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I kind of do need to get creative here because I'm competing against at least 5 of my coworkers for this position and we're all qualified. I've got to stand out a bit. But you have given me some food for thought, because yes I would like to get an MLS and move into a branch job. Librarian positions open up reasonably often here and I've also been here long enough that the library will kick in a little money towards my getting an MLS. I just want this job, really, to fund that move. Thanks for the help! With a little luck I'm one step closer to one day never sitting through another meeting about how to more efficiently glue a cover onto a book.
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Oct 4, 2016 01:57
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Who the hell mends books on site anymore? I mean I guess why not but the replacement cost isn't usually worth the staff training and materials cost and staff time.
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Nov 19, 2016 22:59
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Insane Totoro posted:Who the hell mends books on site anymore? I did, and I learned a lot of techniques from someone who did. There are quick methods that use cheap tools.
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Nov 20, 2016 03:21
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Insane Totoro posted:Who the hell mends books on site anymore? I do! It's a fun way to take a break and relax in between patrons when you don't feel like doing something more complicated. And our fiction budget isn't what it used to be, so if it's just a matter of gluing a binding back together or tipping in a loose page, yeah, that's worth saving $20.
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Nov 20, 2016 04:22
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You let it pile up for a couple of weeks, then spend an hour gluing a few dozen books back together. It can be less than a minute per item if you know what you're doing. With typical cheap glued bindings, they usually break the same way, and they're all fixed the same way. I like the more involved repairs, though. I figured out how to re-bind paperbacks, did that for a few difficult-to-replace items. My favorite repair method was when I took a bunch of heavily stained (mostly along the edges) and super-gross-looking Time-Life Louis L'Amour books (we had nearly his entire bibliography, including a lot of out-of-print stuff, and they were popular with people who like to go straight from working on their cars to reading the books), shoved them in book presses, and cleaned them with water and bleach. Turns out if you press paper really hard, it won't absorb water well, and the water won't penetrate past the first millimeter or two of the edge of the page, which happens to be where most of the dirt goes. Saved a bunch of popular and expensive books from the dumpster that way. (Okay, book presses aren't that cheap, I guess. But you can use boards and a big C-clamp in a pinch, for a fraction of the price.)
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Nov 20, 2016 05:44
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This was probably the most librarian-y conversation we've had except for booze chat. In my experience though, if we ever see book damage, what I see is generally stuff destroyed beyond recognition. I don't know why college kids are so hard on their books at times. But I do think that a lot of it has to do with insufficient shelf shifting and people grabbing the book by the top of the binding........... (there's a technical term for that isn't there?) Oh, this month I just had my first scholarly article accepted. I submitted it to a T&F journal and it'll be my first official LIS-related publication. My mother read it and said it was boring 
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Nov 21, 2016 17:47
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repairing books is relaxing as heck and no stress. I also prefer the ones that are kind of difficult and if someone saw you mid repair they would think you were destroying the book but in the end you save it :3
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Nov 21, 2016 23:22
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If using eBook selection pools is "patron driven acquisition..." ... is not having 3M security gates at the door "patron driven deaccession?" Food for thought.
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Dec 21, 2016 19:38
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 I finally, FINALLY found a new academic library job. The library director was very interested in me, and called to ask me if I could start in the middle of March, a little more than a month away. I said yes, since she said she was preparing to offer me the position and thus I expected them to mail me a contract very soon. I live 1000+ miles away. They know this. They have also never told me what my salary might be. So the next week comes, and I hear from two of my references that the new job called. HR is still calling people? A week passes, no contract. TWO loving WEEKS LATER, no contract. What the gently caress? In a little while it's going to be too late for me to give my 2 week notice at my current library and have enough time to stuff all my poo poo into a truck, throw it into an apartment, and get to work at the new library. I’m trying to make plans, but I can’t because nothing’s certain at the moment! What do I do? Should I just forget about it? I’ve been wanting a new job for years, but this whole thing is giving me bad vibes. They can’t even wait for me to actually start working for them before they start loving me? Am I being tested? What is this poo poo? I am literally crying over this.
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Feb 18, 2017 02:50
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What are they telling you? Have you called them?
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Feb 18, 2017 04:13
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U-DO Burger posted:What are they telling you? Have you called them? On Monday the director said she'd make sure the letter was sent out before the end of this week, but that's all I've heard. That's still cutting it real close.
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Feb 18, 2017 04:46
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Syntax Erin posted:What is this poo poo? Sounds like a big pile of red flags. It's wholly unreasonable to expect you to do anything or make any plans until you have a definite offer, which should certainly include salary, a definite start date, and an explanation of benefits (relocation??????) if you haven't already gotten one. I'm assuming this is a librarian post if you're willing to move a thousand miles (or you really, spectacularly hate your current gig), but even for a paraprofessional job I'd expect a formal offer before people start waving contracts around. "Preparing to" definitely doesn't qualify. Especially if HR is still checking references. I mean, what? I'm finding it hard to imagine a non-dysfunctional situation that would result in someone dropping hints to a candidate before HR has even called their references, much less signed off on the offer. If they really want you and are not terrifyingly crazy, "Hey yo this is not actually enough time to humanly get there" shouldn't be a dealbreaker.
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Feb 18, 2017 04:51
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Just chiming in that, in case you weren't aware, "terrifyingly crazy," "dysfunctional," and "wholly unreasonable" are things that occur in libraries. If your current job isn't going to kill you, don't risk it for a job that looks like it could be any of those things. Better to be unemployed than be in that situation. Not even joking.
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Feb 18, 2017 05:29
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VideoTapir posted:Just chiming in that, in case you weren't aware, "terrifyingly crazy," "dysfunctional," and "wholly unreasonable" are things that occur in libraries. If your current job isn't going to kill you, don't risk it for a job that looks like it could be any of those things. Also, "management that doesn't care how much the public abuses the staff because the public might complain to management/the dean/county commissioners/whatever if they don't get everything they want right this instant." This is a problem at my current library job.
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Feb 18, 2017 20:05
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Oh hey lots of new posts what's going on.... .... Welp. To add my two cents, get it in writing and if you don't, just move on. That being said, please have a conversation with the hiring committee and ask them nicely what to expect and explain what is reasonable. If they balk..... Red flags...
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Feb 19, 2017 19:32
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I got a highly sought-after graduate librarian position at one of the biggest academic libraries in the country! It's an amazing opportunity to learn and get experience... so should I just suck it up and get over myself even though it's made me cry multiple times in four months, triggered self harm and suicidal thoughts, and I learned last week that crying in the toilets is actually an almost weekly occurrence for many of the staff here?...
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Feb 19, 2017 22:01
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Fortunately things have improved! Kind of. The director emailed me about the delay yesterday before I had to, which is nice. Apparently the paperwork is stuck in a gear somewhere, since it needs a bunch of signatures and not everyone who needs to sign has signed yet. That's pretty believable for academia. She says we can also change the starting date. But still no work on what the $$ will be, or an ETA on when this paperwork might be shipped to me. Schmetterling posted:I got a highly sought-after graduate librarian position at one of the biggest academic libraries in the country! It's an amazing opportunity to learn and get experience... so should I just suck it up and get over myself even though it's made me cry multiple times in four months, triggered self harm and suicidal thoughts, and I learned last week that crying in the toilets is actually an almost weekly occurrence for many of the staff here?... I guess it depends on how long you plan to be there.
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Feb 21, 2017 21:16
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Well poo poo. Still, go and clarify the compensation!Schmetterling posted:I got a highly sought-after graduate librarian position at one of the biggest academic libraries in the country! It's an amazing opportunity to learn and get experience... so should I just suck it up and get over myself even though it's made me cry multiple times in four months, triggered self harm and suicidal thoughts, and I learned last week that crying in the toilets is actually an almost weekly occurrence for many of the staff here?... ... is this in Pennsylvania?
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Feb 21, 2017 21:29
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50 ml Kraken rum 25 ml lime 5ml sugar syrup 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Ginger beer Method: Build over ice in a highball glass, top with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge. Look wistfully at shelf full of James Joyce novels and literary theory books wonder how it turned out this way. Ponder if you can face going outside today. or Equal parts Kraken rum and Cherry Coke Method: Fill a large table glass halfway with ice. Pour coke and rum simultaneously until glass is 7/8th full. Turn on MASH re-runs and think about your life. Hold large mouthfuls in your mouth for 30+ seconds before swallowing, just to feel something. Good old Hawkeye. He's funny. Funny guy. And that Trapper. Why don't you have friends like that? Accent with cubed colbyjack or extra sharp Vermont cheddar cheese and club crackers. Ritz are an acceptable substitute.
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Feb 21, 2017 22:39
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But seriously, if a job is making you think of hurting yourself, you should talk to your student counseling department, your therapist if you have one, or even one of the many available phone or online services (a friend of mine works for IMAlive and they're wonderful). That's what they're there for. No job should leave you in tears multiple times a month, let alone worse, and you deserve help. What aspects are causing it to be so bad? If it's older staff or mean professors, I have suggestions...
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Feb 21, 2017 22:43
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My entire job consists of handling scans. I've been telling my boss for months, if the digitization department doesn't step it up I'm gonna run out of scans and we might not finish this project in time. I have recently run out of scans and there is no chance of finishing this project in time anymore. The latest development in this is that officially nothing's being done about it, because "they're doing as much as they can, and anyway our numbers are in line with other libraries' who digitize." So now my job is apparently entering structural metadata. I open a document, I look for where it says "chapter 3" and I put a bookmark there that I label "chapter 3," or sometimes "nobody reads this anyway" which so far has not been disproven. Also there's been an e-mail recently about developing a script that does 90% of my work with the scans. I wish they would hurry up and finish that and then terminate my contract so I don't have to do it myself and take a hit in unemployment benefits*. As it is I'm strongly considering just doing that. It runs out in August anyway and hey they've already resigned to not finishing the project. I keep imagining I'm a blacksmith and there's no iron and when I ask my boss "yo where all the iron at" he's like "yeah we ran out, best sort some screws by size while you want for the occasional ingot." *non-US, I don't know how it works for y'all My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Feb 21, 2017 |
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Feb 21, 2017 23:03
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Update: have been offered a six month extension on my contract and said no before even thinking about it. They also dug up a task that's at least kind of related to my skills so that's nice for as long as it'll last me.
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Feb 27, 2017 15:27
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Purely intellectual question: If you could know anything about your patron usage patterns, what would you want to know? How would you want that data presented?
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Feb 27, 2017 16:38
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Why do they read such garbage?
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Feb 28, 2017 02:32
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VideoTapir posted:Why do they read such garbage? Fair enough lol.
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Feb 28, 2017 04:40
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Here's an Update on Schrödinger's Job Offer: I'm still both in a state of hired or not hired, until the letter finally arrives and the offer can be observed. On Friday the director finally told me via email that the offer would be $38,000, which is more than what I make now  and that she'd contact me about getting a new start date and fixing the paperwork to show that new date. So I had a happy weekend.But now it's Tuesday and via email I've been told that it still needs the Uni. president's signature and that April 1 could be the new start date (but that's a Saturday?). So it might be coming... but I also got a call for a Skype interview with another college in Memphis. Naturally, I said yes, I'd be there. There is SO much poo poo I can't plan for or begin without receiving official notice from the new job.  My Lovely Horse posted:Update: have been offered a six month extension on my contract and said no before even thinking about it. They also dug up a task that's at least kind of related to my skills so that's nice for as long as it'll last me. It takes guts to refuse a job because it's not fulfilling enough. At my current job, I do a whole lot of nothing and no one has noticed, but it's taken me years to understand that it's making me feel awful rather than happy. Syntax Erin fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Feb 28, 2017 |
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Feb 28, 2017 22:53
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Whatever you do, assume that they are capable of loving you over. Even the best people with the best intentions are capable of loving you over.
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Feb 28, 2017 23:19
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Yeeeaaahhh.... speaking of that, my current job is faculty tenure-track, and I've attained tenure. The new job offer is NOT a tenured position. So my gently caress-ability is something I'm quite worried about here. 
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Mar 1, 2017 02:44
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Silly me is a public librarian on the other hand. I actually enjoy my job by and large, but management is spineless and refuses to enforce the rules or let us do anything about the (extreme minority of the whole) patrons who live to scream at us, abuse us, creep on us, and waste hours upon hours of our time because management wants everyone to feel welcome and anyone going upstairs to bitch about us (as a great many of them most certainly will) ensures we get shat on in the next library meeting. Said management hardly ever interacts with the public themselves, of course, and the head of public services always has our two busiest days of the week off as his weekend.
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Mar 1, 2017 04:35
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Syntax Erin posted:Wow, you said no? Because of the lack of relevant work, or because you have no confidence in the continued existence of the position? Frankly I'm kinda fed up with the whole library thing anyway, but still willing to concede that I've not had the right task in the field yet. On the other hand, all the job openings are either cataloguing, which I do grudgingly at the best of times, or part-time stuff that's not worth moving for.
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Mar 1, 2017 08:49
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Oh, nothing new to report. Just needing a place to  about still having no offer letter.
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Mar 7, 2017 20:06
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Syntax Erin posted:Oh, nothing new to report. My Lovely Horse posted:Both, and more. The position is definitely not going to be around after the project deadline (now plus extension), I've struggled with the lack of work for over a year now, and I just plain don't like it there very much. Feels like all they need for this job is a warm body on a chair to fulfill some funding requirement. I can't help but compare it to my old job, and my current one doesn't come out well either organizationally or socially. All reasons I don't want to tie myself to it for longer than strictly necessary; as it was I came in that day thinking today they either put forth some improvements or I'm quitting. Toph Bei Fong posted:50 ml Kraken rum
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Mar 8, 2017 18:01
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15+ Mint leaves (adjust to taste) 8 oz Port Wine (Delaforce Fine Ruby Port if you're strapped for cash, Quady NV Batch 88 Starboard Port if you've won a scratch off ticket and have $30 left over after paying your student loans) 2 oz. apple juice or cider Method: Muddle mint leaves and apple juice in cocktail shaker. Add port and ice. Shake and strain into tall glass. Garnish with mint sprig and apple slice. Serve with peanut butter sandwich w/ crusts cut off and peanut M&Ms , and the film Thomas Pynchon: A Journey into the Mind of [p.] or Ten Conversations About One Thing. Resist temptation to watch Party Girl and dream of what life would be like if you were Parker Posey. Keep cell phone near by. Don't drink alone for too long.
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Mar 8, 2017 23:13
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Okay I'm dying here: http://awfullibrarybooks.net/email-addresses-of-the-rich-and-famous/ I didn't know this was a thing until about thirty seconds ago and this is an amazing site. "Includes email addresses for AL GORE" "Every address in this book is accessible via CompuServe"
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Mar 10, 2017 16:19
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Well great! I finally got the letter emailed to me! ...since the print copy still hasn't shown up. The letter's signature is dated March 1. The director had almost 2 weeks to email this loving thing to me. When she sent me the offer letter scan, she said she "thought" she'd already sent it. Which she had not. The offer letter also says that I confirm receipt of the Employee Handbook upon signing it. I have never been given a copy of the Employee Handbook. So I emailed the library director and asked for a copy, and she told me to look at my other emails because again she "thought" she sent it already.   WTF? Why even stop to question me about it?! Why not just loving give me the drat file!? And they want me to start 3 weeks from yesterday. 3 weeks to quit my current job, move 1000+ miles, get a place, and start work. That's it. That doesn't give me much time to make a decision and put in my 2 weeks notice, plus they neglected to give me the information that any normal person would NEED for making said decision!  Still, I told her I'll be there on April 3rd, since getting out of my apt. before the end of the month is ideal, but if I can't get out of my lease, that doesn't even matter. Thank god I only have 3 months left. I've handed in my resignation at my current library already, because I had to do it right now in order to give them 2 weeks notice. I only had a day to decide. I had to contact HR directly to get the info about the benefits and the employee handbook. They actually did email them to me and were nice about it. The beneits are good; not unlike what I have now. So that's nice. Kinda weird that I had to procure that info myself instead of getting it right when I was offered the job though. My future boss may either be stupid or incompetent or a oval office or all the above. I'm hoping for just plain stupid. I'm at least accustomed to that. Was she doing all this poo poo on purpose to make it extremely difficult for me to refuse the offer? Or to remind me that I'm a worthless peon who exists to serve her whims? I really can't tell. I feel like I can't ask for more time or complain about any of this because I'm so desperate for a new job, especially one so close to my hometown and family. I don't want to seem like a demanding whiny entitled person. I want to make a good impression. There's a 60-day evaluation period at the start, so I don't want to give anyone any reason to hate me lest I end up fired and homeless and have to kill myself. This new library is already pissing me off and stressing me out and I haven't even started there yet. Maybe I just need an attitude adjustment. Or maybe I'm too desperate to get out of the dirty ol' south. Or maybe taking this job is a stupid, stupid idea. My rationalization is that I'm underpaid at my current job, our library is under the control of upper managment who neither respect nor understand us, I don't like the location, and I'm nowhere near any family or real friends, so I figure I should at least be paid more for being unhappy. ...right?  Insane Totoro posted:Okay I'm dying here: http://awfullibrarybooks.net/email-addresses-of-the-rich-and-famous/
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Mar 15, 2017 02:25
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When I had my job interview here, they announced there was going to be a "practical exam". This took place in a regular office where four or five others were working, they spent ten minutes trying to find out the login I was supposed to use to take the test before they realized it was pen and paper, it wasn't so much an exam as a questionnaire that could easily have been handled verbally, and no one in the room knew where I was supposed to turn it in (in fact I got the distinct impression no one had told them job candidates would come in that day), nor did anyone come to see me out or anything. My overall impression was "they don't think things through here and there's no communication" and 1.5 years later boy howdy was I right. Sample size of one, sure, but in my experience if there are obvious warning signs during the interview/contract signing process things are only going to get worse. e: I'm slightly misrepresenting things, there is plenty of communication, because one guy in this office is constantly on the phone or hashing out project details with coworkers and I feel very well informed about what's going on there just put all the people who work on one thing in the same office this isn't rocket science 
My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 09:59 on Mar 15, 2017 |
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Mar 15, 2017 09:06
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This coming from another field, but was a hunch I had based on some library interviews (including one that led to my worst job under my worst boss ever): If you have an interviewer trying to convince you that you shouldn't want the job; they might be right about the job itself, but they will probably be someone you want to work with. Bad bosses never talk poo poo about the organizations they oversee.
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Mar 15, 2017 19:23
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I've been volunteering at my local library for the past five months because I don't want to feel like my mlis has gone to waste, but lately my actual paying job is getting more intense and I'm too pooped to volunteer anymore. What is an acceptable amount of time to volunteer and then quit? Is six months too soon?
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Mar 16, 2017 04:45
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remigious posted:I've been volunteering at my local library for the past five months because I don't want to feel like my mlis has gone to waste, but lately my actual paying job is getting more intense and I'm too pooped to volunteer anymore. What is an acceptable amount of time to volunteer and then quit? Is six months too soon? Tell them the demands of your paid job have increased so you can't volunteer anymore. Give them two weeks if you're feeling generous but they aren't paying you and it's running you down so don't stick around.
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Mar 16, 2017 13:59
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That makes sense. I'm hoping they will let me use them as a reference in the future, so I don't want to leave them high and dry.
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Mar 16, 2017 19:22
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