I can honestly say that the current BECPL administrators and their minions, particularly in the public services area, are the worst I have ever dealt with. If you express an opinion that is outside of decided (often poorly thought out) policy, expect to be brow beaten, falsely accused or some other less direct form of punishment. These actions will, if possible, be executed in a manner that handily circumvents the union or any other formal disciplinary procedure and it is likely that it will effect your job security.

Lessons learned from my years at BECPL: 1. Do not express an opinion other than what vague and barely articulated tidbits you may be able to discern from the administrators 2. The smarter and more innovative you are (unless you know how to keep it to yourself) the more of a threat you are, and the less likely you are to succeed here.

Doesn’t the library board and administration know that good internal relations are good public relations? I can only hope that I am part of the upcoming cuts; unemployment (benefits) would beat this place any day. And the worst of it is that none of this is good for the many folks who benefit from the libraries and who deserve, and could so easily have, so much better. We are continuing to allow the bar to be set lower and lower here, which I fear has made us one of the national forerunners in the downward spiral.

Oh, Buffalo. I love you–I really do, with the true love of a native daughter–but you’re one crazy SOB of a bureaucracy. You know that. And it’s obviously NOT WORKING FOR YOU. The city is bleeding money and population. You want one of the nutty “Really, we’re going to save the city!” ideas to work, might I suggest curing the crazy first? No one wants to invest in an unstable town where people think it’s all right to say, “So how would you like to be fired?” People in Buffalo are generally very helpful and friendly. I’m sure that, if you asked, someone would be kind enough to explain this to you.

At the beginning of the summer Brooklyn Public Library (the library system mentioned in the Washington Post Article) gave over 300 layoff notices by phone. After much advocacy and a retirement offering to some employees, the system announced they would not need to layoff any employees. Less than two weeks later everyone in the system received an email informing us that not enough people accepted the retirement package and therefore layoffs may still occur. So, we wait.