National Library Workers Day was April 9, a day to recognize them, and to become aware of the fact that more and more of them are raising their voices to bring attention to a multitude of problems that they face on the job. Through Cultural Workers United, a campaign by AFSCME, over 25,000 library workers in private and public libraries have come together to seek better working conditions, including safety and wages, and to advocate for more freedom of choice in the reading material for those who use libraries. According to AFSCME President Lee Saunders, these workers are under a huge amount of pressure, with major problems including how the opioid epidemic impacts their jobs, to COVID-19, staffing shortages and extremist book bans. One librarian, Kerry Auld, facing these problems, organized a union under a new Colorado collective bargaining law.
Read the full story by Elizabet Garcia for AFSCME News, published here: https://www.afscme.org/blog/library-worker-describes-why-she-loves-her-job-and-why-shes-part-of-a-union
