Review of Organize Your Library: Developing the Collective Power of Library Workers

Abstract

As stated in the early sections of this book, “(it) is a how-to. It tells the stories of those who’ve started their own unions, negotiated contracts, and bargained for the common good of their communities.” The book is well organized, starting with an introductory definition of unions and why they might be needed.  There is a chapter on starting the union in your situation (if the state law allows such organizations), followed by a chapter on the uniqueness of library workers and why unionizing would benefit them.  Specific experiences from librarians and library workers in both public and academic libraries are explained, including how the decision was made to unionize and how the union benefited the workers in the library.

The first of four authors, Angelo Moreno came to libraries and had a strong sense of justice in the work place after exploring other career paths.  He took a job at a public library in Michigan and became involved in unionizing the library, resulting in elevated pay for hourly and public-facing library workers. Emily Drabinski is an academic librarian at a university in Brooklyn with a rich union history.  Her salary increased significantly when she joined the faculty because of the union influence on salaries for library workers. Kelly McElroy is an  academic librarian in Oregon and her university had an AAUP chapter.  Faculty at the university had a significant seat at the table when the administration proposed cuts during Covid.  Meredith Kahn is an academic librarian in Michigan.  Meredith believes that “the most effective strategy for building our collective power as library workers – for the good of our profession, its institutions, and our patrons – is unionization.”

The greatest strength of the book is its readable style and an easy-to-follow organization.  Many examples of situations that led to workers organizing are given, including starting a chapter of an existing union to starting a union for library workers from scratch and organizing with an existing local workers union outside of the library field.  The authors also include descriptions of how unions help library workers who are already part of a union.  There are chapters on conducting campaigns to unionize, negotiating contracts, and dealing with your boss in a unionized library.  Also, I found it encouraging that all four authors were familiar with unionized libraries, either playing a part in starting the union or reaping the benefits of joining a library with an established union.

Being a professional librarian with very little knowledge of unions, I found the book fascinating in its early chapters.  The book explains the purpose of unions, how they can benefit workers, and how to start a union chapter.  The chapter on negotiating contracts provided solid information on working with management or administration on union contracts.  Many chapters include action plans at the end to help library workers take the next steps to organizing.  Additional readings are also included at the end of chapters. Chapters on understanding the inner workings of union protocol were not as clear to me as previous chapters on the steps to unionizing. The chapter entitled, “What Makes Library Workers Different?,” was particularly relatable.  As librarians, we spend much of our professional lives explaining why we are slightly different than other workers in our pay grade or classification.  As a faculty librarian at my university, I am very familiar with the differences between teaching faculty and library faculty and spend time advocating for equal opportunities for library faculty.  This chapter struck a chord with my own professional library experiences and I understood the value of unionization in that context.  A later chapter, ”Our Vision for the Future,” stresses that “library worker unions contribute to better library services for the community.” It stands to reason that librarians and library workers who enjoy fair compensation and have agency in their libraries are more effective in their jobs. I think a librarian finding themselves in a unionized library would benefit greatly from the information included in later chapters. 

This book fills a much-needed niche for people who work in and lead libraries.  As the notes on the book series state, the purpose of the Critical Cultural Information Studies Series is “to help advance the library field’s discussions and understanding of often difficult issues.”  Understanding how unions could impact the work life of people who work in libraries could broaden the opportunities offered to librarians and library workers.  With this book, people can educate themselves on the possibilities of making their work situation a better one.