AFSCME Will Recognize National Library Workers Day on April 10th

From: President McEntee &. Sec-Treas Saunders [mailto:President_SecTreasurer@afscme.org]
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 3:32 PM
To: AFSCME
Subject: National Library Workers Day
On Tuesday, April 10, during National Library Week, communities across the country will observe National Library Workers Day. The recession, caused by the collapse of the Wall Street casino economy, means AFSCME library members continue to confront severe budget cuts while, at the same time, our communities desperately need the services libraries offer. And library workers have always been a strong voice for free and open access to knowledge and information. Yet the voice of library workers, and of other public employees - their right to have a union and to collectively bargain – is under attack.
At the same time libraries across the country are being threatened with privatization. Here is how Library Systems and Services, Inc. (LSSI), the only company in the private library business, explains their philosophy: “A lot of libraries are atrocious. Their policies are all about job security. That’s why the profession is nervous about us. You can go to a library for 35 years and never have to do anything and then have your retirement. We’re not running our company that way. You come to us, you’re going to have to work.” [Frank A. Pezzanite, Executive Chairman of LSSI, as quoted in the New York Times, September 26, 2010]
We must protect our public libraries. AFSCME represents more library workers than any other union and is a powerful advocate for libraries and library workers. Indeed, education, training, and library occupations are among the most unionized in the United States (36.8% in 2011). We encourage you to observe National Library Workers Day, a time to honor the contributions of AFSCME members, including librarians, technicians, support staff and others, who make libraries happen and who are doing more with less.
As in years past, we have produced bookmarks for the occasion to distribute to members and, if the library will permit it, to the public. The bookmark design celebrates AFSCME’s 75th anniversary and highlights AFSCME’s ties to libraries. This is also a good time to remind your library members about the Library Employees Online Network, where members can discuss shared concerns, learn what's going on around the country and exchange information and ideas. Members can sign up for the network via the AFSCME website (www.afscme.org) in the “Jobs We Do” section.
For more information or to place a bookmark order, contact Jessica Storrs, AFSCME Department of Research and Collective Bargaining Services, 1625 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC, 20036, (202) 429-1222, or email at jstorrs@afscme.org.