i am writing a paper about (labor) unions in libraries. i would like to cover both history and present. can you help me find some sources to get me started in the right direction? any online journals would be much appreciated, as would anything else you can help me with.
A very recent unionization fight in Providence may provide for some interesting material, considering it got national attention within the library world, and throughout the country.
-- "E.G. Providence PL Votes To Unionize." By: Rogers, Michael. Library Journal, 1 October 2005, Vol. 130 Issue 16, p24-24, 1/4p.
-- "Providence Public Library Staff Votes to Unionize." American Libraries, October 2005, Vol. 36 Issue 9, p26-26, 1/3p
Other articles include:
-- "Clerical workers strike at Brown University libraries." American Libraries, January 1991, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p13-13, 1/3p
-- "King County Staff Vote to Unionize." American Libraries, February 2003, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p23, 1/5p
-- "Ann Arbor Approves Contract." American Libraries, December 2002, Vol. 33 Issue 11, p26, 1/4p.
Depending on how much information you want about the unionization process, you may want to contact the local unions involved in each one of the above mentioned struggles.
I would also suggest getting in contact with labor libraries for more information about libraries and labor unions throughout the last century (examples: Holt Labor Library, the Walter P. Reuther Library, the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations Library, and the Southern Labor Archives).
Check out: "United We Stand: Preserving the History of U.S. Labor." Chepesiuk, Ron., American Libraries, January 2002, Vol. 33 Issue 1, p60, 4p.
The only other contact I can think of to get some great information on the history of unions in libraries is the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations)–ALA Library Service to Labor Groups Committee. To get specific contact information, contact: rusa (at) ala (dot) org.
If you need help retreiving specific full-text articles, let me know. Hope this helps