Library workers – let’s talk about solidarity

This month UC-AFT is kicking off contract bargaining for UC librarians, so I have organizing on the brain. In a lot of the discussions I’ve had with people on campus and beyond, the issue of “professionalism” has come up a lot. Which in turn makes me think about the historic tension between librarians and paraprofessionals. It’s probably a galaxy brain level moment – but where’s the solidarity of library workers across the board?

I understand the nature of the work is often different for librarians versus library staff. There has been many bytes typed out about the deprofessionalization of librarians, and the tiered system many libraries use to differentiate roles. It could be argued this once meant that librarians, the MLIS wielding professionals, were basically management whose interests did not align with the paraprofessionals and library staff (even though many of them too have MLIS degrees). Or is this a reflection of many “professionals” that they don’t need to be organized because management will respect them because of their lofty positions? I don’t know, but it’s really dragging library work and our organizations down. Library workers need to organize for fairness and respect across the board. Every role is hugely important – from the mail room, to the people who handle tech processing, to students who shelve books, or those running data management programs. We all need to be in a good place to function, which means we need to consider the rights and treatment of all library workers.

One of the biggest obstacles is us though, and acknowledging the power dynamics and historical slights. There’s a reason the stereotype of haughty librarians looking down on paraprofessionals exists and we need to come to terms with that and address this. I think that sort of reflection of the profession will no only help with a better sense of solidarity within library work but also free us from stupid and outdated professional mores that are inherently exclusionary and discriminatory. Because librarians typically have more sway in their organizations, and we are expected to participate in the wider professional community, and most of all because we haven’t always looked out for staff that we need to be the forefront of this change. We need to have these conversations in our circles, and make sure we bring the voices from all library workers to the table. We need this cultural change.