Urbana Free Library workers organize with AFSCME

The 60 employees of the Urbana Free Library (UFL) voted unanimously to form their union, which was certified by the Illinois Labor Relations Board on Nov. 6.

The UFL has been Urbana-Champaign’s public library since 1874. 

Library employees were motivated to organize by a pattern of unfair and unequal treatment from management.

“We were all frustrated, trying to understand why the people who actually make this library run were being treated like dirt,” said Callie Ferencak, a library assistant II and member of the organizing committee. 

Workers felt that decisions made by upper management were undermining the work that rank-and-file employees were doing every day.

“Our staff love the library. We care about that place. We care about our patrons,” said Carol Inskeep, a librarian who has worked for the library for 30 years. “That’s why it’s so disheartening when you see decisions get made that result in turnover, or demoralize us so much that we lose the most committed people. We know if we have a stronger voice, we’ll be able to make better decisions for our library and our patrons.”

Unbeknownst to each other, Ferencak and Inskeep had been having separate conversations with different groups of employees about unionizing. They discovered they were both having the same conversations, so the two groups united, and set off down the path towards organizing their coworkers.

In early meetings, Ferencak and other members of the organizing committee educated coworkers in the way that library workers know best: by sharing reading lists of books on the importance and history of the labor movement, as well as statistics showing how unionized libraries can serve their communities better. 

The library’s patrons were squarely on their side. At a Labor Day celebration in Champaign, UFL workers rode on AFSCME’s float while their patrons, watching from the sidewalk, cheered them on.

“Our patrons were shouting, ‘We love you,’” Ferencak said. “It was one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen.” 

Now that their union is officially certified, employees are looking forward to building the next chapter of the library—a chapter in which workers have a stronger voice in how their workplace serves their community and are treated with respect and paid fairly. 

“The future looks bright for us,” Ferencak said.

More and more library workers are claiming a seat at the table—and they’re doing so with AFSCME. Across the nation, AFSCME represents 25,000 workers at 275 libraries.