Member Spotlight: Emmalee Miller

AFSCME Local 6359 (Frederick County Library Workers United) member Emmalee Miller has been a Children's Library Associate at Frederick County Public Libraries for the past 3 years. While the job was supposed to be a part-time role she held during graduate school, she liked it so much that she ended up becoming a full-time employee in the Children's Department at the library. Her work includes designing programs, managing activities like story time, and connecting local residents with community resources.

Emmalee and the Local 6359 bargaining team are prioritizing health and safety protections for library workers, since they often face issues that are either related to the building or to their patrons. "A lot of people think about unions, and they think about physical labor," Emmalee says. "But here I am working at the library, and unionizing is just as important to us."

Emmalee also emphasizes that something bad doesn't have to happen to you to want to join the union.

"The most important thing I try to get across is that we're not doing this because we're mad at management or stir up trouble. We do this because we love our job and we want our job to be something that we continue to love."