Howard County’s library system said Friday it is reinstating dozens of librarian support staffers it abruptly terminated this week for budgetary reasons.

The Banner reported Tuesday that library officials had let go of 55 support staffers who worked up to 10 hours a week and helped with tasks such as stocking shelves. The workers were notified through phone calls.

In a statement Friday night, County Executive Calvin Ball and library CEO Tonya Aikens announced that, to support the library system’s “unanticipated needs,” the county was providing $90,000 to maintain the support positions through the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30.

“Our libraries are not simply buildings filled with books; they are engines of opportunity, equity, and lifelong learning that serve residents at every stage of life,” Ball said in a statement.

Faced with a $300,000 budget deficit, the library system cut the staffers to save $88,000 and discontinued the HiTech initiative — which offers STEM programs for teens, including coding and robotics — to generate another $212,000 in cost savings.

The deficit stems from an agreement reached last week by the library system and Howard County Library Workers United after months of arbitration over wage increases, according to the joint statement.

The union in May ratified its inaugural contract, which included wage increases negotiated by the union and library management. However, union members have yet to see that money. Employees will receive a 6% cost-of-living increase retroactive to July 1, 2025.

Howard County library workers voted overwhelmingly to form a union in February 2024. The union, representing more than 200 library employees across the system’s six branches, is part of AFSCME Maryland Council 3.

“We are pleased that County Executive Ball has intervened to ensure that our co-workers can keep their jobs and our union contract is honored. We will continue to hold our employer accountable for their actions,” AFSCME Maryland Council 3 said in a statement Friday. “We [are] proud to have won these resources to keep shelvers employed and the system with robust services.”

Friday’s reinstatement comes a day before the library system’s annual gala fundraiser, Evening in the Stacks. The union was planning to hold a rally outside the gala to protest the dismissals.

Christie Lassen, a library system spokesperson, stressed this week that those affected were “not regular staff” and did not receive benefits from the library system. She characterized the workers as “on-call staff.” They are not part of the library’s union but assist librarians.

“On-call staff range from high school and college students to adults, and 51% averaged six hours or less per week during the past week,” the joint statement said.

The county is reviewing the library system’s budget request for the fiscal year that begins July 1, including funding for the on-call positions, according to Safa Hira, a county spokesperson.

Howard’s terminations came three months after the Baltimore County Public Library’s CEO laid off 14 part-time librarians, only to reinstate them after public backlash.

The part-timers there were laid off over Zoom, and many had only an hour to pack their belongings in trash bags before being escorted out of their branches. Baltimore County Council members and residents blasted the move, and CEO Sonia Alcántara-Antoine and the system parted ways shortly afterward.

Ball and the Howard County library board affirmed their support for Aikens in statements Friday night.

“Dr. Ball has always been a champion for [the] Howard County Library System, and we are grateful that he stepped up in this time of need,” the board said in a statement. “The Board of Trustees has full confidence in and support of our Chair, of Tonya Aikens, and of the HCLS leadership team.”