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March 2024 Newsletter

The MLSA officers are pleased to share the most recent MLSA Quarterly Newsletter with our members.  Feedback and suggestions for articles are always welcome.

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Local 4298

MLSA Logo (BW)

 

MASSACHUSETTS LIBRARY STAFF ASSOCIATION

George L. Hallissey, Jr. Memorial Scholarship

SCHOLARSHIP DETAILS

 

  1. Amount awarded for scholarship up to $10000 (individual awards may vary).
  2. The scholarship will be awarded annually to properly qualified applicants from a city or town in which MLSA members are residents.
  3. The scholarship will be available to the child of any employee in the union who has been a member of the library staff for one or more years. Exceptions made for new chapters.
  4. Applications for scholarship awards must be filed with the Scholarship Committee, postmarked or received by email no later than MAY 1st

If mailing application, send to:

 MLSA Scholarship Committee

PO Box 590508

Newton, MA 02459-0508

 

         If emailing application, email to:

mlsahallcomm@gmail.com 

  1. Scholarship awards are limited to college-bound members of the senior class of any secondary school, and shall be awarded on the following basis:

Scholastic Achievements

Need

Character

Extracurricular Activities

  1. Only completed applications will be considered
  2. Applicants will be notified by mail and/or email.

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS

 

  1. Be sure to read the rules carefully.
  2. Answer each question on the MLSA Scholarship Application Form completely.
  3. Include each of the following items with your application:
  • MLSA Scholarship Application Form
  • A Letter of Recommendation: from your High School Principal or Counselor.
  • A Letter of Recommendation: from a person (not a relative) who has known you for at least three years.
  • Your Own Letter:  stating your reasons for applying for the scholarship, and listing your particular interests and activities, the size and circumstances of your family, how you expect to finance your college education, and any other information you consider important.
  • Official Transcript: of grades received during four years of high school, or three years of high school and last year of middle school, must be mailed or emailed directly from the school(s) by MAY 1st.

 

PLEASE NOTE:  Only Applications which include all the items listed above will be considered.

 

 


Randi Weingarten at a Massachusetts high school

Summer is upon us, and parents, children and teachers are winding down from what has been an exhausting and fully operational school year—the first since the devastating pandemic. The long-lasting impact of COVID-19 has affected our students’ and families’ well-being and ignited the politics surrounding public schools. All signs point to the coming school year unfolding with the same sound and fury, and if extremist culture warriors have their way, being even more divisive and stressful.

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In February 2020, the Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association affiliated with the Massachusetts Library Staff Association, Local 04928 of the American Federation of Teachers. Maty, a teen outreach librarian for the Boston Public Library, became president of the BPL-PSA in the fall of 2021, and continued the work of bringing a formerly independent union into the AFT fold. During their tenure as president, Maty successfully settled a contract that had been outstanding for four years with grace and thoughtfulness. In the words of their colleagues, “Maty handled a number of issues and

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The American Federation of Teachers is actively trying to organize municipal librarians around the country.  As one of the small number of library locals affiliated with the AFT, the MLSA can serve as a source of information and 'best practices' as the AFT pursues its organizing goals. AFT represents public library workers across the country, in separate municipal library bargaining units, and as a part of school and university bargaining units.  AFT also represents librarians in state libraries—including the Illinois State Library, and the Connecticut State Library—and in other state agencies

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What unions do

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In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times  column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.