resources and References

American Library Association. (n.d.-b). Library job search. https://www.ala.org/tools/library-job-search

Businesswire. (2026, February 12). Ford government passing the buck on university funding – Students, workers and economy will pay the price. Global Press Release & Newswire Distribution Services. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260212083807/en/Ford-Government-passing-the-buck-on-university-funding-students-workers-and-economy-will-pay-the-price

CAPAL / ACBES. (n.d.). Committees. https://capalibrarians.org/about/committees/

Chaudhary, K. (2025, September 10). Ontario’s post-secondary education crisis in five figures. The Local. https://thelocal.to/ontario-post-secondary-education-funding-crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals. (n.d.-a). Directory of open access journals. https://doaj.org/

Emin, D. (2025). The rise of artificial intelligence in academic libraries. Emerging Library & Information Perspectives, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.5206/elip.v7i1.22214

Events. (n.d.). https://librarianship.ca/events/

Freedom to Read Week. (n.d.). Freedom to Read Week. https://www.freedomtoread.ca/freedom-to-read-week/

In The Library with a Lead Pipe: An open access, peer reviewed journal. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org

Ontario Library Association. (2026, January 14). OLA committees. https://accessola.com/about-ola/ola-committees/

Ontario Library Association. (2026a, February 17). Mentoring committee. https://accessola.com/mentoring-committee/

Open Access Week. (n.d.). Open Access Week. https://www.openaccessweek.org/

The ultimate reading list for every academic librarian. Library Journal. (n.d.-b). https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/the-ultimate-reading-list-for-every-academic-librarian

Victoria “Tori” Levang received her Master of Library and Information Science from Western University in June 2019. She is passionate about creating educational, impactful and engaging displays in librarianship, and about the impact of Misinformation and disinformation. She believes in the importance of education on this issue, particularly in academia.