Staff Meetings... WHY!??!

Every month it's the same BS.  All 30 of my coworkers and I are herded into the big meeting room and we are stuck for the next 2 hours talking about nothing.

If anything, it is always speculation about the upcoming budget and what it will mean for the library.  And each statement comes with the warning, "This is not finalized yet, but I just wanted you guys to know."  I get most of my library-related information from my coworkers OUTSIDE of the meetings.


This time around we had a member of the Library Foundation come in to give us a "pep-talk."  You know the usual - "Public libraries are important!"  His speech turned into a scare talk when he mentioned the privatization of public library systems around the country.  Of course my older coworkers have never heard of this before and this threw them all into a fit --- "Oh nooez! What about my retirement!?!"  The Foundation guy even said that the higher up's have not even mentioned or considered this option, so why did he even bring it up???

You know what, if the library is ever run by a private company, I can tell you a couple of people who should be let go. 

If time is money, then why is every branch wasting EVERYONE'S time, tomorrow, I have to cover the desk for another branch while they have to go through the same thing.  SAME ISH, DIFFERENT LIBRARY.

Round 2

Compared to last year, it seems like the library system is going to fight the upcoming budget cuts with all it has.  The library makes up the smallest portion of the County budget, yet they're making the biggest cuts from it.  That doesn't sound right any way you spin it.

The library system as a whole sucked it up last year when they cut numerous positions and laid off half of the pages.  Now they want to cut more.  I will be the first to admit that it was long overdue to fire some of the pages.  We are now more efficient, the books are still getting shelved and the lazies are no longer around.  But the system is already running lean with the amount of people on staff.  I will also say that I know a couple of people that should "retire."  Whether its due to their age, health, or laziness, they should NOT be on the library payroll. 

My days at the library seem to be numbered.

You Don't Trade Your Best Player

Yesterday before I started my shift, I stood in the doorway of my Circ manager to let him know that I needed to talk to him sometime about him messing up my schedule.... Again.
And then he stood up and told me that HE needed to talk to ME about MY scheduling.  He told me to take a seat and I was completely taken aback by this because "fixing my schedule" just involved me standing next to him while he moved my hours around on the spreadsheet. 
I seriously thought he was going to fire me by the way he was speaking.  He then told me that a decision was made and that I would be transferred to another branch to help cover under-staffing.
I was relieved I still had a job, and it's only 6 weeks.  The County is going to hire a handful of the 2000+ applicants who applied for the 14 positions open.  This branch I am transferring to isn't all too far from where I live and I haven't worked there before so I'm open to the experience.
Some things I don't understand about this decision, is that my current branch is much more busier and we are already understaffed.  So my departure will be rough on my coworkers.  I also found out that someone from my first branch is also going to be transferred with me, so why me as well?
I think my P.I.C.A.W. (Partner In Crime At Work) is more affected by this decision than I am.  She looked at the daily schedules to see if we were working the desk together and if we weren't, who either one of us could switch with.  For some reason, management hasn't rarely been scheduling us to work the desk together.  I don't know why, nothing bad has happened, we do our work, we don't mess around---ageism I tell ya.
One of my coworkers compared this situation to when she was in school and a student was being sent to a different class.  The teacher would pick the brightest, smartest, best dressed student on their way, telling them to, "make a good impression."  Well, hell yea I'm the brightest and smartest.  But I think it's mostly because I am not taking any classes this semester and my availability is wide open, whatever, I'm still the best dressed.  I know I will be sorely missed not just because of my greatness but because I actually work hard and pull my own weight.
Apparently the Assistant Circ Manager felt the need to email the WHOLE branch about it, so several Info staff have talked to me about it.  Miss L first found out about it when Miss S told me that she'd miss me and Miss L turned to me and said, "You're leaving??"  Miss S pointed out that there was an email from the Assistant Circ Manager, to which Miss L replied, "Oh, I saw it was from him SO I didn't read it."  Her first question for me was if they asked me, no, they didn't ask they just did.  This instantly sent her on a rant about the mismanagement of our branch.  Too bad they didn't ask because one of my coworkers has been itching to transfer to that branch PERMANENTLY.  And I am sure she would have jumped at the chance to work there even if its for 6 weeks.  The branch manager came up to me TWICE during my shift to talk about it.  She kept going on and on about how much I will enjoy it there and they are a bunch of great people, and that the branch manager there is her friend, and that I am a great worker and I am going to make a great impression on them.  I felt like she was being facetious and in reality I am going to hate it and she knows it.  She also kept thanking me and in my head I was thinking that I didn't really have a choice in the matter.
I will be missing Halloween and the bi-annual booksale which is always fun to work, but it'll be a good distraction.  More importantly, I'll be back, they can't get rid of me that easily

First Edition

Here's a little background about myself: I am a male in my mid 20's. I am a 6th year college senior, better late than never as the old adage goes. I am also a part time librarian, 'Library Assistant,' if you're into formalities.

I have been in the library system for two years. I have worked at 6 different branches all together. Three are smaller community libraries and three are much bigger regional libraries. I have currently been working for two different library systems for over six months, one is for the county and the other is for a city. Although one might think that a library is a library is a library, there are many small nuances that separate each branch not to mention between different systems and it is fun to observe the various distinctions.

I had a friend ask me why I worked at the library two of them. I don't read as much as I would like to and I never was one to frequent the library, unless I was cramming for a final, but I genuinely like working there. All of my coworkers have been friendly and easy to work with. The environment, for the most part, is quiet and safe. Like most other jobs, every day brings different challenges which I look forward to. The pay is surprisingly good for the amount of work required.

My favorite part is interacting with the patrons, yes, even the difficult ones. I am a business major and it is a great opportunity to see customer service in action. I also like to brag, if you can call it that, about having two "government jobs."I encounter so many different people and events at work and I have made numerous observations and I hope to share those experiences with anybody willing to read about them. I don't care if no one reads this at all actually.

I like to write about the trivial and it is also a fun way to vent or write down the quirky things that happen at the libraries.So if you're reading this, enjoy.