On Tuesday, January 14, members from PSA and AFSCME 1526 --
who represent library assistants, clerical and mechanical personnel at BPL -- delivered a petition to President David Leonard and the Board of Trustees signed by over 200 staff members demanding that BPL employee, Eve, who is suffering from stage 4, metastatic breast cancer be granted the hours that she requested from the PSA sick bank.

Sign your name to this petition to demand that Eve be granted her hours and BPL Senior Leadership work with the PSA Executive Board to prevent further denials of sick bank time in the future. More details about the situation can be found below. Thank you for your support!

Librarian and union member Eve has been with Boston Public Library for 12 years and is deeply committed to her work.

In 2019, Eve was diagnosed with breast cancer. Today, her diagnosis is stage 4, metastatic breast cancer; a terminal diagnosis.

Since her diagnosis, Eve has had to rely on the hours donated by PSA members to our Extended Sick Leave Fund, or “sick bank,” after she’s used all of her own leave. She needs these hours to be able to attend doctor’s appointments and pursue treatment without loss of pay.

In November 2024, Eve submitted a request to PSA’s Extended Sick Leave Fund Committee. They approved the request.

Boston Public Library denied it.

Denying her time from the sick bank will not make Eve’s illness go away. It will not make her need any less time off for doctor’s appointments, treatments, or days where she simply cannot get out of bed. It will just make sure that while she is worrying about eventually dying of cancer, she’ll also have to worry about paying rent.