Library Employees Deserve 4% Pay Increase Says Gwinnett Commissioner

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — Gwinnett County library employees deserve a 4 percent pay increase, said Gwinnett County District 1 Commissioner Kirkland Carden in a statement.

Carden encourages residents to contact their commissioners and attend the Dec. 6 public hearing on the budget. It will be held in the auditorium of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, located at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville. Carden also wants people to request that the Board of Commissioners allocate approximately $1 million for the Gwinnett County Public Library to cover these costs.

He said nearly 20 percent of Gwinnett County Public Library employees currently earn less than $15 an hour.

“I want to make sure Gwinnett’s 2022 budget funds the library up to a level that ensures all GCPL employees will earn a living wage of at least $15 an hour,” he said in the statement.

The Gwinnett County Public Library system receives 90 percent of its funding directly from the Gwinnett County budget, Carden said, but because library employees are not directly employed by Gwinnett County they do not receive the same raises County employees would receive.

“In October, I joined with my colleagues in approving a 4 percent pay raise for eligible Gwinnett County employees," he said. "It was clear to me at the time that current economic conditions coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic – including the cost of living in Gwinnett, rising inflation and labor market pressures – made this an important priority and was a positive step to take.”