Page 6 - Work Force April 2016

Library workers continue fight
for adequate funding
ROCHESTER — CSEA members employed by public libraries provide some of our communities’ most vital services, yet library funding remains a challenge.
In this age of our economies being out of balance, libraries are essential to strong communities.
Public library workers not only help provide the public with books and digital
resources,
activities for
children and
cultural events,
but they help
community
members with
numerous
other needs,
including
building computer and Internet skills, searching for jobs and developing their English language skills.
Despite all of the services that libraries provide, they remain underfunded.
“In honor of National Library Workers Day, we extend a special thanks to our sisters and brothers who are employed in public, academic and specialty libraries for
the valuable services they provide,” said CSEA President Danny Donohue. “These libraries are the lifeblood of our communities, yet the people who work in them are increasingly forced to do more with less. It is important that libraries are adequately funded if we want our communities to be strong.”
Renee Kendrot, a CSEA activist and library assistant at
Central Library of Rochester
& Monroe County, noted that based on the most recent census data, state Education Law requires
library aid to total $102.6 million. Total funding in last year’s enacted budget was only $91.6 million.
Kendrot and many other library workers across the state will again use National Library Week, which runs from April 10 to 16, to raise public awareness of library funding. During that week, highlighted by National Library Day on April 12, library workers not only celebrate the many contributions of library
Renee Kendrot on the job at the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County.
6 The Work Force
April 2016
“We are not getting
the necessary library resources or respect that we need to take care of the demand for library services in our local communities.”
workers, but educate others about the importance of — and challenges of providing — library services.
Raising awareness
“Every year, we take the opportunity to use National
Library Week as a platform to raise awareness about how chronically inept our library funding has become,” Kendrot said. “In this year’s Executive Budget, Governor Cuomo proposed a nearly $1
billion increase in total education funding, but again, he proposed flat funding for state library aid. We are not getting the necessary library resources or respect that we need to take care of the demand for library services in our local communities.
Library aid hovers around what we were spending 16 years ago. We are working very hard to change that.”
Monroe County Local President Bess Watts, an interlibrary loan specialist at Monroe Community College, has been on the front lines of delivering library services for more than two decades. She said that well-funded libraries make for better communities and help bridge the ‘digital divide.’
Integral part of communities
“We can’t forget the resources libraries provide our communities. It’s not just books and media materials; it’s help and support with accessing all sorts of information or research. Lending libraries are part of the foundation of democracy and should be treated as such,” Watts said.
As of 2014, unionized library assistants earned 50 percent more than their non-union counterparts according to a study done by the American Library Association and the Committee on Pay Equity. The study also revealed union members in education, training and library occupations earned an average of 23 percent more than their non-union counterparts.
— Ove Overmyer
“I have seen libraries transform lives. Sane library funding levels would be an investment in New York’s economic recovery, an investment in New York’s educational and cultural infrastructure, add stability to our
our families.
communities”
and improve the overall quality of life for all
— Bess Watts, CSEA Monroe County Local president and interlibrary loan specialist, Monroe Community College