We urge the City Council to reclassify Memphis Public Library workers from appointed to civil service, without disrupting workers' benefits or years of service.

Currently, all library employees are classified as appointed—a status that limits workers' ability to secure protections against unfair disciplinary actions and hiring or firing decisions; and prevents them from entering into formal agreements, such as a memorandum of understanding, with their public employer. Appointed status is typically reserved for high-level political positions such as division heads, judges, and board members—not for the front-line, public-facing workers who keep our libraries running every day.

Placing an entire division of City services under appointed status creates real risks of instability, favoritism, and political interference. For workers, this means there is no protection when they speak up to report misuse of public resources or simply try to enforce library policies. In addition, because library employees do not have civil service protection, they are prohibited from organizing under the terms of a 1984 Executive Order.

Now, 41 years later, community members and city workers alike are calling on Mayor Paul Young to take action by amending or rescinding this Executive Order, thereby protecting our library workers and ensuring that the City of Memphis is a fair and accountable workplace. Library employees serve at the pleasure of the mayor and yet are hired and fired by the City of Memphis’s Human Resources in exactly the same manner as civil service workers: we attend the same orientation, the same ethics training, and complete the same safety toolkits as all other workers within the city. Most other City divisions are not isolated in such a manner; most are not required to work under this double standard. We’ve been singled out for too long.

Reclassifying the Library division as civil service would bring fairness, consistency, and transparency to the workplace. It would ensure that the policies governing employment are equitable and accountable, and that the people who serve the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County daily are treated with the dignity and security they deserve. We urge the Memphis City Council to end this outdated practice and reclassify library workers as civil service employees, without disruption to hard-earned benefits or years of service.

We implore Mayor Young to join us in this request—or to lead on this issue—by revising Executive Order 133 and preserving worker’s rights in the City of Memphis.