CFA Sacramento Wins Big by Restoring Funding for Their University Library

CFA Sacramento members, together with students, staff, and community members, celebrated a huge win on March 4 after they took action when their library budget was cut by nearly half a million dollars. They successfully secured an increase to the library budget over the next three years. 

“We’re grateful to CFA and campus leadership for bringing attention to the needs of the University Library,” said Mary-Kate Finnegan, CFA Sacramento member and Scholarly Communication & Science librarian. “The library plays a central role in supporting student learning, teaching, and research across Sacramento State. This investment will help us improve spaces that students rely on every day, and we’re hopeful it represents a step toward sustained support for the library in the future.” 

“The library can’t be used as a convenient place which you can continue to cut from,”

– Ántonia Peigahi, CFA member and English & Communication Studies librarian.

The proposed cuts were first announced on October 8, 2025, when Sacramento State employees were informed that their library’s operating budget would be slashed by 53%, or $472,953, for the 2025-26 fiscal year, with additional cuts to be expected in the following years. These cuts deeply impacted the library’s operations and collections budget, forcing librarians to reassess how resources and services would be allocated while also reducing the library’s hours of operation. 

CFA Sacramento chapter leaders met with Sacramento State President Luke Wood and Provost Erika Cameron that same day to express their concern for the library and made note of the 53% cut. Both the president and the provost acknowledged the reduction without any dispute.  

However, one week later, Wood challenged the figures stated on the library webpage, then subsequently altered them to downplay the seriousness of the cuts rather than address the issue. These changes were both unclear and misleading, as they did not accurately represent just how dire the situation would have been. 

CFA Sacramento members immediately sprang into action to develop a plan to save the library and restore its lost funding. 
 
In response, they held an emergency meeting on October 20 to inform faculty, students, and staff about the proposed cuts and ways to push back against them. 

In February, CFA members presented a petition to Wood and Cameron signed by over 400 faculty, staff, and community members. The petition urged them to restore the library’s materials and operations budget and to be fully transparent on budgeting issues with Academic Affairs, the latter shining light on management’s mischaracterization of the cuts. 

CFA Sacramento members also raised the issue to their faculty senate, spoke directly to their colleagues when hall walking, and tabled in the library breezeway to garner further support from students and the broader campus community. 

Their combined efforts generated incredible pressure for management to act… and they did. 

In an e-mail to employees on March 3, Wood shared that the university would dedicate $3 million of its Total Return Portfolio (TRP) allocation from the Chancellor’s Office to support renovations and capital improvements to the library over the next three fiscal years. The TRP is part of the $8 billion in investments held centrally by the CSU. While these funds can’t go directly to operating costs, covering the capital costs can free up other funds that can then be used for operations. 

“The library can’t be used as a convenient place which you can continue to cut from,” said Ántonia Peigahi, CFA member and English & Communication Studies librarian. “We have one-on-one conversations with instructional faculty and students and know that these cuts compromise the learning and research conditions for all students, staff, and faculty. We are still committed to raise this issue because, as much as this is a cliché, the library is the intellectual heart of the institution and the library without resources is antithetical to our teaching mission, our learning endeavor, and likely our R2 designation.” 

These proposed cuts come at a time when Wood spent $23 million for Sacramento State’s football team to join the Mid-American Conference, one of the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision leagues, raising serious concerns about the administration’s budgetary priorities to meaningfully support academics. 

While management continues to put profit and vanity projects ahead of students, CFA Sacramento’s vigorous and revitalizing campaign demonstrates that working together with our community and one another can lead to the changes we seek. 

The work, however, is far from over. Although funds have been secured for the next three years, we must ensure that the money is spent in ways that truly serve our students and support the vital services that we fought to protect.