Public Employee Press
DC 37 News
Brooklyn Library Guild Local 1482 president retires
former Local 1482 President
Eileen Muller, president of Brooklyn Library Guild Local 1482, retired in October after a successful career in which she worked her way up as a clerical aide to become a librarian, all the while being a passionate advocate for her coworkers.
At the DC 37 Executive Board’s monthly meeting on Oct. 11, Muller informed her fellow officers that she would step down that day.
Muller announced that Local 1482 Executive Board member Ronaldo Barber would assume the presidency of the local. Barber became president seven days later when the local’s board accepted Muller’s resignation.
Muller retired from Brooklyn Public Library in August, but she continued to serve as president to help the local through the leadership transition.
Muller’s personal story is similar to that of thousands of members of DC 37 who have advanced their careers through the union’s education benefit.
While working as a clerical aide, she earned a bachelor’s degree in 1995 at the DC 37 campus of the College of New Rochelle, a program later replaced by a collaboration with the City University of New York. Muller’s bachelor’s degree allowed her to become a librarian trainee, and she continued working at the library while studying for her master’s in library science at the Pratt Institute.
A union activist, she served as the local’s treasurer before becoming president in 2002.
One of Muller’s priorities was to fight for promotional opportunities for the local’s members.
During her tenure, many librarians, clerical workers and junior library custodians won promotions. In 2006, the American Library Association honored Muller for fighting for higher pay for library workers.
More recently, Muller worked with the union’s other three locals that represent library workers to fight for stable funding for the city’s three public library systems.
In addition to serving on the DC 37 Executive Board, Muller chaired the union’s Health/Disability Advisory Committee.
