MIT to close multiple libraries in budget rebalancing
Barker and Dewey Library to close in June 2026
Vivian Hir–The Tech
On Nov. 19, President Sally Kornbluth announced that MIT would pull three levers in an attempt to correct mounting financial pressures: increasing revenue, reducing costs, and “rebalancing.”
According to Institute spokesperson Kimberly Allen, MIT’s budget shortfall is estimated to be $300 million a year, mostly due to an increased tax on investment returns and national cuts to scientific research. Allen also explained that MIT cannot use its endowment to cushion these effects because “the endowment already supports approximately 40% of [the] annual campus budget.” Furthermore, 80% of the endowment has already been earmarked for specific purposes determined by donors.
Though Allen could not comment on specific cuts facing specific departments, she noted that the new budget framework will not necessarily apply to every administrative and academic unit. Rather, they will only apply when General Institute Budget (GIB) allocations are involved, which are largely unrestricted, annual subsidies that come from MIT’s central budget. Most, though not all, departments have GIB allocations and will thus be affected. Allen was adamant that “the budget framework will preserve MIT’s support for student financial aid programs.”
MIT’s capital plan — an umbrella term for the Institute’s new construction projects, dorm renovations, and other infrastructure efforts — will likely be “constrained” in the coming years; however, progress will continue on projects already under construction or involving essential infrastructure, in addition to areas where donors have already provided MIT with significant funding. Allen mentioned that MIT expects to “continue focus[ing] on aging undergraduate dorms in need of essential infrastructure improvements.”
Effects on libraries
MIT Libraries’ announcement marks the second time in the past two decades that cost-cutting measures have been implemented; the last time was in 2009 amidst the 2008 financial crisis. On Nov. 19, MIT administrators informed MIT Libraries staff that the Dewey and Barker libraries will be shut down in June 2026. Furthermore, MIT will take steps to “wind down” the Wunsch Conservation Lab, a lab that implements and teaches collection conservation techniques. According to MIT Libraries, this closure would result in a loss of access to the library stacks and require conservation efforts to be outsourced; patrons will only be able to request individual items.
Furthermore, the staffing of the Rotch Library will be reduced in June 2027 when the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) moves to the Metropolitan Warehouse, which is currently under redevelopment. Currently, a joint task force of SA+P faculty and MIT Libraries staff is planning Rotch’s future in light of reduced staffing.
In a comment to The Tech, MIT Libraries Access Services Associate Kendall Dawson stated that she believes that MIT is planning to eliminate 16 library positions, which would require 12 current employees to be fired. Overall, administrators tasked MIT Libraries with cutting their budget by 5%, or around $1.6 million annually. Senior personnel at MIT Libraries “leaned hard on cutting positions and people’s jobs” because of their view that MIT Libraries is a “digital first” organization.
Campus response
The response from staff at MIT Libraries has been vocal. Dawson believes that the closures “go against the spirit of MIT’s mission of open learning” and is disappointed that “these decisions are made by senior leadership who never bother to set foot into the locations they are closing.” Even though she works at Rotch five days a week year-round, Dawson stated that she has “not seen a single member of the senior leadership team in Rotch for nearly three years.” As a union officer, Dawson feels that her union has not received adequate responses — from either administrators or MIT Labor Relations — that address concerns about the compliance of these layoffs with MIT’s union contracts.
Diego Temkin ’26, former Undergraduate Representative of the Faculty Committee on the Library System and a technology staff member for The Tech, was “incredibly disappointed to find out about the cuts.” Temkin reported that their frustration mostly came from the “absolute lack of care or kindness” that accompanied the delivery of the news, rather than the cuts themselves. Temkin believes that the announcements should have come after consultation and forewarning.
Beyond budget cuts, MIT will attempt to increase revenue by “finding new ways, largely through Open Learning, Professional Education and MIT Sloan [School of Management]” to engage additional learners, though the specifics are unknown. The Institute will also exit administrative and academic leases in Kendall Square and implement a “freeze to merit salary increases for faculty and staff members who earn more than $85,000.”
12/5 Correction: The Wunsch Conservation Lab is not a library.