Comments on: Librarian Unrest in the Beehive State

By: Randal Powell

Randal Powell — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 02:34:46 +0000

The way new librarians are sometimes treated is absolutely repugnant.

By: Jean Costello

Jean Costello — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:34:01 +0000

From today's LA Times: Comedian Meredith Myers decided five years ago she wanted to become a librarian. Now it seems the library she devoted so much time to has turned against her.

By: I Like Books

I Like Books — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:39:42 +0000

Speaking of change, it’s become well known by change experts, although not generally by management, that the master plan handed down from above is almost guaranteed to fail. Managers are not as smart as they think they are, and not as able to push things through; “Who’s the boss here?” only goes so far. The changes are better, and they stick, if they derive from letting people at all levels of the organization become involved, experiment, and take risks.

By: BeehiveLibrarian

BeehiveLibrarian — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:22:13 +0000

The LJ article says, “Another employee…was reprimanded for posting a critical comment about the library’s administration on her personal Facebook page. She was told to log on to her Facebook page, bring up the questioned post, print out the post, then to delete it.” “However, according to someone who commented on that article calling herself “Lucy Archer”, the reprimanded employee: was reprimanded for violating the library’s Patron Privacy Policy by inappropriately accessing the patron record for another staff member, attempted spying on a fellow employee’s private library record. She was caught because she posted about it on Facebook. Her reprimand was not about Facebook — she was caught violating a core value of librarianship because she posted about her actions.” The most likely person to write this comment is the person who performed the reprimand, the HR manager Shelly Chapman, she requested the above actions, took the copy, and knew the details of the charges. The reprimanded employee was told to not discuss what Chapman had required of her. Elder has resigned but it appears that her “henchman” is still at large to create havoc on staff lives.

By: LibraryGuy

LibraryGuy — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:13:19 +0000

Well,it’s nice to know I don’t work for the only library system that muzzles employees, sends them out on Admin Leave, and tries to wreck their careers.
A group of us set up a gmail group to share problems. I think the next thing should be a Facebook account.

By: Librarian in TX

Librarian in TX — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:01:57 +0000

Annoyed: please look carefully at the screen of comments. Lucy Archer was confirming the time & location of the meeting taking place on Oct. 20 and provided a phone #.

Posted by Seek Facts on October 19, 2011 03:09:43PM–commented about the Facebook episode.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:07:01 +0000

I know some case law has been coming out recently showing statements posted to social media critical of your employer is protected speech if it concerns working conditions. Restricting communications between employees about their working conditions is a pretty serious matter in labor law, regardless of “how hard it is to find work these days” it generally isn’t wise for any employer to open themselves to this kind of actionable grievance. An award (beyond unemployment) to keep a person comfortably afloat for quite a while as they look for work isn’t out of the picture.

By: Been there, Done that

Been there, Done that — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:30:04 +0000

I worked in what appears to be a similar situation some time ago. There are some real problems in going public.

Being specific and detailed about what is wrong requires that many staff members be willing to speak up publicly. I may know what’s happening, but I am probably limited in how much I can say. If I’m not directly involved in a problem, any knowledge I have of it is simply hearsay. If I give details, I’m exposing the people involved to potential job action or hostility from administrators. I may decide it’s worth risking my job to make this public, but I can’t make that decision for others.

It’s almost funny that administrators always blame lack of staff support on staff resistance to change. In my experience, it’s often resistance to a specific set of changes rather than to change in general. Most of the librarians I’ve worked with are looking for changes that allow us to provide better service.

Finally, administrators by definition have more power than general staff members. When I questioned requiring staff to do something that seemed to me to be clearly illegal, my former director told me that anyone not mature enough to understand why she was requiring us to do it should look for a job elsewhere. I reported the requirement. It was held to be illegal. I now work in a different library, and she is still the library director. Finding a new library job is difficult. I doubt I’ll ever again risk a job to right a wrong.

By: Been there, Done that

Been there, Done that — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:26:28 +0000

I worked in what appears to be a similar situation some time ago. There are some real problems in going public.

It always amazes me that administrators blame lack of staff support on staff resistance to change. In my experience, it’s often resistance to a specific set of changes rather than to change in general. Most of the librarians I’ve worked with are looking for changes that allow us to provide better service.

By: wow

wow — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:24:54 +0000

Wow… a situation almost identical to that described in the post and the comment above happened at the library where I previously worked… goes to show what happens when insecure people are given positions of power. Sad.