Library Union Grieves Requirement That Staff Serve Meals to Kids
By DAVID SIMS

Five branches of the New York Public Library have embarked on a controversial new food program in which librarians and other branch employees are trained in food service and made to serve free lunches to children and teens during the summer. The union representing library staff has filed a grievance alleging this is out-of-title work that usurps the duties of employees represented by another District Council 37 local.

CAROL THOMAS: Charges union-busting.

The SchoolFood Summer Meals Program, which was suggested by the Department of Education and the Mayor's Office, started in late June in the Countee Cullen, Grand Concourse, Seward Park, St. George and Bronx Library Center branches. Each branch's librarian, along with one other employee, was trained in food-handling by the Department of Health in a four-hour session that involved a presentation by a food inspector, a 25-minute film and a test on how to handle food properly.

Program's Problems

A school near each library prepares the food and brings it over to the branch, where it is then distributed free to under-19s by the trained library employees. Adults who want the food must pay $4 for a meal. However, the program has encountered service problems, with the Countee Cullen branch usually having to throw out the 25 meals it receives every day because the food arrives at improper temperatures, or because no children show up to claim the food because of inadequate publicity about the program.

An e-mail sent from management to the local branches promoting the program stated: "Many children and teens go hungry in New York City. The Federal Government makes free breakfasts and lunches available to children and teens during the summer months ... New York City does not take advantage of this program to the extent that it could." A later handout told librarians that they were "in an indispensable position ... your unique knowledge of the local community and customers can help you break down barriers."

Carol Thomas, president of New York Public Library Guild Local 1930 of DC 37, has filed a grievance on behalf of all members, calling for the New York Public Library to cease and desist operating the Summer Meals program. The grievance states that the program is "a form of 'union busting.'''

Ms. Thomas added in a statement, "While we value our public, serving meals goes way beyond the scope of our job duties. I am adamantly opposed for any of our union members to be used by the Mayor's Office to contract out the services of Local 372 members whose job it is to serve meals to the public during the summer months."

A New York Public Library spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.