by James Parks, Mar 12, 2011
Audrey Barbakoff, a librarian at the Milwaukee Public Library, is being anything but quiet. In a column in American Libraries Magazine, she says the vilification of public workers—teachers, fire fighters, police officers, nurses and, yes, even librarians—could cause immeasurable long-term damage beyond the loss of jobs and the middle-class lifestyle.
She says when Gov. Scott Walker and others plant the notion that public employees only work for the benefits, they ignore the real sacrifices they make and tremendous good they do every day. And public workers need to speak out loudly about their value to their communities:
I won’t apologize for making a living wage, for being able to visit a doctor when I need one, or for choosing a job that will help me build adequate retirement savings. I deserve and expect those things….But that isn’t why I became a librarian….I became one because I wanted to give.
We need to speak up about the value we bring to our communities. We need to have a presence at community meetings, in the newspapers and—should it come to that—at protests.
Bad budgets and bad legislation will hurt us for a time. Silent acquiescence to the idea we are valueless to our communities will hurt us forever.
