Week 8

One Model for Creating a Career Ladder for Library Support Staff

This article discusses the changing role of support staff in libraries and how libraries have developed systems of compensation for them. Specifically, it references a model that has been implemented in the Lamar Soutter Library of U. Mass. Previously, I had not thought too much about this issue of support staff in libraries, but this article demonstrates the importance of having a comprehensive way of dealing with them. Support staff seemed like a very transient group to me, i.e. college or high school students or those who have decided to work after retirement. Being disabused of that notion, the points that the article makes are good, especially in regards to the pay scale that is outlined. That being said, I think that seniority should also come into play when discussing compensation, i.e. the longer you work in a given place, the more money you make. In that way, support staff know that their services to an institution are valuable and rewarded as such.

Assessing Staff on the Competencies

As the name suggests, this article is on the different ways to assess the work of staff in a library. Many of the suggestions that the author offered seemed like really good ideas to me. I especially liked that so many of the assessment methods involved staff input such as surveys or observations of co-workers. At places I have been previously employed, there were no such ways for me to offer input on how I thought I (or my fellow employees) was/were doing my/their jobs. Instead, I was sat down in a manager’s office and told of my evaluation by them. It seems that they just observed us at work and took notes. Here in this article, the procedures outlined by the author seem to me much more democratic and inclusive of worker voices. 

Staffing Shifts Roil Orlando Public Library

This article was about the tensions between staff and the director of a library over firings and the use of funds. After reading this article, I found that Church’s arguments held more wait. The director should not be firing librarians, especially when so few of the staff actually have MLS degrees. MLS holders have skills and knowledge that are valuable assets to a library. Additionally, this director seems to want to run a librarian like a corporation, i.e. minimizing costs and maximizing output. I happen to believe that libraries are not corporations and hence should not be run like them. Finally, calling her project the “’Wow Space’” seemed self-aggrandizing and points to the vacuous nature of the project.

Working Knowledge

This short article pointed out the importance of being proactive in the workplace. I had not given this idea much thought, but in retrospect it makes a lot of sense. I usually am pretty passive in situations like- keeping my head down and working. In the future, perhaps I need to be more insistent.