MIT Blames Closure of Two Libraries on New Endowment Tax
“the endowment already supports approximately 40% of [the] annual campus budget”
Now they know how the rest of Massachusetts feels about taxes.
The College Fix reports:
MIT blames new endowment tax for decision to close multiple libraries
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently announced plans to close two of its five libraries to address a $300 million budget gap, blaming it partly on actions by the Trump administration.
The budget cuts also include library staff and the purchases of print books and journal subscriptions, the Boston Globe reported over the weekend.
MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen said reasons for the cuts include the new 8 percent tax on university endowments, which President Donald Trump signed into law over the summer, according to The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper.
She also attributed the shortfall in part to the federal government’s cuts to scientific research, telling The Tech:
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.
The budget cuts, announced on the MIT Libraries website Nov. 19, include the closures of the Dewey and Barker libraries in June 2026.
“Items from the Barker and Dewey collections will remain fully accessible by request, with pickup and delivery options available,” the announcement states.
The institution also plans to cut staff at a third location, the Rotch Library, in 2027.
One employee, Kendall Dawson told the Globe that she thought her job was secure because the libraries are already understaffed.
“They could not afford to get rid of me because the library could not work without the operational staff, and the thing I didn’t consider is that they didn’t care whether the library was even open,” Dawson said.
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Comments
MIT has five libraries and a “reading room.”
The Dewey Library belongs to the Sloan School of Management, and houses all material on management and social sciences. That’s bad enough.
But the Barker — the central four-story library occupying the Great Dome — is the Institute’s main “engineering library,” its beating-heart STEM repository. Every undergraduate tools in it regularly; some sleep there.
The remaining libraries are relatively pissant: arts, architecture, music, and an odd one that humanities shares with pure sciences. But if Barker is closing, that’s either a serious maiming, or the administration’s version of the Washington Monument Ploy.
I also immediately thought of the Washington Monument Ploy. This is such an obvious and dishonest act that it could only be the product of the bureaucrats running the place.
“blaming it partly on actions by the Trump administration.”
Gee, only partly? The President gets a reprieve?
Cry me a river, MIT.
the somalian go fund us campaign has been put on hiatus until the new lefty power is installed
blame trump all you want
good!!!!
maga