For Immediate Release
December 12, 2025
Contact: Neil Bhaerman, 412-266-4899, nbhaerman@oft-aft.org
Supermajority of Columbus Metropolitan Library Workers File For Union Election
COLUMBUS — Today, a supermajority of Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) workers submitted signed union cards to Ohio’s State Employment Relations Board (SERB), initiating the union election process. Additionally, dozens of organizing committee members and union card signers delivered a short message to CML management this morning asking them to commit to remaining neutral during the union campaign.
“We love our libraries, we’re proud of the work that we do, and we are dedicated to the communities we serve,” said Maria Lee, a Local History and Genealogy Librarian at CML’s Main Library. “We’re forming our union because we know that our libraries will be stronger, more accessible, and more equitable when CML workers have a meaningful voice.”
The new union, CML United, would include more than 600 workers – librarians, customer service specialists, information services specialists, materials services associates, drivers, sorters, and other eligible employees – across all 23 CML public libraries and CML’s Operations Center in Gahanna.
“Our libraries have been serving the community for 152 years, operating off of the motto 'Open to All,’ and we've implemented that in everything we do by providing essential services to everyone who comes through our doors – and for those who can't make it to us, we come to them,” said Zydeco Lamaze, a Materials Services Associate at CML’s Dublin branch. “In order to keep helping our communities to the best of our abilities, we need to protect and support our library workers by securing safe levels of staffing and worker input on library policies.”
CML, one of the largest library systems in Ohio, is the sixth library system in central Ohio to form a union with the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) in recent years. Workers at Worthington Libraries formed their union in 2021, kicking off a wave of successful library union organizing that also includes libraries in Grandview Heights, Pickerington, Upper Arlington, and Delaware County. Outside of central Ohio, workers at the Athens County Public Libraries also formed their union with OFT in 2024.
“As politicians in Ohio and in D.C. try to limit what library users can read and watch – and even try to pass laws that would charge librarians with a felony for distributing material deemed to be obscene – it is more important than ever that library workers have a collective voice within their libraries and in the community,” said OFT President Melissa Cropper. “CML workers are joining a regional movement of library workers who are uniting not just for rights and respect in the workplace but also to protect the libraries that they love from political interference.”
The next steps in the SERB union election process is for SERB to approve the proposed bargaining unit and then to set dates for a mail-in secret ballot election. CML United is asking the library's leadership to remain neutral throughout this process and not to take any steps that would delay or block a union election.
“CML workers have been discussing and organizing our union for over a year. We waited to move forward until we spoke to every eligible worker that we could reach. We’re united and determined to win our union election because we know worker-led change is what this organization needs,” said Rahaf Fares, a Customer Services Specialist at the Martin Luther King branch. “We kindly ask that CML leadership pledge not to waste any time or library resources opposing our union election. We’re looking forward to a democratic bargaining process once we win our election!”
“My colleagues and I go above and beyond for every person who enters the library on a daily basis. We all chose this profession because we want to help and serve our communities,” said Emily Caldwell, a Youth Engagement Specialist at CML’s South High Branch. “All the while, most of us are unable to afford to live in the neighborhoods where we work. A union would provide us the chance to have a voice in how our own workplaces are run and the ability to negotiate a fair union contract.”
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Supporters can take action by contacting CML leadership here.
The Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) is a state federation of 60 local unions of active and retired public school teachers and staff, charter school teachers and staff, higher education faculty and staff, social workers, library workers, and public employees. OFT works to advance quality public education, intellectual freedom, and a voice in the workplace for Ohio’s education & public service professionals. OFT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.