If rabid conservatives see librarians as radical left indoctrinators, most liberals see them as saints. Defending banned books, preventing overdoses — no job is too big for the mild-mannered superhero behind the reference desk. In 2018, Fobazi Ettarh coined the term “vocational awe” to describe the way that libraries are often cast as sacred spaces, with librarians drawn by a spiritual calling to their work. Such reverence, Ettarh writes, renders libraries beyond critique. It also obscures real difficulties faced by librarians who are increasingly in the position of first responders and social workers, not to mention culture warriors.
In Baltimore, a budding union of library workers is grappling with these issues as they negotiate their first contract with management. Pratt Workers United (PWU) won recognition in 2022 and represents 330 workers at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore’s public library system, which employs over 400 staff at 22 branch locations. They are asking for fair and transparent salaries that are at least equal to those of their unionized colleagues in nearby Prince George’s County, who make over $2,000 more per year in positions that require fewer credentials. But the union’s membership is also concerned about internal equity — particularly for part-time workers, who often receive no benefits — and safer working conditions for all, addressing Covid precautions, asbestos, and adequate heating and air conditioning. PWU’s demands echo what labor journalist Sarah Jaffe has written about the treatment of “laborers of love” or mission-driven professionals. These types of workers are often forced into exploitative working conditions by our collective delusion that if you love what you do, you’ll suffer through anything.
“We have to be an emotional support for the city.”
As a feminist and librarian myself, I wanted to hear directly from library workers, so this summer, I sat down to talk with a few Baltimore City librarians (all members of PWU) to learn about their jobs, their struggles, and their hopes for the union. All the workers I talked to described themselves as on the “front line” at some point in our conversation. They’re on the front line of multiple battles — their contract fight, the city’s opioid crisis — but the word also describes how they serve as a “front” for social services. When cities or towns don’t fund enough housing or addiction support, for example, librarians become a go-to resource. Here’s how they try to manage it all.
ON THE DAY-TO-DAY
Mase Woodland: I’ve been at Pratt for 10 years. I started in the Information Services Department as a part-time staff member, then I moved to full time. Then I got my MLS [Masters in Library Studies], and I stayed in the same department and became a librarian. In about 2018, I became a selector. It’s like an office job. We’re here to help branches build collections. I order media: DVDs and audiobooks, CDs, and vinyl for the whole system. I also order a selection of fiction and print. It’s very back-office.
When I worked in the Information Services Department, we were the front line in terms of patron requests. “I need to apply for housing,” “I don’t know how to find a doctor,” or “I’m working on a spreadsheet for my church.” We had this one woman who would come into the computer lab and would stay pretty much all day. She was getting her associate’s at Baltimore City Community College, and we would help her with her classwork. She was just more comfortable with the public library, and she gave us a card when she graduated.
The Information Services Department does a lot more now because they’re so short-staffed. There are not enough Baltimore City services to serve Baltimoreans, so we are the only people there to help them.
Ben Egerman: I started in 2017 or maybe late 2016. For the first few years, I was a circulation clerk making minimum wage. It was part-time, no benefits. While I was doing that, I went to library school and got my master’s. Then I became a librarian in the Social Science and History Department. I now help patrons find materials, recommend titles, and help people with the copiers (a frequent issue).
Increasingly, librarians are in the position of first responders and social workers, not to mention culture warriors.
The Pratt has actually started bringing in more social workers, which luckily takes something out of our hands that none of us feel qualified to do. We’re not the right people to do that kind of work. I don’t know a lot about filing for housing assistance. That is no longer on the reference librarians. They have housing navigators now, employed by the mayor’s office. [That program has been suspended as of July 2024.]
Marti Dirscherl: I’ve been at Pratt almost seven years. I was just placed at the Penn North branch about nine months ago. It’s been a very challenging ride. For example, we did have a “housing navigator,” but the woman was so overwhelmed that the city withdrew that program. I had two women almost have a fistfight right in front of my desk because they couldn’t see the housing navigator. People are just so on edge about these needs. It’s a great idea because if you can stymie the eviction, you can stymie the homelessness. And there is such an overwhelming need.
I always feel caught when I think about things we could do around literacy and stuff, but we have no resources. I feel bad for the people of Baltimore; I think they deserve better. We are doing social services in a lot of ways. We’re the frontline people. I’m in my early sixties; I’m at the end of my career. I keep asking myself, “Can I take it anymore? Can I do this?”
ON BOOK BANS
Ben Egerman: I am part of the State Library Resource Center (SLRC). This enables me to go around the state and do library programming related to local LGBTQ histories. So, all the right-wing campaigns against libraries are stuff I have to think about a lot. We often do programming in places that are outside the Baltimore or the D.C. metropolitan area, places where the concerns about far-right Moms for Liberty types are a little more pressing.
The SLRC also did a lot of work on the Freedom to Read Act (FRA) [essentially a ban on book bans, which Maryland’s state legislature passed in March]. [Book bans are] one of these places where workers’ interests and management’s interests are pretty well aligned; they’re an equal threat to both. My worry is that the FRA isn’t going to do anything — Moms for Liberty will just try to find a loophole.
Unions are what’s actually needed to combat this stuff. When I went out to Anne Arundel County to their Board of Education meeting, where they were trying to ban Pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags about two years ago, there were a lot of people from Moms for Liberty there. On the other side, 90 percent of people were wearing their teacher’s union shirts. The union was what actually mobilized people. That will be one of the most effective tools in combating this stuff. But it requires people taking leadership roles in those unions to be bold and mobilize and take this up as an issue.
“We’ve had at least five overdoses since I started, if not more. You never know what to expect. I had to be Narcan trained.”
Mase Woodland: We had a Drag Queen Story Hour a year or two ago, and there were threats from organizations that were planning to come out and picket it, but then we had community members who said they were going to come out and counterprotest. I do believe we’ll be protected from book bans because the city is so liberal. But we still need a strong policy in place.
ON THE OPIOID CRISIS
Marti Dirscherl: Central is challenging; there’s a big homeless population. Southeast Anchor in East Baltimore is also challenging. But Penn North is the drug corner of Baltimore. We’ve had at least five overdoses since I started, if not more. You never know what to expect. I had to be Narcan trained. They didn’t equip the branch, and it’s often only me on the floor. They really threw us in with no resources.
The Pratt also wants to give us trauma training. I said to my manager, “I should give the trauma training! We’re living the trauma every day!” We have a bathroom that we can’t keep open because there’s so much drug use. It’s a horrible situation because we don’t have a bathroom, and people are walking around saying they need to use the restroom. When I started, the bathrooms were open, and we just had OD after OD after OD. They finally gave the security guards autonomy, and now they open and close them as needed. I don’t even have a real desk that acts as a boundary between me and the patrons. I almost had someone fall right over on me; the guard had to come and physically take them away.
It’s a far cry from being a librarian. When I have to substitute at another branch, I’m actually doing a librarian job: talking to people, ordering books, doing that kind of thing. I’m passionate about libraries, the First Amendment, and having access to information. It’s the one thing in our society that’s still holding. And the library is a sanctuary for people. Knowledge can help people break through their circumstances. It’s hard to see the situation at Penn. I grew up in the city, and they’re really suffering.
ON UNIONS
Ben Egerman: I had been involved in an earlier attempt to unionize in 2017 that didn’t go much of anywhere. I had been an organizer at IWW before, so the second time, I was in on the ground floor. This was in 2020. It was during the pandemic. We were essential workers. People felt like there wasn’t enough respect for [us] as workers. Librarians are expected to do anything and everything they’re asked to do but are also treated as completely inessential. Covid heightened that a lot: We were expected to take on a bunch of work to effectively keep the place running while trying to maintain a safe environment. People have expectations when they walk into the library; you talk to someone, and they do everything for you. So sometimes, people get upset when you can’t. When this happened during Covid, [patrons] went nuts.
When cities don’t fund enough housing or addiction support, librarians become a go-to resource.
Mase Woodland: It’s so important that we have a union. Librarians need someone on their side to support them because we have to be an emotional support for the city. We need to have this collective way to support each other and make sure we are heard by our leadership. While they may have good intentions, that’s not a replacement for having a strong support system.
I’m encouraged by the progress that the bargaining team is making. I’m hoping for a strong contract so we can move forward and make the library as good as it should be for the city. Teachers in Baltimore City are better paid, but they’ve had a union for a long time. We just want to have a strong contract.
Marti Dirscherl: I got involved in the union because I was very dissatisfied. It was energizing and invigorating to talk to people of the same mind. We won overwhelmingly. But I’m on the bargaining team, and it’s been a long slog.
We’re not even in the realm of teachers’ salaries. Baltimore City school teachers actually do make money. We’re starting from the bottom. We’re at this crux of bargaining, where we’re waiting to see what the city and the state can give us.
Library staff people working on the ground should really be recognized for how dedicated we are. Even under such trying circumstances, these staff give their all and keep trying to smile while they do it. When we get our contract, this is going to make a huge difference for people who haven’t had a raise for a long, long time. If you’re doing a difficult job, it makes a huge difference if you’re being paid accordingly.
Siân Evans is a Baltimore-based librarian, writer, and organizer. She is currently an academic liaison librarian at Johns Hopkins University and is the cofounder of the nonprofit Art+Feminism.
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