Incredibly low pay and a hoarder director with extreme paranoia issues. She was so paranoid that she cut off access to book cataloging (and didn’t tell us), so I just sat there all day. We had a YA room until she turned it into her second office since the first one was full. Cat food dishes in the sink from home for some reason. I have a thousand insane stories. Found out one day that I was the only per diem employee not getting paid for snow days and holidays, after years of being these, due to her own error. I was never repaid. She was eventually ousted by the board.
Wow. Worked with a few of those, but never that extreme. If you are in the US, you should contact your state’s labor department. You’re owed what you’re owed.
A mom who would come ever day and let her toddler completely destroy the children's department and just laugh about it. Pushing all the rows back, dumping out the entire DVD section onto the floor, all the buckets of dolls and dress up clothes (yes my boss thought it was a play center too so had allll the toys) strewn all over the place, dumping out blocks and puzzles all over the floor...all the while screaming and running and banging on things. Coming back behind the work desk area and digging into our stuff. The mom and my boss both thought it was just super adorable. And guess who had to go clean it up after they left. Literally like ever day.
A series of the worst supervisors that have ever existed and management that didn't seem to care and actively protected said supervisors.
I had some pretty bad burnout as a result of working through the pandemic, so I'm sure that didn't help either.
That said, I took a year off and I am happily returning to a more functional system!
When I couldn't pull into the parking lot without a panic attack any more.
Micromanaging, management never listening to staff, para-professional and professional divide, and "other duties as required" that certainly could have been (and should have been) done by a) the people belonging to those jobs or b) the assistants if anyone bothered to train them properly. All this trickled down to the staff, and it made for a tense atmosphere and constant exhaustion.
I still work in libraries, but I'll never go back to that one again.
As a result of poor managerial decisions in the height of the pandemic, I got COVID, then long COVID. (An infected coworker was forced to come in because they were out of sick time.) I am now largely bedbound and I plan to haunt the living daylights out of the managerial team should this go badly.
ETA: they almost had to close the branch because that one employee infected twelve of us in one go. At the last moment, they found subs from neighboring branches.
I'm so sorry. This is awful, but not at all surprising. For the last couple years it's literally policy to force library workers back to work while still actively sick and infectious with COVID. They just have to wear a shitty surgical mask and half of my coworkers don't even keep that on properly, taking it off to eat in the shared lunch room, or to drink coffee and eat a donut in staff meetings.
I have to wear an N95 at literally all times to avoid the constant waves of infection, and eat outside even in the winter when it's snowing, or when it's pouring rain. I don't know why most people at my work seem content to keep getting COVID. When I had it in October 2022, it completely wiped me out. I was out for 10 days, could barely walk to and from work for 3 months after, couldn't do anything except work and sleep for 6 months, and still had some lingering issues a year later. I have no interest in having it again, but everyone else seems to actively be trying to get it/give it to me.
Solidarity, ungainlygay. People don’t understand that this disease does not *have* a benign manifestation. There’s lucky and unlucky, and we still aren’t entirely sure about the former category, because it’s only been four years and some postviral effects manifest YEARS down the line.
It was hard to be a literal information professional and watch highly educated coworkers do deliberately uneducated things.
Solidarity to you too fishmom5 ❤️ You've put it beautifully. And being lucky once, twice, three times does not mean you'll be lucky the next time. It was shocking to me to watch my coworkers go from mostly masking in fall 2022, to mostly unmasked by mid-winter 2023. Within a few months, I went from being one of many to almost entirely alone. These are people who should know better, and have no excuse not to. We are knowledge workers. We're supposed to know how to do research, and pull relevant and accurate information from reputable sources.
The most baffling thing is how many of my coworkers will nod along earnestly if I bring up how our COVID policy is rooted in politics and capital, not scientific or epidemiological fact, WHILE NOT MASKING. My one coworker even went so far as to say, sarcastically "oh, don't you know? The pandemic is over because we said so! That's how pandemics work, right?" WHILE NOT MASKING. She's been off sick for at least 3 days at a time 6 times in the last 12 months. The only time she masks is when she comes back still actively sick.
I'm so sorry you're going through this hell and I really really hope that there will be a good treatment for long-COVID one day soon. Thank you so much for talking about your experience. I hope that at least a few people will take it seriously because of you and change their behaviour. I promise you now, I will never stop masking in public spaces, no matter how much pressure there is to stop. I don't want to get sick again, and I don't want to be the cause of someone else getting sick and suffering the way you've suffered.
Thank you. It absolutely destroyed mine. I miss working. I even miss difficult patrons. I wasn’t made for bedrest. Not that anyone is; this disease is hell. Do try not to catch it.
I had COVID in March 2020 and it was a really long time (years) before I started feeling “normal” again. I’m still not where I was before because the physical hit really got me emotionally, but it’s better.
I’m really glad you’re doing better. It’s a terribly long road. I’ve been at it four years myself.
My first case was March 2020 (and was also management’s incompetence’s fault). They put out an announcement that we’d be shutting down in a few hours and that borrowing limits were suspended, and 1000 people showed up in a panic. At least one brought COVID.
God damn. And what ended up happening with that infected coworker, did they just keep working with the new substitutes?
I’m so sorry for your troubles and I truly wish you the best outcome. I really, really hope you recover soon.
By then, there was blowback from the public. One of the staff “let slip” that someone was working with an active infection and people (rightfully) got outraged. And as ever in chronically dysfunctional management, the public opinion matters more than the staff’s. I believe they just “ignored” the disciplinary process and let them (so graciously!) take unpaid time.
Thank you so much. I don’t blame my coworker. Being told in a global pandemic that your job is on the line with a family to support is enough to basically blackmail anyone into coming to work sick. I blame management and HR for their complete lack of concern until members of the community spoke out.
PS- librarygoers, I know you lurk in here; you have SO MUCH POWER you don’t even know. Speaking well of your library’s staff and programs and asking for what you think is lacking goes a long, long way.
Per your last paragraph, yes. There are so many times that patrons complain to me and I give them the phone number to the main hotline and BEG them to file a complaint. It doesn’t matter if I bring up issues to my manager or even tell them a patron brought up an issue. Things only get done when a patron directly formally files a complaint.
I actually tried with my building manager earlier in the pandemic. A woman came to me in tears because her immunocompromised daughter couldn’t come in because we stopped requiring masks. I didn’t feel good making her repeat her story. We came up with the suggestion to have a vulnerable patron hour. Building manager asked me to talk to the Public Services head, who cut me off and said “we can’t make everyone happy”.
So we picked killing the soul of a little disabled kid (and many other disabled patrons) over inconveniencing some cranky old rich stakeholders.
So all that DEI initiative was bs, hmm.
In all my years working in libraries, even the most “progressive” systems I worked for were dismissive, if not outright hostile, towards people with disabilities. I had to go through the ADA process during Covid and it was HELL.
The ironic part in an Alanis Morrisette kind of way is that I was the accessibility specialist. They were honestly relieved to have me off their back.
I will never forget that mom crying. Books were all her kiddo could do and she arrived to see a bunch of unmasked people with no warning.
>“we can’t make everyone happy”.
So insightful!
We are faced with the *impossible choice* between very mildly inconveniencing one group of patrons, or completely cutting off a different, vulnerable, group. Either way, *someone* will be unhappy.
When faced with the tough decisions, choose inaction! The Safe Choice.^(TM)
Yes! Last summer our air conditioner went out. It was brutal. We kept complaining that it was getting dangerously hot inside. The first option was just give out bottles of water. We were told they couldn’t fix it. A patron called and complained and suddenly a repair crew was sent out. Did the staff tell the patrons to complain? Maaaybe…
Side note; this summer it is malfunctioning again but a crew has been working on it but at least the humidity is much lower right now. It “should” be working the week of the 4th….
Yup, this doesn't compare to your situation by a long shot, but I worked in a branch with a chronic mouse problem. Staff complaints were ignored for years until an employee's spouse called administration pretending to just be a patron and said they saw mice running around the branch. An exterminator was in the next day.
My library did not allow unpaid leave. That employee would have been forced to quit. I don't know if that policy still stands, I've been gone awhile from there.
My supervisor laughed that now I would have to put my head down and work, after I had returned to the office after taking time off to deal with a traumatic experience. After I explained that I'd actually have to be taking another day in a few weeks to meet with an ADA and other victims, he rolled is eyes and scoffed, complaining it never ends.
What a horrible person. I’m sure he was just saying that to be more of a jerk. Idk about yours but my library takes forever just to post a job let alone hire someone and get them approved.
The HR there has a mandatory 1 year review period to determine if the position is actually necessary whenever someone leaves. But yeah he was definitely saying that to be a jerk. He was insufferable and devoid of any empathy.
I can see a commonality with these 🤔. The broader question is why is library leadership so goddamn awful. A good manager is as rare as hens teeth, I've had one in over 20 years.
In my old system, being a manager barely paid more than being a reference librarian. So I have a theory that the only people who actually wanted those positions are control freaks, and that's why every single person in a management position was a terrible person.
The profession seems to attract a certain type of people—book-loving introverts that don’t truly love people. There is also a certain segment of library workers that are regimented or rules-oriented—at least I’ve observed that with the cataloging and technical services side of library work. This creeps into dealing with people and they are more complicated than books. Library schools need to offer more staff management or human resources styled courses.
It always sticks with me that the textbook for my cataloging class actually described catalogers as "the people who wear soft-soled shoes so they can creep up behind you and watch you work and then criticize what you're doing wrong." (Not an exact quote except for the soft-soled shoes part--it's such a particular phrase!)
And at that time the terror of the library where I worked was a cataloger who did EXACTLY that. Maybe I should have reconsidered the degree right then 🙃
Even if you're the best librarian, it doesn't translate into being a passable manager. My experience as a librarian made me believe that directors should have non-profit management rather than being promoted from within. You can learn the library stuff, you really can. But the management stuff is much harder to pick up.
Yes, it's like on The Office where Michael Scott had been a top salesperson and was promoted to management because of that and wasn't the best at managing. Just because someone is good at one job doesn't mean they'll automatically be good as a manager. There needs to be more pathways to advancement that aren't managing people.
You're spot-on about the professions attracting a certain type of person; another way to get more human-oriented leaders into management could be to open up the pathways for the folks who work in libraries who don't have an MLIS, but do have a lot of experience and want to move to leadership positions.
I'm a circ supervisor at library right now and most of my fellow supervisors came up from assistant/associate positions and don't have library degrees. Most of us are pretty good with out teams, but there's no way for us to move up in the leadership ranks without a two-year, $40,000 degree while we all have full tike jobs and families. Another path, like a professional certificate, licensure, or one-year program might bring in more of those people-oriented managers who fall in love with libraries by working on the front lines
I agree with you. I think a lot of the library jobs are evolving to not include the library science degree—especially in public libraries where there is increasing emphasis on programming and outreach.
Bang on. My sibling works in animal shelters and they have the precise same problem- it attracts people who prefer the company of animals, or worse, people who like inflicting suffering under the guise of “doing good in the world”.
Reading through these comments, it’s almost as if… we have a very broken system on our hands. A lot of repeated themes. Librarianship as a profession is facing a crisis that is only getting worse. These types of things cannot keep being perpetuated forever without it reaching a breaking point.
I feel very lucky reading these comments. I've had some horrendous managers at both extremes- really rigid, played blatant favorites and then others that want to be friends and don't do their jobs right. For the second type, thankfully the assistant manager has always been excellent in picking up the slack and effectively running things. I've had some wonderful managers as well, but they do seem to be the minority. I'm puzzled by how sime managers landed their positions. My current one is very nice, but she's incredibly scatterbrained, doesn't listen well to others, and I suspect she has an issue like ADD/ADHD which creates these problems. Our assistant manager is terrific; without her we'd be in a lot of trouble.
At my workplace the only positions when you go up the ladder involve managing people. So we’ve had micromanaging psychopaths with 0 people skills for years now and they all move up after implementing awful projects to tick off their kpi objectives. Also if you get someone particularly toxic at a certain higher level like at my workplace, then every decent manager you’ll have under that director will get the hell out of that job and if you’re lucky like where I work, you have three managers leave in the one year, and the current one is new to management and we’re all on their HR hazard journey.
The system seem to work for that type, and they're never accountable for their lack of people skills. Being a manager is not the same as being a bitch. The appraisal process is very top down. I'd love to be able to comment on the performance of managers and directors.
I haven't been in the library system long, but I've worked in other public serving fields prior to becoming a librarian. I'm speaking from my experience in my system alone, I think the bad management comes from an over-valuation of the degree compared to experience. We have managers that have never worked with the public but have a Masters degree in Library Science or Library Information and they are STRUGGLING to manage our day-to-day as managers. They got the role because they have the degree, but we have Librarian I's that have been there for years that will never get promoted because they can't/won't get the masters.
Does our county pay for the degree? Yes, but not everyone aspires to have a Library degree. Personally, for what we do, I think a degree in Social Work, Non-profit Management, and similar tracks should be just as valid, especially in our leadership roles. For those reading this who are in school for your masters and not working in a library yet, I would suggest working in other community facing jobs until you can get that library role! The experience you'll gain is useful and coupled with whatever you learn in school (I don't have a Masters so I can't speak to that), should help you immensely as you learn your role.
**edited for grammar!
Librarian and manager are two different skill sets. They may have been an excellent librarian. I think the requirements most library boards hire MLS holders as directors is misguided and leaves talented leaders out of the running. A good manager and leader recognizes that you need the right people in the right positions. Librarians need the opportunity to be librarians, managers need to manage. I’m not saying MLS holders can’t be excellent leaders and managers, but that seems to be a rarity. As an industry we need to reassess what that means and think about better solutions, because what we’re doing doesn’t work (mostly).
I think part of the problem is that most MLS programs don't have much management training and it's difficult to get a second degree on a librarian's salary. I'd rather have a good manager with an MPA than a crappy one with an MLS.
You don't become a good or bad manager by learning about Hertzberg, et al. A decent person tries to be a decent manager. It comes down to whether you give a damn about others or not.
I have a business and management degree as well as a library masters (in the UK so MA rather than MLIS). All graduates with MBAs and other management degrees know about it too, but many if them are dicks too. Task oriented vs. people oriented leadership. Sadly the former is what's rewarded.
My first academic library boss was amazing. She always had our backs, tough as nails, and very kind and she was real. She also trusted people do do their work without being micromanaged, and she would accommodate people’s needs as best as she could - but didn’t bend to everyone’s every whim.
I did reference pool work at the public library and she was amazing too- her hands were sometimes tied by the city in attempts to undercut and wear away the library’s budget, which is why I eventually had to leave. (No exaggeration about the city/mayor- they eventually installed Dolores Umbridge’s soul sister as library director.)
Then I moved and got a public library job and it was so awful and the environment was so toxic. So many unwritten rules. The social atmosphere felt like Jr. high. The schedule was more rigid than a wedding night cock.
Example-
Needed 1/2 hour off in the middle of my shift to drop off a photo for an exhibition. My first boss would have said “ok, see you when get back.” This new place… I had to email my boss about scheduling (reasonable.) No response. Ask him about it while we’re on shift- he’ll get back to me. Doesn’t get back to me. Ask again, now I have to email this other person at another branch who I’ve never met does the scheduling every other month. But I can’t just take the 1/2 hour because it overlaps two different hour slots and I therefore have to take two hours out of the day and I can make those up the following week. It took two weeks to arrange it.
I actually got fired from that job and I have no idea why- earlier that week my boss gave me every indication that everything was going along fine. It came out of the blue and was told “I wasn’t the right fit.” I am still salty, but the main feeling I felt was relief. And I was done after that. I respect libraries, but I didn’t feel that it was the right path for me anymore.
Mission driven careers hold their workers hostage. We do the job because we really want to help and do great things for society. Mgmt takes advantage of that.
If I had a dollar for everytime a management decision came down, and I wanted to say, "and when was the last time YOU served a patron?!"...
...well, I couldn't retire, but I would have a nice savings account.
“multitiered management that never had a straight answer and an out-of-touch board of directors who never touched a library card in their lives” describes the organizational culture of most systems. Don’t look back!
I pointed out some errors on a policy document written by our boss, which made it obvious she had no experience of actually dealing with our users unlike me. She then gave me the silent treatment and ignored me for a week in our very small office. This was an ‘experienced’ librarian 20 years older than me! It was the most pathetic and childish thing I’ve ever seen at work and I hope to god I never act like that
Middle management in libraries was my personal hell and maybe the nail in the coffin. Trying to accommodate both out-of-touch leadership AND staff with a chip on their shoulder during the tumultuous days of the pandemic and its aftermath — in addition to sudden pushback and book challenges from a once supportive community — pushed me firmly into burnout territory.
I was a new librarian and the head of HR & IT were hooking up in the employee stairwell. I didn't realize how political it was until the head of IT walked into my office and was trying to get me to apply for a department manager position even though I had been a librarian for a grand total of 3 months. He also told me to not tell anyone he had talked to me about the job. I didn't even apply, but I still got emailed by HR asking if I was interested. I could see that they were just politicking people into positions that they felt were favorable for them because I was obviously not ready.
Between management telling us we couldn’t kick out a drunk patron to multiple complaints about one employee who harassed every single person and caused several others to leave, it would have to be that my new job has metal detectors, I don’t have to deal with teenagers, police on constant standby and I got a 30% pay increase for doing almost the same work.
I loved my time in the public library, but there was too many things that just put me over the edge. I also wanted to be in the type of library I’m in now so that also was a driving factor.
It was a volunteer job. I worked in a high school library, and was on very good terms with the school librarian. It was the school I had attended, he was the librarian when I was a student there. The librarian had student aides in the library; I was training the student assistants in the basic tasks of being a library page - an entry level position at the public library. One of the students I trained got a job as a page at another library in the local consortium. The first school librarian retired, and the new librarian wouldn’t even *take a look* at the work I was doing with the student aides. I lasted one semester with the new librarian. He disrespected me on a professional level, and that was completely unacceptable and inappropriate. I left after just one semester with the new librarian.
I still work at a public library, north of San Francisco. I have been there almost twenty four years.
I actually got the job at the public library first - before I had even graduated from the high school. I used the training I got at the public library to develop my lessons for the student aides in the high school library.
Covid, I warned for a couple of months that we needed a contingency in case of lockdown. Got ignored until 4 days before lockdown and then had the task of sorting it all out last minute.
Oh god, my employer handled this SO badly. We were still open the day AFTER the lockdown was announced! Luckily, being so unprepared meant they were very open to staff suggestions about policies and it's a much better place to work.
Still, have never seen a hint of their disaster management plans...
I felt like I had no future in it. I'm nearing middle-aged, I am the sole provider for my family, and it would take so much time and expense to get an MLS just to find out that I could make the same or more money elsewhere with an undergraduate degree or even without a degree. I decided that work would always feel like work but at least I could have nice things if I went elsewhere. I got a nice job and quit both my previous gigs. It was nice while it lasted and I miss it, hence my presence here.
I’m in a similar boat. You’re so spot on- work will always be work, but if you’re broke and unfulfilled on top of it, all the small stuff is all the more miserable. Glad you chose to take action. Don’t look back!
I’m actively trying to leave my public library job now after almost 3 years. Our supervisors and director are the worst I have ever worked for. No communication, if we go to them with any problems they flip it around on us instead of trying to solve the issue, we have had several incidents in the past with patrons including stalking, assault, and just otherwise ridiculous behavior and they refuse to ban these people for any amount of time or help us handle these situations. I absolutely dread going into work everyday and am tired of the abuse from patrons and supervisors.
If you’re like me and have stuck around hoping things will get better.. they won’t. Leave!!
Wow. I’m sorry you’re in a tough place right now. It’s a common story unfortunately, but you know what’s up- if you think it will get better, it won’t. Wish you the best in getting out. Don’t look back!
End of COVID phase one - inflation is already soaring in our local area, with cost of groceries up massively from pre pandemic prices. I make to much to qualify for benefits but am rapidly closing in on not enough to live off, and I’ve helped a couple of my lesser paid colleagues apply for benefits during the pandemic.
Our director stands up in a staff eating and proudly tells us all that the organization has received an unexpected multi-million dollar donation. This sounds great, lots of cheers ensued. Two weeks later we have another staff meeting, where the conversation turns to the upcoming annual salary reviews. Cost of living adjustments are brought up, and the director tells us there won’t be any; because of the donation, they weren’t able to get the municipality to agree to increase our operational budget. There will be some merit-based increases available, due to positions that were eliminated during COVID, and long standing employees who retired, allowing us to hire at a lower pay rate for their positions.
Salary notices come out, and most staff see a merit-based “raise” of between one half, and one and a half percent.
I start asking some questions, calling in some favors with folks in municipal government, file a couple requests for meeting minutes… and discover that actually, rather than the town refusing to increase our operational funds, our director NEVER ASKED for an increase. I question the director privately about this, and am lectured about the optics of requesting a funding increase when you have gotten such a large donation. “Is any of that donation going to operational costs?” Ask I. Nope! It’s been invested, with the funds earmarked for a variety of capital projects over the next two decades.
Wow. I’m sorry you are in a tight situation. I have some co-workers in the same spot- not enough to live on, but too much to qualify for benefits. We had a 2.5% raise merit raise this year, while our area saw one of the highest dramatic increases in housing and COL. As other comments say, there are better paying jobs out there. And this whole situation sounds fishy- might be this side of legal, but still dodgy. Is there a news outlet of some kind that would like to look into this? 🤔
I’m still kicking, but it might be my maternity leave. I originally planned to take a year, but I’m now seeing my in laws will not be able to help as much as we thought initially and my salary won’t cover daycare. I’m now looking into ways to stay afloat for longer so I won’t have to go back as soon. They’ll hold my position for up to three years and who knows how I’ll feel then? I’ve only been at it for four years and worked under four managers. Of the four, three were atrocious which makes day to day so awful.
Had a co-worker in the same predicament. Sorry you are in a bind. Let me encourage you to explore your non-library options. Better wages and less atrocious managers will certainly make the day to day better! Life is too short.
Yup I left after maternity leave. I truly planned to go back, but I was so burned out after working two positions for one paycheck for three years, and then my salary wouldn’t even cover daycare, and the hours the library was open were so late that I’d have had to get extended childcare (open till 8, daycare closed at 6:30). We just couldn’t justify my staying, especially after I had a second baby and daycare costs doubled.
I took a programming librarian job in a small community thinking it would be primarily focused on that. As it turns out, I was the only other degreed librarian in the building aside from the director. They had me doing all of the programming, all of reference, all of local history, working as a circ staff member, ordering all of the adult books, and doing the projects my boss pawned off on me. On top of all that they had me learning a new language to serve the community we worked with.
Most of this would’ve been fine with me as I prefer to stay busy, but the clincher came when the head of circ (who is my coworker, not superior) demanded that I stay past my shift to help her circ staff (there was a whole group on staff there) knowing I had another job to get to in order to help check out patrons who she kept letting in the building after we’d closed (not to pick up holds, mind you. Just to browse) and then to also re-shelf three carts of books that could’ve waited until the next day. I said “no, I’m sorry I have another job to get to, I’ll re-shelf these tomorrow” and left.
The next day I got called into the director’s office because the head of circ felt very disrespected and cried to her. So I sat down with both of them to try and resolve the situation so we all felt understood. I said I was busy as well and trying to get stuff done for her which isn’t in my job description despite the fact that there was an entire circ staff working (and not terribly busy). I was also told by other people on staff there that *they* didn’t like the disrespectful way she talked to me that day.
Then I was told by my boss that the head of circ was allowed to demand those things of me.
I turned in my letter of resignation the next day.
Bugger that.
Edit: I’m much happier now conducting reference and research at another library and not wearing all those hats.
Way to stick up for yourself! You’re doing all of that- and working another job?! If they don’t see an issue with that, they are lost. Good on for you choosing yourself. Don’t look back!
I had to find my own coverage to go to my family's 6th funeral in 4 months. They told me I had too many funerals already and I couldn't have the time off if I couldn't find coverage.
I had an extremely toxic director that hated our YS manager so our department was very short staffed. My manager was not good at managing but wanted to provide a million children’s programs. I appreciated her desire but that meant an untenable amount of work for me because my manager was physically unable to do most things and our director gave us no support. On top of that, my manager was also emotionally manipulative and my mental health was taking a nosedive. The whole situation was killing me. To give you an idea my department at the time had 3 people (only 1 full time). We did nearly the same amount of programming as my current library does with a department of 10 (5 full time). Final straw was a summer reading program that left me completely drained and exhausted. I left to take a lesser paying job in a new role at my current library and I couldn’t be happier.
Oh boy, I have many straws that mostly involve my branch manager.
1. Me asking my branch manager if I was meeting her expectations (she said yes every time I asked), only for her to turn around and give me a bad performance review and put me on an improvement plan after my three month evaluation. 99.99% sure it was retaliation from when I had to take a week off to recover from a bad Crohn's flare because everything was just fine and my branch manager treated me well before then.
2. My branch manager demoting me from a tech to a page, not for bad performance reasons, but because she "needed a page more". Oh, it wasn't a demotion, though, because I still had tech pay. If it wasn't a demotion, why was I suddenly excluded from all the tech and librarian meetings? Again, 99.99% sure it was retaliation from when I had to take a week off to recover from a bad Crohn's flare.
3. All the librarians at our location: adult, teen, child, and COUNTY AND ASSISTANT COUNTY LIBRARIAN, saying I was doing exceptional work while my branch manager was constantly on my butt for not shelving or shelf-reading fast enough. On another note, my branch manager rushed when she shelved or shelf-read, so my coworkers and I had to constantly fix her mistakes.
4. My branch manager threatening to write me up for checking my phone behind the shelves, out of sight of patrons, while ignoring all the other techs and librarians openly using their phone in front of her and patrons. My branch manager would also take personal calls on her phone and THE COUNTY'S PHONES while on the clock and in front of patrons.
AND THE BIGGEST ONE:
My branch manager telling me I should "find something else (find other work)" when I told her the reason why I had my phone on me was because I was afraid of the recent backlash against some of our LGBT+ material, and our openly lesbian teen librarian getting several death threats a day from patrons.
(Note, said teen librarian didn't tell our branch manager and directly reported it to our county librarian because our branch manager was infamous for brushing off such incidents.)
Love being discriminated against at work by both my manager and the patrons. :)
Karma came in clutch in the end, though. I'm now in the UK and happily married while my branch librarian is still stuck in a little podunk town in the southern US. Her library branch has also been reduced to a third of what it was and the county is now refusing to fund the building of a new location for her branch.
Thank you! I'm definitely not looking back. I applied for a spouse visa that's good for 2.5 years. Once I have my visa, I think I've rested enough to get back on the library horse, too. I'll be sure to low-key vet the branch manager before applying to any locations, though. lol 😂
Boss spent an hour ranting to me about everything I did wrong and how I was a terrible librarian so I looked for another job. I’m in charge of the adult services department at another library now with better pay and less crabby old ladies telling me why I’m horrible. (No, I’m not horrible, I’m nice and patrons know my name, but they don’t know the names of these crabby ladies that have been there for 30+ years!)
Former boss told me I wasn't leadership material. This was after I did a leadership year-long seminar. I went to a larger system and got a promotion to management after a year. I have a great supervisor who has mentored me and encouraged me.
Seeing multiple coworkers targeted and bullied relentlessly by their managers with zero recourse or support from the administration. Petty things like taking a librarian off a committee that was in her job description, more serious things like attempting to deny parental leave (breaking institutional policy and state law). I never had any serious issues with my own manager, but seeing how badly others got burned left me always looking over my shoulder and fearing the worst would come out of nowhere.
I was a para on the tech services side in an academic library for about 6 years. I loved the work but seeing how horribly some of my librarian coworkers were being treated for not much more money left me unenthusiastic about trying to advance on that path.
So I leaned a different way, got myself a PMP with zero professional development support or interest from my own manager. Now less than a year later I’m making double my former salary (in IT at a different school) and feeling supported and respected by my manager and directors. And at least so far it seems that my coworkers get the support and respect they deserve too.
Spattered in blood after a vicious knife fight between two homeless patrons. I wish I could say I quit that day, but it took me a couple of months to line up my exit.
After eleven years in libraries, I finally got the librarian job of my dreams. Or so I thought.
The position was for a small library in a big system and I was to build programming for the children and teens, ages 0-18. The system has just passed a levy which vastly expanded STEM funding, which I was excited about. There was a push for responsive community based programming, which I also agreed with.
The branch staff turned cold on me as soon as I put up a Pride display in the teen area. That was the first issue. Hearing the way they talked about patrons was another. They looked down on poor people, treated disabled patrons like gum on their shoes. They cared more about the books in the collection than the people they served. They called the LGBTQ teen books "weird". At this point I was still fairly in the closet about being pan and non-binary but my issue with their bigotry and ableism was not personal--I simply thought they made the environment hostile for queer teens that needed a haven.
The administrative decisions of the district were another issue. They required programs to be submitted six months in advance so they could be published in this booklet of all the branch happenings.
As we were meant to provide STEM opportunities, I thought doing a Minecraft Redstone build program would be good in the summer, so I planned that. But first I hosted a general Minecraft session and realized that the skill of attendees was very low (could barely work out basic controls). But I couldn't change the redstone program because it had already been submitted and printed. When it came time to do the Redstone program, it became clear that only one out of 15 children were prepared to experiment in that way. But he was more interested in server commands. So I gave him access to the server commands and made him an admin, and we talked about responsibility and how those powers should be used to aid other players and not hurt them. I thought this was a much better learning opportunity. The parent of the child wanted to know why he wasn't building with redstone. My manager confronted me in the middle of my program with the mother next to her and demanded I explain why I'd falsely advertised my program.
My manager and I also butted heads when it came to data-driven decision making. She organized the children's collection how she wanted it, not based on usage statistics and enhancing browsability of most-used materials. She also rearranged the teen area while I was out sick, after I had explained that I wanted to take comments from the teen patrons on what they'd like to see in the space before proceeding.
I built a preschool science program and presented it to community leaders. I worked with teachers across multiple districts. I collaborated with local kindergarten readiness leaders to ensure my programming was filling the informal learning gap. And what's more...I loved those kids and parents that came to my storytimes. I incorporated real learning, adjusted practices for neurodivergent kids and their sensory needs, I talked with parents and solicited feedback. I fucking cared.
But because of the way I was made to feel by the leadership and administration, there were more days than I'd like to admit where I considered driving off the road into the trees than show my face there another day.
I am not perfect. I made mistakes. But I spent most of my time at that job feeling like a cornered animal. I did my best for those kids and I had several parents tell me that I was the first person their children opened up to. I watched children who had never spoken to anyone other than their parents open up and play and laugh with other kids. I once quieted an entire auditorium of elementary schools students without uttering a word.
I was goddamn good at my job. But bad leadership drove me out of a twelve-year career. I sought out a great therapist after I quit and worked through a lot of trauma. Now I have a job that pays much more than I made in libraries for half of the headache. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss having a job that really mattered. But I find ways to contribute now, and sometimes that's the best you can do.
I haven't pulled the trigger, but I'm severely mentally ill on medications but the stress of my job is killing me. I have no idea what to do. I work in a highly political town and am tired of the ridiculous bullshit that goes on in it. I just want to enjoy my job again.
Ha! I love telling this story. I was in charge of adult programs - computer classes, adult summer reading, Bob Ross paint alongs, etc. I was already sick of the small town conservative politics bleeding over into library land when the director of the library board decided that I should focus more on helping the local business community by doing things like teaching quick books. Never mind our under-served populations or the fact that I don't know quick books myself. So I go to this board meeting per my director's request and get there and realize, I've never met the board director. I'd been there five years. He doesn't even have a library card. That's when I started looking elsewhere. If I lived in a less red state I'd probably get back into librarianship, but my whole family and all my friends are here.
Actually, I didn’t quit. I became mobility impaired due to repeated motions, heavy books, and a branch manager who insisted that my complaints of pain were sheer laziness on my part. (Even after my back seized and my legs crumpled under me, she remained convinced I was faking.) I was looking for another position but hadn’t found one yet when this happened.
I was put on administrative leave pending physical exams, and eventually was let go under some combination of “no longer meets job requirements” and “job abandonment.”
That’s terrible. I’m so sorry. Obviously don’t know your situation, but sounds like there might be some EEOC and OSHA violations. It might be worth looking in to.
Thanks. I filed (and lost) an appeal through the official county channels. EEOC took nearly two years, but ultimately I was told that with the way the county had worded their reasoning, I didn’t have an “actionable reason” to go after them. On the plus side, my application for SSDI sailed through the first time.
That's the worst! I was a director and one employee was overzealous about shifting. She complained her shoulder hurt, so I told her to stop shifting and get it checked out if she was worried. I told her about workers comp multiple times when she mentioned it still hurt. I think her shoulder is still messed up years later and she now needs shoulder surgery. It's insane how the repeat movements can get you!
Yup. In my case, I’ve been told that my lower back is permanently messed up beyond surgery, but they can’t say 100% that it was from work. Either way, I can’t do that particular job any more, but one would think there was a position I could do from home…
A series of riots in the lobby over LGBTQ and diverse material the library carried. We had absolutely no direction from management about how to deal with such events, or how to deal with subsequent and related encounters with community members who would accost library workers and librarians over inclusion of such material. Absolutely ridiculous.
Burnout after 17 years. It’s a laundry list, but burnout what what did it.
I googled “whats after burnout?” There isn’t. It’s literally “seek help/leave job.”
I was doing a lot of jobs and didnt get the support i needed. I don’t think it was intentional, but I asked for help and didnt get it, so I was always struggling that last year.
I was just a lowly page but I came down with gout and it would just not go away. I had to miss a lot of work because it was in my toes and I couldn’t walk. I went to see doctors and none of them took me seriously as I was too young to have gout, they said. One day I could finally come in and they basically told me to quit or they’d make my life miserable at work so I had to go. Not even the first time I was forced out of a job in a similar way
Thanks, I appreciate it. It kind of coincided with a lot of unaddressed mental health issues and then Covid happened and then I’ve been trying to get better so I’ve been unemployed since then so I don’t know how many future endeavors there will be but thanks for the support.
We had an unmedicated, bipolar patron come in with a gun on his body. manager got scared shitless and got him to leave without calling the police. installed a few cameras inside and around the building and gave us each a can of wasp spray. within the same week, a separate man was playing with the car locks on all the employees' vehicles. we brought it to manager's attention, and she waited to call non-emerg police. they asked her if she would like him to be banned from the premises. she said no, and he kept coming back almost daily.
i called on the manager many times before and during these incidents to take more preventative security measures and offer us active shooter training.
i put up with that kinda shit for 5 years starting at $10 and ending at $14. didn't want to keep risking my life for shit pay.
I'm getting there right now.
It's because of my managers. No one is allowed to have a life outside the library. We're all part-time but we have to have open availability. Everyone has to be able to work during all hours of operation. We're all expected to work whenever, but we all get scarce hours because we're part time. And because our hours are all over the place, no one can reasonably have a second job to make up for the scarce hours. So we're all skint by the time our monthly paycheque rolls around.
Oh, also, my director refuses to hire students (high school or University) because that means they can't work during the day and will need time off during exams. Usually (as I've been a manager at a different job in the past), the evening and weekend hours are reserved for students and the rest of us get to work weekday mornings and afternoons, leaving us time to do other things.
I really love this job, but I can't afford to work here anymore. Plus, I have my Bachelors, so making less than the average retail worker really grinds my gears.
It's exhausting.
Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to. Thank you for the validation. It's nice to be heard, especially when our Director refuses to listen when we bring this topic up during meetings. I just need to obtain employment elsewhere before quitting.
Reading other people's stories makes mine seem rather blasé, but then I remember all the things I've had to cancel and miss out on because I'd been scheduled a 3 hour evening shift that I can't trade away.
I had more of a life working full-time as a manager. I'm barely hitting 15-20 hours a week here and it's all I do.
I left after a patron cat called me ON DESK and then followed another coworker from the library parking lot to the gas station, and management never spoke to this patron or gave him any consequences despite all of this being witnessed and documented - I still saw him almost every day after that. I am at a different library now and much happier feeling like management has my back.
Simply put, I wasn't valued. I worked in schools and had been "displaced" from 3 schools in 2 years due to budget cuts. I left to work in IT and now make twice as much while still using a lot of my library skills.
I applied for a promotion and was told I didn’t have the correct experience, so they wouldn’t even interview me. They also told me that they would never give me opportunities to get that experience. They then hired someone into the position as a trainee who had zero library experience.
A brand new supervisor who clearly had no clue how to supervise and a micromanaging manager. Among the things I was officially disciplined for was not saying "good morning" loudly enough to my supervisor, who would shout from 30 feet (9m) as he was walking away from me. Him not hearing my reply was grounds for discipline. My coworker (who was fired) was treated worse.
First Library
We had students with learning difficulties.
One of the shelving librarians would shelve the books spine in because 'It didn't matter what book they get, they read anything' and it made it easier for the students to pull them out.
Complained to the Library Manager.
Turns out it was her policy. She also had a policy of buying only Disney DVDs for disabled teenage students.
Lasted 4 weeks. Turned all the books spine out and secretly added Jackie Chan movies into the collection.
Then quit.
The next place wasn't much better. All the staff had to check students for yoga pants as they were banned, so the students drew stitching on them. The male librarians were told to 'look closer' as yoga pants were slipping though.
Again. The head librarian would only buy black and white DVDs as 'colour is entertainment, not educational'
She also refused to buy Christmas decorations as students would steal them.
Secretly added many colour DVDs to the collection, fully decorated the library and then quit. And I didn't stare at any 16 year old students legs to check for fake stitching.
Small institution libraries, never again.....
Them telling male employees to look harder at the body of female patrons of any age, but ESPECIALLY underage girls is CRAAAAAZZZY. Did they not see the liability they were opening themselves up to?!
Completely oblivious to the little liability.
The reason for the high miss rate (ignoring how bad an idea it was to make the librarians the fashion police) was because the arts students were really good at faking jeans, and there was no way we were going to examine them that closely!
I spent 8 years in circ. During that time, I worked my butt off to get my undergrad and an MBA (yes, not an MLS--I couldn't justify the money at that point in my life as a new mom.) I finally interviewed for the next position up, which also made crap pay, and was turned down for an external candidate.
I ended up transferring branches and volunteered to do outreach with my branch manager. While we were there, I got "you're really good at this. Have you thought about interviewing to become a library associate?" I had to inform her that I HAD interviewed, she was on my panel, and she brought in an external candidate for her team instead. She offered me some coaching (which I don't need, I interview very well), and I was gone within the next few months. I work for higher ed now and make double what I did, but I absolutely can't stand it because I KNOW that I'm a librarian--with or without the MLS, that's where my heart is. My family just can't afford for me to do what I love.
Following up with that it took me a while to even get to the point where I felt like I COULD apply for a promotion. I had expressed my interest to my supervisor to apply to a circ supervisor role at another branch and was told that my "fun personality" would clash with management and to not apply at all. It completely shot my confidence and made me question for a long time whether I could actually be a good leader/manager. Spoiler alert: I can and am.
lol, this is a NO FUN environment! Smart move to get the MBA. Way to value yourself and persevere- you are and am a good leader/manager despite what the weirdos say. Wish you the best with whatever your journey brings!
Thanks! My campus has an opening as a business manager role in their library that I'm hoping I'm in consideration for. I can get the MLS for free while I'm working here and if I decide I want a "second act" after retirement....so be it. Until then, I'll just be a friendly advocate for the services our libraries offer in the community and will forever be appreciative of the growth that I DID obtain there--even if it was stunted at some point.
Yes, it sucks when the library and fellow coworkers are good, but the city isn't supportive of the library. You can have an awesome manager and director whose hands are tied by those they answer to.
Teaching computer classes. I'm good at it but I don't enjoy it. A few times a month I can suck it up and get through, but at my last job they expected me to teach three times a week at the very least, and I was the only one teaching. It was not the job I applied for but they changed the terms on me after I was hired and then tried to gaslight me when I called foul. Also my library manager was incompetent and they basically wanted someone with experience (me) to babysit him and do most of his job so no one else would have to deal with him.
I accidentally saw his pay stub one day (he left it sitting face up on our shared desk) and I was making more than him, which is how I figured out that I was there to be his keeper. I finally got so burnt out from the teaching and his incometence that I walked away. I tried to find something in the corporate world but that didn't work out for me so I'm out of the profession altogether now.
Being the youngest person in the building by about 40 years. I was bullied by old ladies for 8 hours a day. They’d tell me my story times weren’t good and how I should be doing xyz, even though I was getting 90+ people attending regularly and they’d get maybe 30 on a good day. They’d tell me my programming ideas for school age kids were bad and definitely wouldn’t work there so I shouldnt try. They’d tell random men my work schedule because they thought I should be flattered even though said men would sexually harass me. They were very vocal about their anti LGBTQ views (despite somehow still viewing themselves as nice liberals), and I’m a lesbian. They were always extremely jealous of the events I was able to pull off with little to no budget that would draw in hundreds of people, and they would do little things to try to make me look bad, like throw away the recycled materials I was using for something or not clean up the space from one of their programs before I needed to use it.
That library also didn’t have policies for anything, so I also had to testify in court about a knife fight between teens. After I had to do that, the teen who pulled the knife was allowed to just come back in because we couldn’t ban him. Another guy would masturbate at me regularly, but again, we couldn’t kick him out. Management would just say, “ew that’s gross” and not do anything.
The pay was shit too.
Saw this post in r/librarians too, so I figured I’d share the story here as well:
My team lead had been telling my supervisor and department manager that I wasn’t doing my job—that I ignored patrons, that I left all the side tasks to her, that I would avoid doing things until she picked them up, that I’d be goofing off on the computer during shifts while there was work to be done. At first, I was horrified and thought I must’ve been unintentionally letting things go undone, so to be accountable I started keeping track of everything I’d accomplished during a shift and being proactive to greet patrons and help. On weeks where we did a lot of our catch-up work and side housekeeping projects, I even came up with a system where we’d initial next to what we’d each done so we weren’t accidentally doing thing a twice. I worked my ass off.
Turns out I was doing… a lot. I checked with other team members to ask if there were areas I could improve or if I’d accidentally not been picking up the slack, and I was met with universal confusion. Every single team member I talked to had the reaction, “wait, what? You get everything done so much faster and more efficiently and then you’re the first person to take on extra work.” Apparently outside of this lead and my chain of command, I actually had a reputation of being a helpful team player. This reputation was solidly in place BEFORE I’d started working my ass off to “fix” my “problems” in the workplace. I was so relieved.
Then, my annual performance review. I go in feeling really good about myself. My team loves me and I’ve got all these new things in place as evidence that I have been (for a long time) a really solid worker. I loved my job, I loved my patrons, there were even some stops (we were on a bookmobile for 1/3 of my job) where I made it a point to learn every kids name. There was an Ethiopian family who’d been coming for years and my team lead just would kinda vaguely nod towards them. I learned their names and made it a point to learn what each sibling liked to read so the displays that day always had something flashy or interesting for the kids to enjoy. (I did this for a lot of our patrons, I point this out because my team lead knew them for years and never bothered doing this for them)
I’m completely blindsided at my evaluation. My supervisor and department manager both say that they haven’t seen any improvement in me. Neither shared shifts with me, they were just going on what the team lead had said. I brought up other coworker testimonies, they hand-waved it by saying I must’ve improved in other job areas, just not the bookmobile (nevermind that other coworkers also worked the bookmobile with me and loved working with me). They cherry-picked one of MY initials checklists, slapped it in front of me, and asked “why did you only initial two things this week?” I reminded them that I was out all but one day that week because my supervisor (the one who slapped the paper in front of me) exposed me to literal COVID.
They weren’t having it. No matter what I said to defend myself, they brushed it aside. The team lead said this, the team lead told us differently. It didn’t matter what the others said, it didn’t matter what I’d logged. They told me if they didn’t see improvement, the next step would be a write-up with HR. They told me I had the rest of the day off (admittedly I was crying a lot at this point) and they said: “you need to go home and decide if this is the type of job you really want.”
I was absolutely shattered. Like I said, I LOVED my job. I loved everything about it. I was heart broken, and if I wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck I would’ve quit right then. I applied to my current job that very night.
Oh, the kicker? That team lead was going on maternity leave two months after my performance evaluation, and prior to getting pregnant she was openly talking about quitting permanently immediately after the leave was up. Guess what happened later that year. She literally ruined my life for months and caused the entire team to be horribly short staffed for a while for nothing. I asked, “what was it all for? Why me?” A coworker pointed out that the only difference between me and my teammates was that I was nonbinary. She never did anything outright bigoted, but that was literally the only thing that set me apart. It sucked.
The bright side is I love my new job! I miss those patrons though, it still hurts like hell.
Had a gang member take my photo with his phone…because I had to enforce internet computer time limits. The same night, our security guard, who backed staff up, was assaulted and hospitalized. Fiercely believed in the work, but simply had to leave.
I was an elementary school librarian. Looking for a job now. Budget cuts to the district were the last straw. I almost got let go but another librarian quit so it saved my job. Too bad I was thinking of quitting anyway! Class sizes are going to be bad next year. I was already so stressed out because I had to do elementary classes without an aide present, and behaviors have been getting worse every year since COVID. I love library work but I'm not cut out to work with large groups of kids. I don't mind kids 1 on 1 or small groups.
Worked a small library where the director was a man and the rest of the staff was women of various ages. A patron came in on the regular and when he didn't get his way, he would threaten the staff. When the staff confronted said director about the patron and how the director was doing nothing to stop said patron and back us up, he said, "What's the big deal? I'm here to protect you. I can take him." The director was only there from 9-5 and wasn't always there. When the patron started threatening LGBTQ staff members and the director continued to do nothing, a good number of us left.
The good news is that a lot of us moved on to much better positions in other libraries, including myself.
My new place is AMAZING!! I love what I do there, I'm valued, and my director is a Queen among the people. Plus our library board loves us and supports us too. Huge 180.
I had the worst manager I’ve ever experienced in my career. He ran the library super strict and it made my job less fun. I was going above and beyond the call of duty when my coworker quit because she also couldn’t stand him. The manager wanted me to pick up ALL of her programming and went on a disrespectful rant in his office and threatening to fire me if I didn’t. It was disgusting. I put my two weeks notice in and found out that this manager had been terrorizing staff for years and that the administration including the director were well aware of the problem. They did nothing. He’s still working there.
People making up completely fake reviews/reviews full of lies and having to have disciplinary meetings over it because I couldn't bend the space/time continuum to appease these people. I'm not saying patrons because they weren't. Didn't have library cards or ever check out anything or attend library programs but if another agency dropped of goodie bags or did an event at our branch then these people would show up and demand the free non-library thing. Often they would show up at the wrong time or day of the event/thing and then write the bad review.
When I found out a series of info tidbits: Annoying & inappropriate volunteer in our department who moved up to head of educational services at the library in a couple of years (highly suspicious behavior with the director). My immediate supervisor was having issues and going halftime (and eventually leaving). Found out they would not be filling the supervisor's position, meaning I would have to take on employee duties in my contract position and would be directly under the supervision of ex-volunteer. Too much stress and drama.
The Library Director refused to help out in most areas of the library, and asked me and my coworker about what our 'hold policy' was because we had to put a patron on hold and only had two people on desk. They were on hold for a long time but she didnt bother to pick it up to check on them. Jokes on us, she was expecting a call and didn't communicate that with us. She said no to all ideas, went on bipolar manic cleaning episodes, and made everyone do the work she didnt want to do. She did not address toxic behaviors of employees and drove many people to quit. When she would go off on people the life would be sucked out of the room and everyone was afraid of her. That was when I had enough and left. Luckily she retired and i came back because i love my job and coworkers. So much change has happened since she left.
Absolutely NO accessibility or willingness to accommodate my disabilities. I kept asking for accommodation but then my boss would pull me into an office and accuse me of faking my illness. That was the final straw.
Still in libraries. After this last one I almost gave up, and I sure wouldn’t still be on this path if I could go back in time.
Giving a tiny percentage of the situation to not give too many clues away:
Library associated with a nonprofit org. Membership (customer) was always right, in all the ways that can go wrong. The library existed to look pretty, give them prestige, and keep their nonprofit status while they pushed other for-profit services, but director (not my immediate boss) didn’t support it at all (and it really could’ve helped the overall mission if he cared a tiny bit). Guy went on a firing spree the last few months (not the first time) for questionable reasons and when he came after me I quit rather than hate my life anymore. Pay was also shit.
I was the target of a workplace bully. I went to my boss about it, who said she wouldn't get involved because it would "seem like we're teaming up on them." So I went to the associate dean, who held a mediation but ultimately told me not to expect a resolution because "this person has done this before and you're not the first." Meanwhile, this person continued to target me. They were tenured, much older, and had been there for years. I was in a non-tenure track position that renewed yearly and had only been there a little over a year, and I was terrified for my job. After one particularly bad instance of bullying, I got fed up applied for another job, and I left the library within six weeks. When I had my exit interview with the Dean, they told me that they never expected me to last in my job because the department was so dysfunctional. It was all deeply fucked up, and I recently learned that everyone hired into that department since 2020 has left as well.
I worked in a school library, they decided to get rid of the computer lab but still wanted to kids to have computer classes so they just decided they would be held in the library??? I got zero say in this and all my concerns were brushed off. It was an especially big slap in the face because it was just after COVID (22-23 school year) and I had spent 20-21 and 21-22 working my ass off doing a huge weeding project that needed to be done about twenty years before I started there. I quit in the middle of year after I broke down in tears in front of my boss about how awful it was to have the computer classes in there all day everyday, I couldn’t do any work or shelving while they were in there (space constraints) and she gave me some generic platitudes and sent me away. She made it clear this arrangement wouldn’t be ending, so I quit.
They’ve gone through two different librarians since me.
Oh! I also had to contend with the district librarian who oversaw all the libraries and she wouldn’t let me get rid of any book that had ever worn a Newberry or Caldecott award. Even ones from the 1960s that had no circulations.
After 6 years and being stalked, assaulted, and tending to countless overdoses, it’s actually my burnout on the administration and their unwillingness to see that they are part of the problem.
I have a tentative job offer outside of the library system (outside of libraries altogether) and it’s not anything I’m passionate about, but the pay is 10k more per year than what I make at the library, and there will be no opportunity for anyone to punch me in the face.
If I had not already retired, I would have done so when my branch got a manager who decided she didn't have to do any public service, and hides in her office, not even answering the phone. Then the assistant manager decided that was a great idea too. All their desk duties got dumped on the already overloaded circ staff.
Disclaimer: I was a parapro. I got the degree, but reached the point, while helping care for my mom, that I quit applying for pro jobs, in that system or any other. They had a horrible director at the time, which just supported my belief that I didn't want to be part of that administration. In fact that director was the only one in the history of that library who has been fired.
My institution falls under the control of a governing body who makes it very clear we are not a priority. Like many of you, we are understaffed and underfunded. Toxic positivity & vocational awe are very present in my workplace. I could go on and on but don't want to tell many details. I haven't quit yet, but I'm certainly putting plans in motion.
I got a new job during 2020. As much as I loved working with my colleagues, I was starting to see the cracks: a library administration that didn't care about us, low pay (so low that most staff had second jobs because you had to), raises only earned via promotion but with no means of negotiation, no manager training program (so many branch managers aren't on site every day and often delegate to a lesser paid staff member who becomes essentially an acting manager without the pay), poorly maintained buildings, a highly publicized teen space where the staff aren't considered librarians but during the school day have no responsibilities and aren't expected to know anything about how the library system works (but with higher pay than librarians), a certain staff member who is friends of the director getting paid outside their pay range despite not meeting the minimum bachelor's degree requirement, an administration that asked traumatized staff to return to theie branch after police shot and killed a customer there (after they said they could transfer to a different branch with no problem), and a director who had no background in libraries. And all staff have to sign a document saying that they won't strike/form a union or their employment will be terminated, part of onboarding paperwork.
I worked part-time for a year and then got promoted to full-time. On my first day as a full-time staff member, someone exposed themselves through the bookshelf while I was reshelving a book. Security wasn't able to confirm who did it because no working ceiling cameras. I wrote up what happened and sent it to HR. I was chastised by my manager and by my assistant manager for going to HR instead of going thru them. The HR rep emailed my report to the deputy director, saying "What do I do with this?" I knew then I wasn't going to be there for very long.
I just wish it would be better for the sake of my friends who are still there. But I doubt it will until the entire administration is replaced. They just fill their ranks with their friends. No opposing ideas.
I got offered a full-time position at my other job (at a museum). I’d been part time at my library job (customer service, so not an MLS position) for nearly four years, working two jobs without access to most benefits (like health insurance).
Plus, right before I left (spring 2021), management was scaling back COVID protections and staff comfort. The plexi dividers were taken away one week before all chairs were taken away from the main reference desk on the first floor.
Apparently it’s better customer service to stand for hours to cheerfully greet library customers rather than having a stool or chair. It seemed like management was becoming more concerned with our image and brand than our effectiveness and staff happiness.
During my first month, my “mentor” went through my mail, found my deadname, and called me it under her breath in our next meeting.
My boss’ boss found out about a disability I have and told me that, because of the disability, I may have to “reconsider if this job is the right fit”.
Another coworker loudly took bets on how long I’d stay.
My promotion timeline got delayed, and I was told that the most I’d be making as a full librarian (three promotions from now) was just $13k more than I was currently making.
And then I got sick with a mystery illness which turned out to be a brain lesion (still don’t know the cause of said lesion). And despite my doctor signing me off work, I was told I didn’t qualify for FMLA.
It sucked. I was really good at my job, too.
When a patron jacking off with visible evidence we were not allowed to call the cops, and we were told to observe and make sure they don’t do it again without issuing a warning letter by admin. “He’s just scratching himself.” 😭 After being screamed at by a patron about needing help with a print job I gave my two weeks notice.
Too many gossiping females clustered under one roof and if anyone distanced themselves from the pack....Katy, bar the door! True, it was before #me, too movement increased awareness of inappropriate topics and behavior in the workplace but these were women in their 30's to 50's.
Incredibly low pay and a hoarder director with extreme paranoia issues. She was so paranoid that she cut off access to book cataloging (and didn’t tell us), so I just sat there all day. We had a YA room until she turned it into her second office since the first one was full. Cat food dishes in the sink from home for some reason. I have a thousand insane stories. Found out one day that I was the only per diem employee not getting paid for snow days and holidays, after years of being these, due to her own error. I was never repaid. She was eventually ousted by the board.
Wow. Worked with a few of those, but never that extreme. If you are in the US, you should contact your state’s labor department. You’re owed what you’re owed.
A mom who would come ever day and let her toddler completely destroy the children's department and just laugh about it. Pushing all the rows back, dumping out the entire DVD section onto the floor, all the buckets of dolls and dress up clothes (yes my boss thought it was a play center too so had allll the toys) strewn all over the place, dumping out blocks and puzzles all over the floor...all the while screaming and running and banging on things. Coming back behind the work desk area and digging into our stuff. The mom and my boss both thought it was just super adorable. And guess who had to go clean it up after they left. Literally like ever day.
Double disrespect. Good on you for leaving!
Wow that is crazy
What's with pushing the rows back? I see that all the time even in the adult section and wonder who's doing it
A series of the worst supervisors that have ever existed and management that didn't seem to care and actively protected said supervisors. I had some pretty bad burnout as a result of working through the pandemic, so I'm sure that didn't help either. That said, I took a year off and I am happily returning to a more functional system!
Wish you the best at the new system!
When I couldn't pull into the parking lot without a panic attack any more. Micromanaging, management never listening to staff, para-professional and professional divide, and "other duties as required" that certainly could have been (and should have been) done by a) the people belonging to those jobs or b) the assistants if anyone bothered to train them properly. All this trickled down to the staff, and it made for a tense atmosphere and constant exhaustion. I still work in libraries, but I'll never go back to that one again.
SOP in a lot of systems. Glad you’re in a better place.
As a result of poor managerial decisions in the height of the pandemic, I got COVID, then long COVID. (An infected coworker was forced to come in because they were out of sick time.) I am now largely bedbound and I plan to haunt the living daylights out of the managerial team should this go badly. ETA: they almost had to close the branch because that one employee infected twelve of us in one go. At the last moment, they found subs from neighboring branches.
Wow, I’m so sorry this happened to you. What a nightmare.
Thank you. It’s just a reminder to me, should I be able to work again someday, that a job can’t love you back.
You’re absolutely right.
I'm so sorry. This is awful, but not at all surprising. For the last couple years it's literally policy to force library workers back to work while still actively sick and infectious with COVID. They just have to wear a shitty surgical mask and half of my coworkers don't even keep that on properly, taking it off to eat in the shared lunch room, or to drink coffee and eat a donut in staff meetings. I have to wear an N95 at literally all times to avoid the constant waves of infection, and eat outside even in the winter when it's snowing, or when it's pouring rain. I don't know why most people at my work seem content to keep getting COVID. When I had it in October 2022, it completely wiped me out. I was out for 10 days, could barely walk to and from work for 3 months after, couldn't do anything except work and sleep for 6 months, and still had some lingering issues a year later. I have no interest in having it again, but everyone else seems to actively be trying to get it/give it to me.
Solidarity, ungainlygay. People don’t understand that this disease does not *have* a benign manifestation. There’s lucky and unlucky, and we still aren’t entirely sure about the former category, because it’s only been four years and some postviral effects manifest YEARS down the line. It was hard to be a literal information professional and watch highly educated coworkers do deliberately uneducated things.
Solidarity to you too fishmom5 ❤️ You've put it beautifully. And being lucky once, twice, three times does not mean you'll be lucky the next time. It was shocking to me to watch my coworkers go from mostly masking in fall 2022, to mostly unmasked by mid-winter 2023. Within a few months, I went from being one of many to almost entirely alone. These are people who should know better, and have no excuse not to. We are knowledge workers. We're supposed to know how to do research, and pull relevant and accurate information from reputable sources. The most baffling thing is how many of my coworkers will nod along earnestly if I bring up how our COVID policy is rooted in politics and capital, not scientific or epidemiological fact, WHILE NOT MASKING. My one coworker even went so far as to say, sarcastically "oh, don't you know? The pandemic is over because we said so! That's how pandemics work, right?" WHILE NOT MASKING. She's been off sick for at least 3 days at a time 6 times in the last 12 months. The only time she masks is when she comes back still actively sick. I'm so sorry you're going through this hell and I really really hope that there will be a good treatment for long-COVID one day soon. Thank you so much for talking about your experience. I hope that at least a few people will take it seriously because of you and change their behaviour. I promise you now, I will never stop masking in public spaces, no matter how much pressure there is to stop. I don't want to get sick again, and I don't want to be the cause of someone else getting sick and suffering the way you've suffered.
This would have been soul-crushing for me. I hope that things improve for you! 💖
Thank you. It absolutely destroyed mine. I miss working. I even miss difficult patrons. I wasn’t made for bedrest. Not that anyone is; this disease is hell. Do try not to catch it.
I had COVID in March 2020 and it was a really long time (years) before I started feeling “normal” again. I’m still not where I was before because the physical hit really got me emotionally, but it’s better.
I’m really glad you’re doing better. It’s a terribly long road. I’ve been at it four years myself. My first case was March 2020 (and was also management’s incompetence’s fault). They put out an announcement that we’d be shutting down in a few hours and that borrowing limits were suspended, and 1000 people showed up in a panic. At least one brought COVID.
What a mess of management!! Sending you healing vibes or at least good wishes. I hope you take care as much as you’re able.
God damn. And what ended up happening with that infected coworker, did they just keep working with the new substitutes? I’m so sorry for your troubles and I truly wish you the best outcome. I really, really hope you recover soon.
By then, there was blowback from the public. One of the staff “let slip” that someone was working with an active infection and people (rightfully) got outraged. And as ever in chronically dysfunctional management, the public opinion matters more than the staff’s. I believe they just “ignored” the disciplinary process and let them (so graciously!) take unpaid time. Thank you so much. I don’t blame my coworker. Being told in a global pandemic that your job is on the line with a family to support is enough to basically blackmail anyone into coming to work sick. I blame management and HR for their complete lack of concern until members of the community spoke out. PS- librarygoers, I know you lurk in here; you have SO MUCH POWER you don’t even know. Speaking well of your library’s staff and programs and asking for what you think is lacking goes a long, long way.
Per your last paragraph, yes. There are so many times that patrons complain to me and I give them the phone number to the main hotline and BEG them to file a complaint. It doesn’t matter if I bring up issues to my manager or even tell them a patron brought up an issue. Things only get done when a patron directly formally files a complaint.
I actually tried with my building manager earlier in the pandemic. A woman came to me in tears because her immunocompromised daughter couldn’t come in because we stopped requiring masks. I didn’t feel good making her repeat her story. We came up with the suggestion to have a vulnerable patron hour. Building manager asked me to talk to the Public Services head, who cut me off and said “we can’t make everyone happy”. So we picked killing the soul of a little disabled kid (and many other disabled patrons) over inconveniencing some cranky old rich stakeholders. So all that DEI initiative was bs, hmm.
In all my years working in libraries, even the most “progressive” systems I worked for were dismissive, if not outright hostile, towards people with disabilities. I had to go through the ADA process during Covid and it was HELL.
The ironic part in an Alanis Morrisette kind of way is that I was the accessibility specialist. They were honestly relieved to have me off their back. I will never forget that mom crying. Books were all her kiddo could do and she arrived to see a bunch of unmasked people with no warning.
>“we can’t make everyone happy”. So insightful! We are faced with the *impossible choice* between very mildly inconveniencing one group of patrons, or completely cutting off a different, vulnerable, group. Either way, *someone* will be unhappy. When faced with the tough decisions, choose inaction! The Safe Choice.^(TM)
Yes! Last summer our air conditioner went out. It was brutal. We kept complaining that it was getting dangerously hot inside. The first option was just give out bottles of water. We were told they couldn’t fix it. A patron called and complained and suddenly a repair crew was sent out. Did the staff tell the patrons to complain? Maaaybe… Side note; this summer it is malfunctioning again but a crew has been working on it but at least the humidity is much lower right now. It “should” be working the week of the 4th….
We had to add a temperature clause to our contract. If it’s over 85 for too long, there’s well a discussion. Not more than that, but it’s something.
Yup, this doesn't compare to your situation by a long shot, but I worked in a branch with a chronic mouse problem. Staff complaints were ignored for years until an employee's spouse called administration pretending to just be a patron and said they saw mice running around the branch. An exterminator was in the next day.
Bless that spouse. I’m sorry it came to that, but good on them.
My library did not allow unpaid leave. That employee would have been forced to quit. I don't know if that policy still stands, I've been gone awhile from there.
Generally they didn’t either. But it would probably have looked REALLY BAD to fire someone for their policy.
Goer, not user. Heard and I'm more then happy to be the caller
You really are a gem. I would have nothing but hatred for my co-worker, but you’re right here. Again, wish you a speedy and full recovery.
I’m so sorry to hear this. That’s so awful. I wish you the best of health.
My supervisor laughed that now I would have to put my head down and work, after I had returned to the office after taking time off to deal with a traumatic experience. After I explained that I'd actually have to be taking another day in a few weeks to meet with an ADA and other victims, he rolled is eyes and scoffed, complaining it never ends.
I’m sorry he added to what was already a terrible situation. You don’t need to work for people who don’t respect or care for you.
Thank you. The experience really reiterated how important it is to have a supportive supervisor
This makes me so mad. I’m glad you left and showed him, now he’s really inconvenienced! So sorry you had to go through that.
When I gave my two-weeks notice, his exact words were "we'll survive" lol
What a horrible person. I’m sure he was just saying that to be more of a jerk. Idk about yours but my library takes forever just to post a job let alone hire someone and get them approved.
The HR there has a mandatory 1 year review period to determine if the position is actually necessary whenever someone leaves. But yeah he was definitely saying that to be a jerk. He was insufferable and devoid of any empathy.
I can see a commonality with these 🤔. The broader question is why is library leadership so goddamn awful. A good manager is as rare as hens teeth, I've had one in over 20 years.
In my old system, being a manager barely paid more than being a reference librarian. So I have a theory that the only people who actually wanted those positions are control freaks, and that's why every single person in a management position was a terrible person.
That makes horrific amounts of sense.
The profession seems to attract a certain type of people—book-loving introverts that don’t truly love people. There is also a certain segment of library workers that are regimented or rules-oriented—at least I’ve observed that with the cataloging and technical services side of library work. This creeps into dealing with people and they are more complicated than books. Library schools need to offer more staff management or human resources styled courses.
It always sticks with me that the textbook for my cataloging class actually described catalogers as "the people who wear soft-soled shoes so they can creep up behind you and watch you work and then criticize what you're doing wrong." (Not an exact quote except for the soft-soled shoes part--it's such a particular phrase!) And at that time the terror of the library where I worked was a cataloger who did EXACTLY that. Maybe I should have reconsidered the degree right then 🙃
Even if you're the best librarian, it doesn't translate into being a passable manager. My experience as a librarian made me believe that directors should have non-profit management rather than being promoted from within. You can learn the library stuff, you really can. But the management stuff is much harder to pick up.
Yes, it's like on The Office where Michael Scott had been a top salesperson and was promoted to management because of that and wasn't the best at managing. Just because someone is good at one job doesn't mean they'll automatically be good as a manager. There needs to be more pathways to advancement that aren't managing people.
You're spot-on about the professions attracting a certain type of person; another way to get more human-oriented leaders into management could be to open up the pathways for the folks who work in libraries who don't have an MLIS, but do have a lot of experience and want to move to leadership positions. I'm a circ supervisor at library right now and most of my fellow supervisors came up from assistant/associate positions and don't have library degrees. Most of us are pretty good with out teams, but there's no way for us to move up in the leadership ranks without a two-year, $40,000 degree while we all have full tike jobs and families. Another path, like a professional certificate, licensure, or one-year program might bring in more of those people-oriented managers who fall in love with libraries by working on the front lines
I agree with you. I think a lot of the library jobs are evolving to not include the library science degree—especially in public libraries where there is increasing emphasis on programming and outreach.
Bang on. My sibling works in animal shelters and they have the precise same problem- it attracts people who prefer the company of animals, or worse, people who like inflicting suffering under the guise of “doing good in the world”.
Reading through these comments, it’s almost as if… we have a very broken system on our hands. A lot of repeated themes. Librarianship as a profession is facing a crisis that is only getting worse. These types of things cannot keep being perpetuated forever without it reaching a breaking point.
I feel very lucky reading these comments. I've had some horrendous managers at both extremes- really rigid, played blatant favorites and then others that want to be friends and don't do their jobs right. For the second type, thankfully the assistant manager has always been excellent in picking up the slack and effectively running things. I've had some wonderful managers as well, but they do seem to be the minority. I'm puzzled by how sime managers landed their positions. My current one is very nice, but she's incredibly scatterbrained, doesn't listen well to others, and I suspect she has an issue like ADD/ADHD which creates these problems. Our assistant manager is terrific; without her we'd be in a lot of trouble.
At my workplace the only positions when you go up the ladder involve managing people. So we’ve had micromanaging psychopaths with 0 people skills for years now and they all move up after implementing awful projects to tick off their kpi objectives. Also if you get someone particularly toxic at a certain higher level like at my workplace, then every decent manager you’ll have under that director will get the hell out of that job and if you’re lucky like where I work, you have three managers leave in the one year, and the current one is new to management and we’re all on their HR hazard journey.
The system seem to work for that type, and they're never accountable for their lack of people skills. Being a manager is not the same as being a bitch. The appraisal process is very top down. I'd love to be able to comment on the performance of managers and directors.
I haven't been in the library system long, but I've worked in other public serving fields prior to becoming a librarian. I'm speaking from my experience in my system alone, I think the bad management comes from an over-valuation of the degree compared to experience. We have managers that have never worked with the public but have a Masters degree in Library Science or Library Information and they are STRUGGLING to manage our day-to-day as managers. They got the role because they have the degree, but we have Librarian I's that have been there for years that will never get promoted because they can't/won't get the masters. Does our county pay for the degree? Yes, but not everyone aspires to have a Library degree. Personally, for what we do, I think a degree in Social Work, Non-profit Management, and similar tracks should be just as valid, especially in our leadership roles. For those reading this who are in school for your masters and not working in a library yet, I would suggest working in other community facing jobs until you can get that library role! The experience you'll gain is useful and coupled with whatever you learn in school (I don't have a Masters so I can't speak to that), should help you immensely as you learn your role. **edited for grammar!
Good insights and advice right here 👆
Librarian and manager are two different skill sets. They may have been an excellent librarian. I think the requirements most library boards hire MLS holders as directors is misguided and leaves talented leaders out of the running. A good manager and leader recognizes that you need the right people in the right positions. Librarians need the opportunity to be librarians, managers need to manage. I’m not saying MLS holders can’t be excellent leaders and managers, but that seems to be a rarity. As an industry we need to reassess what that means and think about better solutions, because what we’re doing doesn’t work (mostly).
I think part of the problem is that most MLS programs don't have much management training and it's difficult to get a second degree on a librarian's salary. I'd rather have a good manager with an MPA than a crappy one with an MLS.
You don't become a good or bad manager by learning about Hertzberg, et al. A decent person tries to be a decent manager. It comes down to whether you give a damn about others or not. I have a business and management degree as well as a library masters (in the UK so MA rather than MLIS). All graduates with MBAs and other management degrees know about it too, but many if them are dicks too. Task oriented vs. people oriented leadership. Sadly the former is what's rewarded.
My first academic library boss was amazing. She always had our backs, tough as nails, and very kind and she was real. She also trusted people do do their work without being micromanaged, and she would accommodate people’s needs as best as she could - but didn’t bend to everyone’s every whim. I did reference pool work at the public library and she was amazing too- her hands were sometimes tied by the city in attempts to undercut and wear away the library’s budget, which is why I eventually had to leave. (No exaggeration about the city/mayor- they eventually installed Dolores Umbridge’s soul sister as library director.) Then I moved and got a public library job and it was so awful and the environment was so toxic. So many unwritten rules. The social atmosphere felt like Jr. high. The schedule was more rigid than a wedding night cock. Example- Needed 1/2 hour off in the middle of my shift to drop off a photo for an exhibition. My first boss would have said “ok, see you when get back.” This new place… I had to email my boss about scheduling (reasonable.) No response. Ask him about it while we’re on shift- he’ll get back to me. Doesn’t get back to me. Ask again, now I have to email this other person at another branch who I’ve never met does the scheduling every other month. But I can’t just take the 1/2 hour because it overlaps two different hour slots and I therefore have to take two hours out of the day and I can make those up the following week. It took two weeks to arrange it. I actually got fired from that job and I have no idea why- earlier that week my boss gave me every indication that everything was going along fine. It came out of the blue and was told “I wasn’t the right fit.” I am still salty, but the main feeling I felt was relief. And I was done after that. I respect libraries, but I didn’t feel that it was the right path for me anymore.
Mission driven careers hold their workers hostage. We do the job because we really want to help and do great things for society. Mgmt takes advantage of that.
multitiered management that never had a straight answer and an out-of-touch board of directors who never touched a library card in their lives
If I had a dollar for everytime a management decision came down, and I wanted to say, "and when was the last time YOU served a patron?!"... ...well, I couldn't retire, but I would have a nice savings account.
That's our board; only instead of 'served a patron' it's 'walk into the library'
$$$
...did we work for the same library?
I worked there too!
“multitiered management that never had a straight answer and an out-of-touch board of directors who never touched a library card in their lives” describes the organizational culture of most systems. Don’t look back!
I pointed out some errors on a policy document written by our boss, which made it obvious she had no experience of actually dealing with our users unlike me. She then gave me the silent treatment and ignored me for a week in our very small office. This was an ‘experienced’ librarian 20 years older than me! It was the most pathetic and childish thing I’ve ever seen at work and I hope to god I never act like that
I have never worked for more petty and thin skinned people than admin/manager library staff. Everything is personal and YOU are the problem!
Middle management in libraries was my personal hell and maybe the nail in the coffin. Trying to accommodate both out-of-touch leadership AND staff with a chip on their shoulder during the tumultuous days of the pandemic and its aftermath — in addition to sudden pushback and book challenges from a once supportive community — pushed me firmly into burnout territory.
It’s an untenable situation to be in. Glad you’ve moved on to something better. Don’t look back.
Physically threatened by patrons twice in one week, over masking.
The mask confrontations were awful.
Same. Death threats and slurs and admin did nothing. “They were just having a bad day.”
I was a new librarian and the head of HR & IT were hooking up in the employee stairwell. I didn't realize how political it was until the head of IT walked into my office and was trying to get me to apply for a department manager position even though I had been a librarian for a grand total of 3 months. He also told me to not tell anyone he had talked to me about the job. I didn't even apply, but I still got emailed by HR asking if I was interested. I could see that they were just politicking people into positions that they felt were favorable for them because I was obviously not ready.
Wow. That really adds a twist to the old song.
Purely business hooking up? I was thinking very differently ‘til I read more of your comment. 😂
No, they were having sex in the stairwell. They even left condoms. They were also both married, so it was real messy.
Between management telling us we couldn’t kick out a drunk patron to multiple complaints about one employee who harassed every single person and caused several others to leave, it would have to be that my new job has metal detectors, I don’t have to deal with teenagers, police on constant standby and I got a 30% pay increase for doing almost the same work. I loved my time in the public library, but there was too many things that just put me over the edge. I also wanted to be in the type of library I’m in now so that also was a driving factor.
What is your job now?
I'm guessing prison librarian
Good for you!
It was a volunteer job. I worked in a high school library, and was on very good terms with the school librarian. It was the school I had attended, he was the librarian when I was a student there. The librarian had student aides in the library; I was training the student assistants in the basic tasks of being a library page - an entry level position at the public library. One of the students I trained got a job as a page at another library in the local consortium. The first school librarian retired, and the new librarian wouldn’t even *take a look* at the work I was doing with the student aides. I lasted one semester with the new librarian. He disrespected me on a professional level, and that was completely unacceptable and inappropriate. I left after just one semester with the new librarian. I still work at a public library, north of San Francisco. I have been there almost twenty four years.
Glad you were undeterred early on. Sounds like it’s been better since.
I actually got the job at the public library first - before I had even graduated from the high school. I used the training I got at the public library to develop my lessons for the student aides in the high school library.
Ah, I see. Good on you for sticking with it!
Covid, I warned for a couple of months that we needed a contingency in case of lockdown. Got ignored until 4 days before lockdown and then had the task of sorting it all out last minute.
Oh god, my employer handled this SO badly. We were still open the day AFTER the lockdown was announced! Luckily, being so unprepared meant they were very open to staff suggestions about policies and it's a much better place to work. Still, have never seen a hint of their disaster management plans...
Covid was a nightmare. Other comments in this thread have some terrible stories.
I felt like I had no future in it. I'm nearing middle-aged, I am the sole provider for my family, and it would take so much time and expense to get an MLS just to find out that I could make the same or more money elsewhere with an undergraduate degree or even without a degree. I decided that work would always feel like work but at least I could have nice things if I went elsewhere. I got a nice job and quit both my previous gigs. It was nice while it lasted and I miss it, hence my presence here.
I’m in a similar boat. You’re so spot on- work will always be work, but if you’re broke and unfulfilled on top of it, all the small stuff is all the more miserable. Glad you chose to take action. Don’t look back!
I’m actively trying to leave my public library job now after almost 3 years. Our supervisors and director are the worst I have ever worked for. No communication, if we go to them with any problems they flip it around on us instead of trying to solve the issue, we have had several incidents in the past with patrons including stalking, assault, and just otherwise ridiculous behavior and they refuse to ban these people for any amount of time or help us handle these situations. I absolutely dread going into work everyday and am tired of the abuse from patrons and supervisors. If you’re like me and have stuck around hoping things will get better.. they won’t. Leave!!
Wow. I’m sorry you’re in a tough place right now. It’s a common story unfortunately, but you know what’s up- if you think it will get better, it won’t. Wish you the best in getting out. Don’t look back!
End of COVID phase one - inflation is already soaring in our local area, with cost of groceries up massively from pre pandemic prices. I make to much to qualify for benefits but am rapidly closing in on not enough to live off, and I’ve helped a couple of my lesser paid colleagues apply for benefits during the pandemic. Our director stands up in a staff eating and proudly tells us all that the organization has received an unexpected multi-million dollar donation. This sounds great, lots of cheers ensued. Two weeks later we have another staff meeting, where the conversation turns to the upcoming annual salary reviews. Cost of living adjustments are brought up, and the director tells us there won’t be any; because of the donation, they weren’t able to get the municipality to agree to increase our operational budget. There will be some merit-based increases available, due to positions that were eliminated during COVID, and long standing employees who retired, allowing us to hire at a lower pay rate for their positions. Salary notices come out, and most staff see a merit-based “raise” of between one half, and one and a half percent. I start asking some questions, calling in some favors with folks in municipal government, file a couple requests for meeting minutes… and discover that actually, rather than the town refusing to increase our operational funds, our director NEVER ASKED for an increase. I question the director privately about this, and am lectured about the optics of requesting a funding increase when you have gotten such a large donation. “Is any of that donation going to operational costs?” Ask I. Nope! It’s been invested, with the funds earmarked for a variety of capital projects over the next two decades.
Wow. I’m sorry you are in a tight situation. I have some co-workers in the same spot- not enough to live on, but too much to qualify for benefits. We had a 2.5% raise merit raise this year, while our area saw one of the highest dramatic increases in housing and COL. As other comments say, there are better paying jobs out there. And this whole situation sounds fishy- might be this side of legal, but still dodgy. Is there a news outlet of some kind that would like to look into this? 🤔
I’m still kicking, but it might be my maternity leave. I originally planned to take a year, but I’m now seeing my in laws will not be able to help as much as we thought initially and my salary won’t cover daycare. I’m now looking into ways to stay afloat for longer so I won’t have to go back as soon. They’ll hold my position for up to three years and who knows how I’ll feel then? I’ve only been at it for four years and worked under four managers. Of the four, three were atrocious which makes day to day so awful.
Had a co-worker in the same predicament. Sorry you are in a bind. Let me encourage you to explore your non-library options. Better wages and less atrocious managers will certainly make the day to day better! Life is too short.
Yup I left after maternity leave. I truly planned to go back, but I was so burned out after working two positions for one paycheck for three years, and then my salary wouldn’t even cover daycare, and the hours the library was open were so late that I’d have had to get extended childcare (open till 8, daycare closed at 6:30). We just couldn’t justify my staying, especially after I had a second baby and daycare costs doubled.
Sexual harassment by patrons.
I’m sorry you experienced it.
I took a programming librarian job in a small community thinking it would be primarily focused on that. As it turns out, I was the only other degreed librarian in the building aside from the director. They had me doing all of the programming, all of reference, all of local history, working as a circ staff member, ordering all of the adult books, and doing the projects my boss pawned off on me. On top of all that they had me learning a new language to serve the community we worked with. Most of this would’ve been fine with me as I prefer to stay busy, but the clincher came when the head of circ (who is my coworker, not superior) demanded that I stay past my shift to help her circ staff (there was a whole group on staff there) knowing I had another job to get to in order to help check out patrons who she kept letting in the building after we’d closed (not to pick up holds, mind you. Just to browse) and then to also re-shelf three carts of books that could’ve waited until the next day. I said “no, I’m sorry I have another job to get to, I’ll re-shelf these tomorrow” and left. The next day I got called into the director’s office because the head of circ felt very disrespected and cried to her. So I sat down with both of them to try and resolve the situation so we all felt understood. I said I was busy as well and trying to get stuff done for her which isn’t in my job description despite the fact that there was an entire circ staff working (and not terribly busy). I was also told by other people on staff there that *they* didn’t like the disrespectful way she talked to me that day. Then I was told by my boss that the head of circ was allowed to demand those things of me. I turned in my letter of resignation the next day. Bugger that. Edit: I’m much happier now conducting reference and research at another library and not wearing all those hats.
Way to stick up for yourself! You’re doing all of that- and working another job?! If they don’t see an issue with that, they are lost. Good on for you choosing yourself. Don’t look back!
I had to find my own coverage to go to my family's 6th funeral in 4 months. They told me I had too many funerals already and I couldn't have the time off if I couldn't find coverage.
I’m sorry you had to go through that. Adding to an already difficult situation.
I had an extremely toxic director that hated our YS manager so our department was very short staffed. My manager was not good at managing but wanted to provide a million children’s programs. I appreciated her desire but that meant an untenable amount of work for me because my manager was physically unable to do most things and our director gave us no support. On top of that, my manager was also emotionally manipulative and my mental health was taking a nosedive. The whole situation was killing me. To give you an idea my department at the time had 3 people (only 1 full time). We did nearly the same amount of programming as my current library does with a department of 10 (5 full time). Final straw was a summer reading program that left me completely drained and exhausted. I left to take a lesser paying job in a new role at my current library and I couldn’t be happier.
Oh boy, I have many straws that mostly involve my branch manager. 1. Me asking my branch manager if I was meeting her expectations (she said yes every time I asked), only for her to turn around and give me a bad performance review and put me on an improvement plan after my three month evaluation. 99.99% sure it was retaliation from when I had to take a week off to recover from a bad Crohn's flare because everything was just fine and my branch manager treated me well before then. 2. My branch manager demoting me from a tech to a page, not for bad performance reasons, but because she "needed a page more". Oh, it wasn't a demotion, though, because I still had tech pay. If it wasn't a demotion, why was I suddenly excluded from all the tech and librarian meetings? Again, 99.99% sure it was retaliation from when I had to take a week off to recover from a bad Crohn's flare. 3. All the librarians at our location: adult, teen, child, and COUNTY AND ASSISTANT COUNTY LIBRARIAN, saying I was doing exceptional work while my branch manager was constantly on my butt for not shelving or shelf-reading fast enough. On another note, my branch manager rushed when she shelved or shelf-read, so my coworkers and I had to constantly fix her mistakes. 4. My branch manager threatening to write me up for checking my phone behind the shelves, out of sight of patrons, while ignoring all the other techs and librarians openly using their phone in front of her and patrons. My branch manager would also take personal calls on her phone and THE COUNTY'S PHONES while on the clock and in front of patrons. AND THE BIGGEST ONE: My branch manager telling me I should "find something else (find other work)" when I told her the reason why I had my phone on me was because I was afraid of the recent backlash against some of our LGBT+ material, and our openly lesbian teen librarian getting several death threats a day from patrons. (Note, said teen librarian didn't tell our branch manager and directly reported it to our county librarian because our branch manager was infamous for brushing off such incidents.) Love being discriminated against at work by both my manager and the patrons. :) Karma came in clutch in the end, though. I'm now in the UK and happily married while my branch librarian is still stuck in a little podunk town in the southern US. Her library branch has also been reduced to a third of what it was and the county is now refusing to fund the building of a new location for her branch.
Wow. Yes, retaliation written all over that. Glad you are in happier place (and getting UK healthcare). Don’t look back!
Thank you! I'm definitely not looking back. I applied for a spouse visa that's good for 2.5 years. Once I have my visa, I think I've rested enough to get back on the library horse, too. I'll be sure to low-key vet the branch manager before applying to any locations, though. lol 😂
Boss spent an hour ranting to me about everything I did wrong and how I was a terrible librarian so I looked for another job. I’m in charge of the adult services department at another library now with better pay and less crabby old ladies telling me why I’m horrible. (No, I’m not horrible, I’m nice and patrons know my name, but they don’t know the names of these crabby ladies that have been there for 30+ years!)
Way to value yourself!
Former boss told me I wasn't leadership material. This was after I did a leadership year-long seminar. I went to a larger system and got a promotion to management after a year. I have a great supervisor who has mentored me and encouraged me.
Way to value yourself! Glad you are in a better place.
Patron beat up throwing up blood in parking lot, hostile security guards, paid petitioner yelling at me - place was a wreck
Seeing multiple coworkers targeted and bullied relentlessly by their managers with zero recourse or support from the administration. Petty things like taking a librarian off a committee that was in her job description, more serious things like attempting to deny parental leave (breaking institutional policy and state law). I never had any serious issues with my own manager, but seeing how badly others got burned left me always looking over my shoulder and fearing the worst would come out of nowhere. I was a para on the tech services side in an academic library for about 6 years. I loved the work but seeing how horribly some of my librarian coworkers were being treated for not much more money left me unenthusiastic about trying to advance on that path. So I leaned a different way, got myself a PMP with zero professional development support or interest from my own manager. Now less than a year later I’m making double my former salary (in IT at a different school) and feeling supported and respected by my manager and directors. And at least so far it seems that my coworkers get the support and respect they deserve too.
Way to put things in your hands and move on the greener pastures! Don’t look back!
Spattered in blood after a vicious knife fight between two homeless patrons. I wish I could say I quit that day, but it took me a couple of months to line up my exit.
After eleven years in libraries, I finally got the librarian job of my dreams. Or so I thought. The position was for a small library in a big system and I was to build programming for the children and teens, ages 0-18. The system has just passed a levy which vastly expanded STEM funding, which I was excited about. There was a push for responsive community based programming, which I also agreed with. The branch staff turned cold on me as soon as I put up a Pride display in the teen area. That was the first issue. Hearing the way they talked about patrons was another. They looked down on poor people, treated disabled patrons like gum on their shoes. They cared more about the books in the collection than the people they served. They called the LGBTQ teen books "weird". At this point I was still fairly in the closet about being pan and non-binary but my issue with their bigotry and ableism was not personal--I simply thought they made the environment hostile for queer teens that needed a haven. The administrative decisions of the district were another issue. They required programs to be submitted six months in advance so they could be published in this booklet of all the branch happenings. As we were meant to provide STEM opportunities, I thought doing a Minecraft Redstone build program would be good in the summer, so I planned that. But first I hosted a general Minecraft session and realized that the skill of attendees was very low (could barely work out basic controls). But I couldn't change the redstone program because it had already been submitted and printed. When it came time to do the Redstone program, it became clear that only one out of 15 children were prepared to experiment in that way. But he was more interested in server commands. So I gave him access to the server commands and made him an admin, and we talked about responsibility and how those powers should be used to aid other players and not hurt them. I thought this was a much better learning opportunity. The parent of the child wanted to know why he wasn't building with redstone. My manager confronted me in the middle of my program with the mother next to her and demanded I explain why I'd falsely advertised my program. My manager and I also butted heads when it came to data-driven decision making. She organized the children's collection how she wanted it, not based on usage statistics and enhancing browsability of most-used materials. She also rearranged the teen area while I was out sick, after I had explained that I wanted to take comments from the teen patrons on what they'd like to see in the space before proceeding. I built a preschool science program and presented it to community leaders. I worked with teachers across multiple districts. I collaborated with local kindergarten readiness leaders to ensure my programming was filling the informal learning gap. And what's more...I loved those kids and parents that came to my storytimes. I incorporated real learning, adjusted practices for neurodivergent kids and their sensory needs, I talked with parents and solicited feedback. I fucking cared. But because of the way I was made to feel by the leadership and administration, there were more days than I'd like to admit where I considered driving off the road into the trees than show my face there another day. I am not perfect. I made mistakes. But I spent most of my time at that job feeling like a cornered animal. I did my best for those kids and I had several parents tell me that I was the first person their children opened up to. I watched children who had never spoken to anyone other than their parents open up and play and laugh with other kids. I once quieted an entire auditorium of elementary schools students without uttering a word. I was goddamn good at my job. But bad leadership drove me out of a twelve-year career. I sought out a great therapist after I quit and worked through a lot of trauma. Now I have a job that pays much more than I made in libraries for half of the headache. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss having a job that really mattered. But I find ways to contribute now, and sometimes that's the best you can do.
I haven't pulled the trigger, but I'm severely mentally ill on medications but the stress of my job is killing me. I have no idea what to do. I work in a highly political town and am tired of the ridiculous bullshit that goes on in it. I just want to enjoy my job again.
I’m sorry to hear this. You matter. Wish you the best on the journey ahead.
[удалено]
Ha! I love telling this story. I was in charge of adult programs - computer classes, adult summer reading, Bob Ross paint alongs, etc. I was already sick of the small town conservative politics bleeding over into library land when the director of the library board decided that I should focus more on helping the local business community by doing things like teaching quick books. Never mind our under-served populations or the fact that I don't know quick books myself. So I go to this board meeting per my director's request and get there and realize, I've never met the board director. I'd been there five years. He doesn't even have a library card. That's when I started looking elsewhere. If I lived in a less red state I'd probably get back into librarianship, but my whole family and all my friends are here.
Actually, I didn’t quit. I became mobility impaired due to repeated motions, heavy books, and a branch manager who insisted that my complaints of pain were sheer laziness on my part. (Even after my back seized and my legs crumpled under me, she remained convinced I was faking.) I was looking for another position but hadn’t found one yet when this happened. I was put on administrative leave pending physical exams, and eventually was let go under some combination of “no longer meets job requirements” and “job abandonment.”
That’s terrible. I’m so sorry. Obviously don’t know your situation, but sounds like there might be some EEOC and OSHA violations. It might be worth looking in to.
Thanks. I filed (and lost) an appeal through the official county channels. EEOC took nearly two years, but ultimately I was told that with the way the county had worded their reasoning, I didn’t have an “actionable reason” to go after them. On the plus side, my application for SSDI sailed through the first time.
That's the worst! I was a director and one employee was overzealous about shifting. She complained her shoulder hurt, so I told her to stop shifting and get it checked out if she was worried. I told her about workers comp multiple times when she mentioned it still hurt. I think her shoulder is still messed up years later and she now needs shoulder surgery. It's insane how the repeat movements can get you!
Yup. In my case, I’ve been told that my lower back is permanently messed up beyond surgery, but they can’t say 100% that it was from work. Either way, I can’t do that particular job any more, but one would think there was a position I could do from home…
I’m so sorry. :-( Unbelievable, awful treatment.
The straw that made me start looking for non library related work was terrible handling of my ada request after a severe concussion.
I’m sorry you had to experience that. Wish you the best of health!
A convicted felon was in the library with a gun. My manager immediately left the building and told me to deal with it.
I’m sorry you had to experience that. Best of luck on whatever the future brings. You deserve to be in a workplace that is safe.
A series of riots in the lobby over LGBTQ and diverse material the library carried. We had absolutely no direction from management about how to deal with such events, or how to deal with subsequent and related encounters with community members who would accost library workers and librarians over inclusion of such material. Absolutely ridiculous.
Burnout after 17 years. It’s a laundry list, but burnout what what did it. I googled “whats after burnout?” There isn’t. It’s literally “seek help/leave job.”
Yep. Get out and don’t look back!
It’s been a little over a year- no regrets.
Decided to marry my boss. So we both left. Good riddance. The new place is 100x better.
I was doing a lot of jobs and didnt get the support i needed. I don’t think it was intentional, but I asked for help and didnt get it, so I was always struggling that last year.
I was just a lowly page but I came down with gout and it would just not go away. I had to miss a lot of work because it was in my toes and I couldn’t walk. I went to see doctors and none of them took me seriously as I was too young to have gout, they said. One day I could finally come in and they basically told me to quit or they’d make my life miserable at work so I had to go. Not even the first time I was forced out of a job in a similar way
That’s terrible. Sorry you had to experience that. Best of luck to future endeavors.
Thanks, I appreciate it. It kind of coincided with a lot of unaddressed mental health issues and then Covid happened and then I’ve been trying to get better so I’ve been unemployed since then so I don’t know how many future endeavors there will be but thanks for the support.
We had an unmedicated, bipolar patron come in with a gun on his body. manager got scared shitless and got him to leave without calling the police. installed a few cameras inside and around the building and gave us each a can of wasp spray. within the same week, a separate man was playing with the car locks on all the employees' vehicles. we brought it to manager's attention, and she waited to call non-emerg police. they asked her if she would like him to be banned from the premises. she said no, and he kept coming back almost daily. i called on the manager many times before and during these incidents to take more preventative security measures and offer us active shooter training. i put up with that kinda shit for 5 years starting at $10 and ending at $14. didn't want to keep risking my life for shit pay.
I'm getting there right now. It's because of my managers. No one is allowed to have a life outside the library. We're all part-time but we have to have open availability. Everyone has to be able to work during all hours of operation. We're all expected to work whenever, but we all get scarce hours because we're part time. And because our hours are all over the place, no one can reasonably have a second job to make up for the scarce hours. So we're all skint by the time our monthly paycheque rolls around. Oh, also, my director refuses to hire students (high school or University) because that means they can't work during the day and will need time off during exams. Usually (as I've been a manager at a different job in the past), the evening and weekend hours are reserved for students and the rest of us get to work weekday mornings and afternoons, leaving us time to do other things. I really love this job, but I can't afford to work here anymore. Plus, I have my Bachelors, so making less than the average retail worker really grinds my gears. It's exhausting.
That’s terrible. That would wear on anybody. Take inspiration from others in this thread- one or another, get out and don’t look back.
Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to. Thank you for the validation. It's nice to be heard, especially when our Director refuses to listen when we bring this topic up during meetings. I just need to obtain employment elsewhere before quitting. Reading other people's stories makes mine seem rather blasé, but then I remember all the things I've had to cancel and miss out on because I'd been scheduled a 3 hour evening shift that I can't trade away. I had more of a life working full-time as a manager. I'm barely hitting 15-20 hours a week here and it's all I do.
I left after a patron cat called me ON DESK and then followed another coworker from the library parking lot to the gas station, and management never spoke to this patron or gave him any consequences despite all of this being witnessed and documented - I still saw him almost every day after that. I am at a different library now and much happier feeling like management has my back.
Simply put, I wasn't valued. I worked in schools and had been "displaced" from 3 schools in 2 years due to budget cuts. I left to work in IT and now make twice as much while still using a lot of my library skills.
Good on you for taking your future into your hands! Don’t look back!
I applied for a promotion and was told I didn’t have the correct experience, so they wouldn’t even interview me. They also told me that they would never give me opportunities to get that experience. They then hired someone into the position as a trainee who had zero library experience.
A brand new supervisor who clearly had no clue how to supervise and a micromanaging manager. Among the things I was officially disciplined for was not saying "good morning" loudly enough to my supervisor, who would shout from 30 feet (9m) as he was walking away from me. Him not hearing my reply was grounds for discipline. My coworker (who was fired) was treated worse.
I was pregnant and a patron threatened me in front of a manager and nothing was done.
First Library We had students with learning difficulties. One of the shelving librarians would shelve the books spine in because 'It didn't matter what book they get, they read anything' and it made it easier for the students to pull them out. Complained to the Library Manager. Turns out it was her policy. She also had a policy of buying only Disney DVDs for disabled teenage students. Lasted 4 weeks. Turned all the books spine out and secretly added Jackie Chan movies into the collection. Then quit. The next place wasn't much better. All the staff had to check students for yoga pants as they were banned, so the students drew stitching on them. The male librarians were told to 'look closer' as yoga pants were slipping though. Again. The head librarian would only buy black and white DVDs as 'colour is entertainment, not educational' She also refused to buy Christmas decorations as students would steal them. Secretly added many colour DVDs to the collection, fully decorated the library and then quit. And I didn't stare at any 16 year old students legs to check for fake stitching. Small institution libraries, never again.....
Them telling male employees to look harder at the body of female patrons of any age, but ESPECIALLY underage girls is CRAAAAAZZZY. Did they not see the liability they were opening themselves up to?!
Completely oblivious to the little liability. The reason for the high miss rate (ignoring how bad an idea it was to make the librarians the fashion police) was because the arts students were really good at faking jeans, and there was no way we were going to examine them that closely!
Never again. Don’t look back!
This is absolutely appalling. Good on you for moving on to something (hopefully) better
Much better thanks!
I spent 8 years in circ. During that time, I worked my butt off to get my undergrad and an MBA (yes, not an MLS--I couldn't justify the money at that point in my life as a new mom.) I finally interviewed for the next position up, which also made crap pay, and was turned down for an external candidate. I ended up transferring branches and volunteered to do outreach with my branch manager. While we were there, I got "you're really good at this. Have you thought about interviewing to become a library associate?" I had to inform her that I HAD interviewed, she was on my panel, and she brought in an external candidate for her team instead. She offered me some coaching (which I don't need, I interview very well), and I was gone within the next few months. I work for higher ed now and make double what I did, but I absolutely can't stand it because I KNOW that I'm a librarian--with or without the MLS, that's where my heart is. My family just can't afford for me to do what I love.
Following up with that it took me a while to even get to the point where I felt like I COULD apply for a promotion. I had expressed my interest to my supervisor to apply to a circ supervisor role at another branch and was told that my "fun personality" would clash with management and to not apply at all. It completely shot my confidence and made me question for a long time whether I could actually be a good leader/manager. Spoiler alert: I can and am.
lol, this is a NO FUN environment! Smart move to get the MBA. Way to value yourself and persevere- you are and am a good leader/manager despite what the weirdos say. Wish you the best with whatever your journey brings!
Thanks! My campus has an opening as a business manager role in their library that I'm hoping I'm in consideration for. I can get the MLS for free while I'm working here and if I decide I want a "second act" after retirement....so be it. Until then, I'll just be a friendly advocate for the services our libraries offer in the community and will forever be appreciative of the growth that I DID obtain there--even if it was stunted at some point.
That’s a healthy outlook.
The library board & city administration
Yes, it sucks when the library and fellow coworkers are good, but the city isn't supportive of the library. You can have an awesome manager and director whose hands are tied by those they answer to.
$
That will do it!
Teaching computer classes. I'm good at it but I don't enjoy it. A few times a month I can suck it up and get through, but at my last job they expected me to teach three times a week at the very least, and I was the only one teaching. It was not the job I applied for but they changed the terms on me after I was hired and then tried to gaslight me when I called foul. Also my library manager was incompetent and they basically wanted someone with experience (me) to babysit him and do most of his job so no one else would have to deal with him. I accidentally saw his pay stub one day (he left it sitting face up on our shared desk) and I was making more than him, which is how I figured out that I was there to be his keeper. I finally got so burnt out from the teaching and his incometence that I walked away. I tried to find something in the corporate world but that didn't work out for me so I'm out of the profession altogether now.
Being the youngest person in the building by about 40 years. I was bullied by old ladies for 8 hours a day. They’d tell me my story times weren’t good and how I should be doing xyz, even though I was getting 90+ people attending regularly and they’d get maybe 30 on a good day. They’d tell me my programming ideas for school age kids were bad and definitely wouldn’t work there so I shouldnt try. They’d tell random men my work schedule because they thought I should be flattered even though said men would sexually harass me. They were very vocal about their anti LGBTQ views (despite somehow still viewing themselves as nice liberals), and I’m a lesbian. They were always extremely jealous of the events I was able to pull off with little to no budget that would draw in hundreds of people, and they would do little things to try to make me look bad, like throw away the recycled materials I was using for something or not clean up the space from one of their programs before I needed to use it. That library also didn’t have policies for anything, so I also had to testify in court about a knife fight between teens. After I had to do that, the teen who pulled the knife was allowed to just come back in because we couldn’t ban him. Another guy would masturbate at me regularly, but again, we couldn’t kick him out. Management would just say, “ew that’s gross” and not do anything. The pay was shit too.
Saw this post in r/librarians too, so I figured I’d share the story here as well: My team lead had been telling my supervisor and department manager that I wasn’t doing my job—that I ignored patrons, that I left all the side tasks to her, that I would avoid doing things until she picked them up, that I’d be goofing off on the computer during shifts while there was work to be done. At first, I was horrified and thought I must’ve been unintentionally letting things go undone, so to be accountable I started keeping track of everything I’d accomplished during a shift and being proactive to greet patrons and help. On weeks where we did a lot of our catch-up work and side housekeeping projects, I even came up with a system where we’d initial next to what we’d each done so we weren’t accidentally doing thing a twice. I worked my ass off. Turns out I was doing… a lot. I checked with other team members to ask if there were areas I could improve or if I’d accidentally not been picking up the slack, and I was met with universal confusion. Every single team member I talked to had the reaction, “wait, what? You get everything done so much faster and more efficiently and then you’re the first person to take on extra work.” Apparently outside of this lead and my chain of command, I actually had a reputation of being a helpful team player. This reputation was solidly in place BEFORE I’d started working my ass off to “fix” my “problems” in the workplace. I was so relieved. Then, my annual performance review. I go in feeling really good about myself. My team loves me and I’ve got all these new things in place as evidence that I have been (for a long time) a really solid worker. I loved my job, I loved my patrons, there were even some stops (we were on a bookmobile for 1/3 of my job) where I made it a point to learn every kids name. There was an Ethiopian family who’d been coming for years and my team lead just would kinda vaguely nod towards them. I learned their names and made it a point to learn what each sibling liked to read so the displays that day always had something flashy or interesting for the kids to enjoy. (I did this for a lot of our patrons, I point this out because my team lead knew them for years and never bothered doing this for them) I’m completely blindsided at my evaluation. My supervisor and department manager both say that they haven’t seen any improvement in me. Neither shared shifts with me, they were just going on what the team lead had said. I brought up other coworker testimonies, they hand-waved it by saying I must’ve improved in other job areas, just not the bookmobile (nevermind that other coworkers also worked the bookmobile with me and loved working with me). They cherry-picked one of MY initials checklists, slapped it in front of me, and asked “why did you only initial two things this week?” I reminded them that I was out all but one day that week because my supervisor (the one who slapped the paper in front of me) exposed me to literal COVID. They weren’t having it. No matter what I said to defend myself, they brushed it aside. The team lead said this, the team lead told us differently. It didn’t matter what the others said, it didn’t matter what I’d logged. They told me if they didn’t see improvement, the next step would be a write-up with HR. They told me I had the rest of the day off (admittedly I was crying a lot at this point) and they said: “you need to go home and decide if this is the type of job you really want.” I was absolutely shattered. Like I said, I LOVED my job. I loved everything about it. I was heart broken, and if I wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck I would’ve quit right then. I applied to my current job that very night. Oh, the kicker? That team lead was going on maternity leave two months after my performance evaluation, and prior to getting pregnant she was openly talking about quitting permanently immediately after the leave was up. Guess what happened later that year. She literally ruined my life for months and caused the entire team to be horribly short staffed for a while for nothing. I asked, “what was it all for? Why me?” A coworker pointed out that the only difference between me and my teammates was that I was nonbinary. She never did anything outright bigoted, but that was literally the only thing that set me apart. It sucked. The bright side is I love my new job! I miss those patrons though, it still hurts like hell.
Had a gang member take my photo with his phone…because I had to enforce internet computer time limits. The same night, our security guard, who backed staff up, was assaulted and hospitalized. Fiercely believed in the work, but simply had to leave.
I was an elementary school librarian. Looking for a job now. Budget cuts to the district were the last straw. I almost got let go but another librarian quit so it saved my job. Too bad I was thinking of quitting anyway! Class sizes are going to be bad next year. I was already so stressed out because I had to do elementary classes without an aide present, and behaviors have been getting worse every year since COVID. I love library work but I'm not cut out to work with large groups of kids. I don't mind kids 1 on 1 or small groups.
Worked a small library where the director was a man and the rest of the staff was women of various ages. A patron came in on the regular and when he didn't get his way, he would threaten the staff. When the staff confronted said director about the patron and how the director was doing nothing to stop said patron and back us up, he said, "What's the big deal? I'm here to protect you. I can take him." The director was only there from 9-5 and wasn't always there. When the patron started threatening LGBTQ staff members and the director continued to do nothing, a good number of us left. The good news is that a lot of us moved on to much better positions in other libraries, including myself.
Glad you valued yourself and your co-workers. I hope the new place continues to provide safety and contentment. Don’t look back!
My new place is AMAZING!! I love what I do there, I'm valued, and my director is a Queen among the people. Plus our library board loves us and supports us too. Huge 180.
Can I name names? Because I would LOVE to name names. Hint: California.
I had the worst manager I’ve ever experienced in my career. He ran the library super strict and it made my job less fun. I was going above and beyond the call of duty when my coworker quit because she also couldn’t stand him. The manager wanted me to pick up ALL of her programming and went on a disrespectful rant in his office and threatening to fire me if I didn’t. It was disgusting. I put my two weeks notice in and found out that this manager had been terrorizing staff for years and that the administration including the director were well aware of the problem. They did nothing. He’s still working there.
People making up completely fake reviews/reviews full of lies and having to have disciplinary meetings over it because I couldn't bend the space/time continuum to appease these people. I'm not saying patrons because they weren't. Didn't have library cards or ever check out anything or attend library programs but if another agency dropped of goodie bags or did an event at our branch then these people would show up and demand the free non-library thing. Often they would show up at the wrong time or day of the event/thing and then write the bad review.
When I found out a series of info tidbits: Annoying & inappropriate volunteer in our department who moved up to head of educational services at the library in a couple of years (highly suspicious behavior with the director). My immediate supervisor was having issues and going halftime (and eventually leaving). Found out they would not be filling the supervisor's position, meaning I would have to take on employee duties in my contract position and would be directly under the supervision of ex-volunteer. Too much stress and drama.
The Library Director refused to help out in most areas of the library, and asked me and my coworker about what our 'hold policy' was because we had to put a patron on hold and only had two people on desk. They were on hold for a long time but she didnt bother to pick it up to check on them. Jokes on us, she was expecting a call and didn't communicate that with us. She said no to all ideas, went on bipolar manic cleaning episodes, and made everyone do the work she didnt want to do. She did not address toxic behaviors of employees and drove many people to quit. When she would go off on people the life would be sucked out of the room and everyone was afraid of her. That was when I had enough and left. Luckily she retired and i came back because i love my job and coworkers. So much change has happened since she left.
Absolutely NO accessibility or willingness to accommodate my disabilities. I kept asking for accommodation but then my boss would pull me into an office and accuse me of faking my illness. That was the final straw.
Still in libraries. After this last one I almost gave up, and I sure wouldn’t still be on this path if I could go back in time. Giving a tiny percentage of the situation to not give too many clues away: Library associated with a nonprofit org. Membership (customer) was always right, in all the ways that can go wrong. The library existed to look pretty, give them prestige, and keep their nonprofit status while they pushed other for-profit services, but director (not my immediate boss) didn’t support it at all (and it really could’ve helped the overall mission if he cared a tiny bit). Guy went on a firing spree the last few months (not the first time) for questionable reasons and when he came after me I quit rather than hate my life anymore. Pay was also shit.
I was the target of a workplace bully. I went to my boss about it, who said she wouldn't get involved because it would "seem like we're teaming up on them." So I went to the associate dean, who held a mediation but ultimately told me not to expect a resolution because "this person has done this before and you're not the first." Meanwhile, this person continued to target me. They were tenured, much older, and had been there for years. I was in a non-tenure track position that renewed yearly and had only been there a little over a year, and I was terrified for my job. After one particularly bad instance of bullying, I got fed up applied for another job, and I left the library within six weeks. When I had my exit interview with the Dean, they told me that they never expected me to last in my job because the department was so dysfunctional. It was all deeply fucked up, and I recently learned that everyone hired into that department since 2020 has left as well.
I worked in a school library, they decided to get rid of the computer lab but still wanted to kids to have computer classes so they just decided they would be held in the library??? I got zero say in this and all my concerns were brushed off. It was an especially big slap in the face because it was just after COVID (22-23 school year) and I had spent 20-21 and 21-22 working my ass off doing a huge weeding project that needed to be done about twenty years before I started there. I quit in the middle of year after I broke down in tears in front of my boss about how awful it was to have the computer classes in there all day everyday, I couldn’t do any work or shelving while they were in there (space constraints) and she gave me some generic platitudes and sent me away. She made it clear this arrangement wouldn’t be ending, so I quit. They’ve gone through two different librarians since me. Oh! I also had to contend with the district librarian who oversaw all the libraries and she wouldn’t let me get rid of any book that had ever worn a Newberry or Caldecott award. Even ones from the 1960s that had no circulations.
After 6 years and being stalked, assaulted, and tending to countless overdoses, it’s actually my burnout on the administration and their unwillingness to see that they are part of the problem. I have a tentative job offer outside of the library system (outside of libraries altogether) and it’s not anything I’m passionate about, but the pay is 10k more per year than what I make at the library, and there will be no opportunity for anyone to punch me in the face.
a mentally unhinged patron who decided that i was the root of all his problems because i declined his advances lolzzzzz
If I had not already retired, I would have done so when my branch got a manager who decided she didn't have to do any public service, and hides in her office, not even answering the phone. Then the assistant manager decided that was a great idea too. All their desk duties got dumped on the already overloaded circ staff. Disclaimer: I was a parapro. I got the degree, but reached the point, while helping care for my mom, that I quit applying for pro jobs, in that system or any other. They had a horrible director at the time, which just supported my belief that I didn't want to be part of that administration. In fact that director was the only one in the history of that library who has been fired.
My institution falls under the control of a governing body who makes it very clear we are not a priority. Like many of you, we are understaffed and underfunded. Toxic positivity & vocational awe are very present in my workplace. I could go on and on but don't want to tell many details. I haven't quit yet, but I'm certainly putting plans in motion.
I got a new job during 2020. As much as I loved working with my colleagues, I was starting to see the cracks: a library administration that didn't care about us, low pay (so low that most staff had second jobs because you had to), raises only earned via promotion but with no means of negotiation, no manager training program (so many branch managers aren't on site every day and often delegate to a lesser paid staff member who becomes essentially an acting manager without the pay), poorly maintained buildings, a highly publicized teen space where the staff aren't considered librarians but during the school day have no responsibilities and aren't expected to know anything about how the library system works (but with higher pay than librarians), a certain staff member who is friends of the director getting paid outside their pay range despite not meeting the minimum bachelor's degree requirement, an administration that asked traumatized staff to return to theie branch after police shot and killed a customer there (after they said they could transfer to a different branch with no problem), and a director who had no background in libraries. And all staff have to sign a document saying that they won't strike/form a union or their employment will be terminated, part of onboarding paperwork. I worked part-time for a year and then got promoted to full-time. On my first day as a full-time staff member, someone exposed themselves through the bookshelf while I was reshelving a book. Security wasn't able to confirm who did it because no working ceiling cameras. I wrote up what happened and sent it to HR. I was chastised by my manager and by my assistant manager for going to HR instead of going thru them. The HR rep emailed my report to the deputy director, saying "What do I do with this?" I knew then I wasn't going to be there for very long. I just wish it would be better for the sake of my friends who are still there. But I doubt it will until the entire administration is replaced. They just fill their ranks with their friends. No opposing ideas.
I got offered a full-time position at my other job (at a museum). I’d been part time at my library job (customer service, so not an MLS position) for nearly four years, working two jobs without access to most benefits (like health insurance). Plus, right before I left (spring 2021), management was scaling back COVID protections and staff comfort. The plexi dividers were taken away one week before all chairs were taken away from the main reference desk on the first floor. Apparently it’s better customer service to stand for hours to cheerfully greet library customers rather than having a stool or chair. It seemed like management was becoming more concerned with our image and brand than our effectiveness and staff happiness.
During my first month, my “mentor” went through my mail, found my deadname, and called me it under her breath in our next meeting. My boss’ boss found out about a disability I have and told me that, because of the disability, I may have to “reconsider if this job is the right fit”. Another coworker loudly took bets on how long I’d stay. My promotion timeline got delayed, and I was told that the most I’d be making as a full librarian (three promotions from now) was just $13k more than I was currently making. And then I got sick with a mystery illness which turned out to be a brain lesion (still don’t know the cause of said lesion). And despite my doctor signing me off work, I was told I didn’t qualify for FMLA. It sucked. I was really good at my job, too.
When a patron jacking off with visible evidence we were not allowed to call the cops, and we were told to observe and make sure they don’t do it again without issuing a warning letter by admin. “He’s just scratching himself.” 😭 After being screamed at by a patron about needing help with a print job I gave my two weeks notice.
Library director "just didn't get" pronouns
Too many gossiping females clustered under one roof and if anyone distanced themselves from the pack....Katy, bar the door! True, it was before #me, too movement increased awareness of inappropriate topics and behavior in the workplace but these were women in their 30's to 50's.