“Our contract with the University requires union–management consultation when a department is considering [such changes],” Jaeger said. “We’re pretty confident that as this goes forward we’ll continue to hear from them.”

The staff reduction comes as part of a larger reorganization of library personnel that will be presented for approval next week to the Library Board, the body overseeing the library’s long-term transformation.

The Board is then responsible for presenting the plan to University President Drew G. Faust.

The University chose to share the decision to reduce staff despite the lack of the details to encourage a dialogue between Library officials and employees, according to a University spokesperson.

Pending the plan’s acceptance, more detailed explanations of the organizational changes will be revealed during library staff meetings in February.

—Staff writer Justin C. Worland can be reached at jworland@college.harvard.edu.