Savannah Hawley-Bates at KCUR/NPR reports Librarians and Staff employed in the Mid-Continent Public Library System have announced their intent to Unionize for better wages workplace protections - which would make it the largest Library Union in the State of Missouri. About 60% of the more than 700 Union-eligible Staff Members have signed a public petition of support for Unionizing with Communications Workers of America Local 6360. They’re also hoping to win more time off and bring the Library System up to full Staffing levels. Mid-Continent is one of the largest and busiest Library Systems in Missouri with more than 35 locations. It serves more than 840,000 people in Jackson, Clay and Platte Counties. If they win their election, Mid-Continent Workers will be the third - and largest, Library Union in the State. The Daniel Boone Public Library, which primarily serves Boone and Callaway Counties, was the first in Missouri to Unionize in 2022 and Workers employed at the University of Missouri Library Unionized in 2025. “We got into this work because we love our communities and we see our Libraries as a fantastic way to build those communities,” Shelby Fordham, a Youth and Early Literacy Associate at the East Independence Branch of the Mid-Continent Library, said. “We just want to be able to do that without constantly counting pennies at the end of every month and without having to worry about whether or not we're going to have electricity and running water at work.”

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