| Volume 4, No. 1 • January
2007
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I want to be in the Spotlight!
Ignored Too Long: The Benefits of Managing a Library with
a Union, Part II
By John Buschman, Steve LaBash, and Dorothy
Warner
(This article is adapted from the program sponsored by American
Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA)
at the American Library Association Annual Conference in New
Orleans on June 25, 2006. This article does not explicitly speak
for the author’s employers, employees or coworkers.)
At an institution with 230 full-time and 120–140
adjunct unionized faculty, and 110 unionized support staff, library faculty rights
have been extensively negotiated. These rights include: a 10-month
contract; a promotion and tenure (P&T) process equal to classroom
faculty; full eligibility to apply for the faculty travel monies
and leaves; and salaries parallel to the classroom faculty, with
comparable ranks up to Professor-Librarian.
But with rights come responsibilities, and by sharing faculty
responsibilities with their faculty peers, librarians solidify
their new status. MORE
The Changing Role
of Librarians; As New Technologies Revolutionize Job, Low
Pay Could Hinder Growth
Original article by Aja Carmichael, Wall
Street Journal, January 2, 2007
Though librarians continue to staff reference desks and collect
library fines, their role is expanding to embrace Internet access,
search engines, and other new technologies.
And seismic shifts in job descriptions are matched by the changing
landscape of today’s libraries. Many public libraries feature
cafes, shops, and multi-purpose community rooms that can accommodate
business meetings as easily as it can screen sporting events.
But the opportunity to reinvent the image and function of libraries
may be limited to well-funded, often suburban, libraries. Urban
and rural public libraries struggle to finance changing technology
and hire qualified staff. MORE
Library
System Caught in Budget Squeeze
Original article by Mary Lane Gallagher, The
Bellingham Herald (WA), December 21, 2006
The Whatcom County Library System’s 2007 budget leaves them
with a deficit of half a million dollars. Though savings will cover
this year’s shortage, officials worry they may need to reduce
future spending.
The largest budget increase is for salaries and benefits for library staff. The salary budget increased by 11.2%. Personnel benefits grow by nearly the same amount, 10.7%. Union contracts have insured these salary adjustments. MORE
Piermont Library Budget
Passed
Original article by Gerald McKinstry, The
Journal News (Westchester County, NY), December 3, 2006
Rising insurance, retirement and maintenance costs in the Piermont Library will require the average property owner to pay about $11 more for library services. The proposed 2007–2008 budget calls for a 9.9% tax increase.
Despite the size and the possibility of greater use, the library will not be hiring any more staff. The library’s four employees, two full-time and two part-time, enjoyed a salary increase of five percent, but face the challenge of managing an expanded facility without expanded resources. The library board hopes to balance the workload through volunteer, rather than paid, labor. MORE.
Keeping Libraries Open
Is Worth a Risk; Don’t Permanently Shutter Three Crime-Fighting
Assets
Originally published in the Star
Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), December 14, 2006
Three libraries in the Minnesota Library System are offered a
one-time budget increase to enable them to keep their doors open,
but the sum may not be sufficient to maintain either library workers
or library hours.
The one-time funding will leave jobs in limbo. To reopen the libraries, the system must hire six new employees, and without regular funding the system cannot guarantee that those positions will outlive the year. And the one-time budget boost leaves hours of operation in peril. A December 6 staff memo to the Library Board reports that fluctuating hours have “created anger and frustration among the public, built ill will toward library service, discouraged the use of libraries, and diminished public support.” MORE
ALA [and ALA-APA]
President Leslie Burger Visits the University at Buffalo
By Jennifer E. Graham, http://jennimi.wordpress.com/tag/library,
November 11, 2006
On November 10, ALA President Leslie Burger addressed students
at the University of Buffalo (NY). Burger presented her presidential
initiative, “Be a Transformative Librarian,” stressing
the library’s role as community center. She also discussed
emerging trends in technology and information science. MORE
Detroit’s
Teachers Union Ousts Leader
Original article by Stan Donaldson and John
Masson, December 3, 2006
The Detroit Federation of Teachers, whose membership includes
school media specialists, voted out incumbent president Jenna Garrison
in favor of her Vice-President, Virginia Cantrell.
Garrison served as president for the last six years. Many believe
the turnover reflects disappointment with the results of last fall’s
strike. Garrison ended the strike when she signed a controversial
teaching contract. The three-year contract requires teachers to
pay higher health insurance premiums while providing no pay raise
the first year. Garrison argues that the contract reflected the
realities of a school district with a deficit. The district also
loses 10,000 students annually. MORE
Pelosi to Fast-Track Minimum Wage Bill
Original article by Jeannine Aversa, Associated
Press Economics Writer, December 4, 2006
Nancy Pelosi, incoming
House Speaker, plans to fast-track efforts to raise the federal
minimum wage. She hopes to introduce legislation to the House floor
this month.
Pelosi has set the federal wage as a top priority for the 110th
Congress, which convenes January 4. The new legislation will probably
request a phased-in increase in the current federal minimum wage
of $5.15/hour to $7.25/hour. MORE
I want to write about Career Advancement!
Where in the World Will
Librarianship Take You?
By Elisa F. Topper
Now that the New Year is upon us what was your New Year’s
resolution? Was it to get better organized, lose weight, stop smoking,
or spend more time with family and friends? How many of you listed
a resolution that was about your job or career?
Having just returned from attending my third visit to the Guadalajara
Book Fair, my thoughts are focused on what an impact participating
in an international activity can have on you professionally and
personally. I know that many of you reading this have been on the
job for many years and may have fallen into a rut—we all
have from time to time. My answer has always been to go to a conference
to get reenergized and “fall in love” with our profession
once again. MORE
No One Ever Told Me My Job Would Include…
By Chris Langer, User Services Librarian, Tennessee
State University
In my career as a library professional I’ve often found
myself working outside my job description. In 2002 I accepted a
position at Tennessee State University (Nashville, TN) as a User
Services Librarian. My job description billed me as a reference
librarian. Though I had a degree from Computer Tech’s (Fairmont,
WV) PC/LAN program, my job description did not include any computer
network responsibilities. But today’s libraries live and
breathe technology, so naturally many of the students’ questions
and complaints would concern computers. I found my study of computers
to be highly relevant to my (rapidly expanding) role as reference
librarian. MORE
I want to write about HR Law!
Paid Sick Leave on Agenda for New Democratic Majority
By Christine Martin
Do you go to work when you are sick, committing “presenteeism” because
you fear being accused of absenteeism? Do you send your kids
to school when they’re sick because you can’t stay
home with them? Do you fear that your neighbors do the same,
and their kids infect your kids? According to a women’s
group that pushed Congress to pass the Family and Medical Leave
Act in 1993, 86 million U.S. workers have no paid sick leave that
they can use to stay home with a sick child. According to
the Washington, D.C.-based National Partnership for Women and Families,
a smaller number, 59 million, or 47 percent of all private-sector
employees, have no paid sick leave at all and may jeopardize their
jobs if they fail to report for work.1 So children
go to school—and parents to work—even though their
teachers, classmates, and co-workers may wish they had not. MORE
I want to write about HR Practice!
The Basics of Tattoos in the Workplace
by Lisa
Callaway, JD, SPHR, Vice President/General Counsel
Reprinted with permission from the Management Association of
Illinois’s Web site, www.hrsource.org. The
article was posted on January 2, 2007.
Employees with tattoos are becoming more prevalent, and they are
not only younger employees. In fact, tattoos are becoming in vogue
for all generations. Must employers permit employees to display
visible tattoos?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires an employer
to accommodate an employee’s bona fide religious beliefs.
This could, conceivably, include an employee’s tattoo representing
these beliefs. MORE
I
want to write about Statistics!
Library Salary Survey(s) Coming Soon!
Library Directors and Human Resources Managers—check your
mail around the beginning of February. The letter from ALA-APA
announcing Web-based data collection for the annual salary survey
of librarians and Non-MLS staff positions will be sent to 1,982
public libraries and 1,497 academic libraries of all sizes. This
year, for your convenience, the two salary surveys will be combined
into one, covering both MLS and Non-MLS titles. MORE
I want to write about Work/Life!
Top 5 Work Resolutions to Create Career Success
By Casey Schacher
Sometimes the best way to improve your life is to help other people. When
it comes to work, this is especially true. That is why this year’s
top work resolutions help you help yourself – by assisting
others, from the new job seeker to your boss and co-workers. Everyone
is bound to benefit from the following 2007 career pledges.
Top 5 New Year’s Work Resolutions
- Improve Work Relationships (i.e., Help build a positive atmosphere)
- Delegate (i.e., Help others build team work and skills)
- Upskill (i.e., Help others benefit from how fabulous you are)
- Assist and Inspire (i.e., Help others get a job and succeed)
- Relax (Yep, this one is just for you…) MORE
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