I am losing hope that any library system is better. I just keep seeing others post about their toxic work environment because of management and admin. Us too.

My boss is extremely passive aggressive. She always assumes the worst of everyone below her as if any mistake is just her staff trying to "get back at her". Every call out or use of PTO used by staff results in her talking shit about that staff member and rolling her eyes.

She never has direct conversations or check-ins unless they are disciplinary. And she has become deeply embroiled in the admin culture. She has grown very close to her boss who does the same things to the managers. I attended a few meetings with her and her boss in it and they just side-chat, giggle, and criticize people to each other.

I don't know what to do. I am applying for other jobs, but the market is terrible right now. I have brought some (safer) concerns up to her and she blows up, denies, and blames you. Then she talked behind my back to coworkers.

If an incident happens at the branch there is no check in. In fact if a situation affects you, she will tell everyone you can't handle things "we should all be able to handle".

We had a rough spring and summer that we talked about and all she could say was "well I shielded everyone from the worst of it".

We have a union, but it is extremely hard to prove any of this as she never puts this behavior in teams. I've been documenting what I can. I am just so burnt out.

Any advice?

First of all, I know this is a common question! I’d just like advice specific to my situation.

Despite applying to any library position within an hour of where I live, I haven’t had any luck landing so much as an interview at a library. I would like to get library experience before beginning an MLIS program, but that doesn’t seem to be working. Lol.

I wonder if being able to put on my resume that I am pursuing an MLIS would make me a more competitive applicant.

Ideally, I’d attend SJSU. I live in the Bay Area, so I’d do my best to take advantage of their intern opportunities as well while trying to snag a library job.

I’m currently working a soul sucking job in corporate America, and I’m truthfully at my wits end. I’m so sick of feeling like my work is meaningless. I want to be a librarian because I’d love to work with the community. Meaningful work is more important to me than money.

How stupid would this be? I have to decide before December 1st since the alternative is a teacher credentialing program, which is better than corporate America, but not my ideal career choice. However, I’d get to work full time while earning my credentials.

Thoughts?

My note: I am a department head within the library. I am not on this search committee and I do not anticipate being part of the search in any significant way. Because of that, I'm happy to answer questions about the library or about the role of department heads and how we work together here if you're considering an application.

Note that when our job postings say "Twelve-month assignment" that means that we work 12 months of the year, not that this is a 1-year position.

https://facultycareers.gsu.edu/postings/7307

The Georgia State University Library seeks an innovative, collegial, and forward-thinking colleague to join us as a Department Head at the Dunwoody Campus.

The Department Head manages the Alpharetta and Dunwoody library facilities as part of the leadership team for Perimeter Library Services. They are also a part of the University Library department head team and collaborates with library leadership. The Department Head supervises the campus library faculty and staff and works with campus partners across academic and administrative departments to contribute to student learning, retention, and success.

Hello, I manage a library of a couple thousand volumes. We took out the old shelving, so I have to work on putting everything back to its proper place. I'm new to this so I don't know where some items belong. I have like 20 or more mini-series (short series of 5 or so books) and I don't know if I should just put them in with the rest by their author or if I should have a special section dedicated to mini-series. I already have a seperate section for big series like The Hardy Boys, so I'm wondering if it would be best to put the short series among the bigger ones in the special "series/collections" section. What's the best way of doing this?

Thanks.

As stated, I’m looking for public libraries (hopefully in bigger cities with multiple branches) that switched away from Dewey to BISAC or some other hybrid shelving. My library is considering the change and wants to think through how to make this change as effectively and painlessly as possible, also whether you used ALL BISAC categories or did a shortened/modified group of headings.

I’m a high school library media specialist with a new principal this year, and one of my goals is to become much more intentional about making the work of the library visible to administration.

Historically, I’ve been the type to put my head down, do the work, and assume people will see what’s happening. I’m realizing that isn’t necessarily the best strategy for advocating for myself or the library program.

For those of you who feel like you have a good system:

What do you track? Circulation, individual student visits, class visits, teacher collaborations, lessons taught, program participation, reading challenges, etc.?

And more importantly, how do you communicate it to your principal? Monthly email? Infographic? Quarterly report? Annual report? Informal check-ins? Shared dashboard?

I’d also love to know how often you meet one-on-one with your principal and what you bring to those meetings.

I teach a College Readiness course in addition to running the Media Center and coordinate things like peer tutoring and school-wide reading challenges, so a LOT happens through my program. I just need a better system for documenting and communicating it.

If you have an actual spreadsheet, dashboard, annual report, infographic, or routine that works for you, I’d especially love to hear about it.

What does your system look like?

I offered Information Literacy workshops to teachers thinking that they wouldn’t be interested (Like last year). Now teachers at my college are taking me up on the offer for their students and I don’t feel like I can back out because it’s part of my job and I was the one who offered. I’m very anxious about presenting an hour long in front of a group, but I’m also not completely confident in my ability to explain the material clearly.

I understand it in my head, but struggle to put it into practice and simplify it for others. My first workshop is probably happening soon, and I’m terrified.

Any advice from librarians who struggled with teaching at first?

I am a kids specialist at a bookstore, which basically means I run the kids dept (full time). Going on 4 years. Love my job currently and thought that an issue I frequently see would be something that librarians would know all about. Looking for some guidance…

I often get parents of kids that have a very high reading level, but are still quite young, so the higher level reading content is not appropriate for them. Recently it was a 2nd grader (young, since it’s the first weeks of school still!) reading at a 6th grade level.

I frequently wish I had a list of authors and books to share with these families… and I sure wish that authors would fill this very much needed niche. Or maybe I just haven’t heard of them and they do exist?

Obviously the recommendations are going to depend on both the reading level and age of the child…let’s just start with the 2nd grader that is reading at a 6th/7th grade level and is not ready yet for the darkness and violence found in books like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. I find myself recommending anything by Beverly Cleary or E.B. White, and such…but there have got to be other books I’ve just not thought of for this…

Do you guys have any sort of lists for this sort of thing?

P.S. I very frequently recommend people to go to a local library to find things we don’t carry or to talk to a librarian about what they are looking for. It sometimes feels like that scene in Miracle on 34th St, their surprised reactions sometime, 🤣…And I use my local library daily via the Libby app (I listen to audiobooks CONSTANTLY) and 100% continue to support my amazing local library…just a little info.

I am a lifelong bookworm and have strong memories of libraries growing up! I now read over 100 books a year and continue to be passionate about reading and literacy. I love you guys and what you do SO MUCH!

Hello!

I went to undergrad for Art History before I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and I finally decided on the library track too late in my undergrad career to possibly change majors without having to transfer AND do a fifth year. So now I'm a senior, and I really want to work in archiving or a college library (maybe with special collections?). I have no experience working in a library and have minimal archiving experience because of my poor luck with internship opportunities. (I work at a post office) I worked for free last summer doing basic organizing of archival materials so I could come back this winter and start actually archiving. I'm looking at an MLIS program with an archiving concentration.

My issue is that I'm a senior in college, in a vaguely related field. Should I be applying to jobs also? Will I be accepted into a library position that maybe would help me through school to get my MLIS? I have no issues relocating for a job.

I really want to pursue a career in libraries, especially children’s libraries. I was wondering if anyone knows any online programs I might be able to get into with a lower undergrad gpa? My overall is a 2.71, im worried there’s no where I can get in. Any advice? Any advice for library jobs I could apply to in the meantime to gain experience? Any help is appreciated greatly, thank you.

Background: I recently graduated with my MLIS and have been living in the south for the past year (partners family and opportunities). In the past year I have been very lucky in landing a full time position and recently being promoted.

Future Goals: My partner and I want to eventually move back up north, possibly to an area that doesn’t have as much opportunity.

My Worries: Even with the amount of experience and qualifications I have I am constantly stressing about not being able to land a job before moving. We are shooting for 12+ months out but it’s just constantly on my mind.

My Question(s): Dear seasoned LIS professionals, do you have experience with this? How much of the field is actually job experience/opportunity? What advice do you have? What would you tell your younger self? And finally, what do you think is the best northern state with the most LIS opportunities?

I work as a lib. tech in a primary school (AUS, k-6) and often observe library classes. Student behaviour has declined over the years for sure but I've noticed that students with bad behaviour, whether disrespect through constant disruption or outright ignoring the lesson, are often the most avid borrowers and readers. Really disrespectful kids (and yes I know they are kids) are the most excited about borrowing and often request a lot of titles. What's up with that? Perhaps it's the silver lining but I find it very interesting, and of course very upsetting.

My teacher librarian suspects that perhaps they aren't actually reading and just pumping their loan history to look cool, but they mostly seem genuine in their love for reading. And yes, it's mainly the boys that act like this.

What are your thoughts ? Are there any investigations/articles/papers about this that I could read? If you're a teacher especially, what do you think about this?

I'm mostly interested in why this behaviour manifests rather than how to 'fix' it but I'd love any thoughts and experiences on this phenomenon as a whole.

I'm currently updating my LinkedIn profile in the hopes of engaging in library and archives career networking. I graduated with an MLIS in September and hope to land a full time librarian position. I have been working in Payroll/HR related field for the last five years, but have completed several internships when I completed my Master's program in History several years ago and during my recent MLIS program. Should I write something like "Aspiring Librarian or Archivist" and only list my previous library and archives internships or should I also include my non-librarian/archivist current position working in payroll?

Hi everyone. I graduated from the University of Washington's MLIS program in June and I'm having a hellish time in the job search. For context, I had been volunteering at my local library weekly for a year and a half before starting my MLIS program, worked in central circulation at the school's central library for another year and a half as a student, held a student leadership position over the last year, and was generally regarded as one of the biggest leaders in my graduating cohort in June by both my peers and faculty. I also did my best to engage with my local public library systems, as I want to work in public librarianship and found mentors and other connections within those systems. I genuinely believe I did everything in my power to set myself up for success as a student, but in the 3 months since graduation and the 6 months since I started applying for degree and non-degree jobs in public libraries I've only had two interviews, both non-degree jobs that I did not get.

I'm feeling at my wits end this week, as I was rejected from 3 separate non-degree jobs in a library system that my closest mentor works for. I did not get an interview for any of these positions, and currently only have ~15% success rate at getting to the interview stage for non-degree jobs, while I havent gotten any interviews for the dozens of librarian jobs I've applied to since March. I j re-signed my Seattle-area lease in June, so unless I get an opportunity that is worth breaking a lease over, I'm staying in the area until next summer. Complicating things even more is the fact that I am transgender, and I do not feel safe applying for opportunities in states where my human rights have been stripped away or are at risk, even though the market for librarians in states where my rights are protected is generally oversaturated.

I genuinely have no idea how I can improve my applications so I can at least get the chance to interview, both for degree jobs and non-degree jobs. I know my resume could use more experience working at libraries, and I'm ok with holding a non-degree job for a year or two to get that experience, but how am I supposed to get that experience if I can't even get interviews for most of the non-degree jobs I'm applying for???

As I said before, I believed I set myself up well to get a job during my time in my MLIS program, establishing myself as a leader among my cohort and networking myself to as many people as I could, but so far my efforts have not paid off at all. I'm open to any suggestions on how I could improve my application materials and can answer any questions folks have about them in the comments. Becuase of financials, I also feel like I'm at the point where I need to look for work outside the field, so suggestions folks have for jobs I could get with transferrable skills while I keep trying for library jobs would also be appreciated. Ultimately, I'm just tired of putting in so much effort on applications and frustrated because that effort has had so little impact, especially with how expensive my education was and how much effort I put in to making sure I could avoid this type of situation. Thanks for listening y'all, any advice will be greatly appreciated 💜💜💜

Hi, I’m currently an art major working towards a bachelors in art with a concentration in illustration. Art is my passion but i am a bit pessimistic about finding a stable career in the field. I currently work part time as a library page and am working to advance at work (applying to be a clerk!) I really love the environment here, I could see my self getting established here, i can help the community and exercise my creative muscles with helping decorate the spaces and it itches the organizational part of my brain just right. I do want to keep art as my major, but I’m worried it won’t be enough to put me on track to working here full time one day, any tips on a minor i can add that may assist me?

Tl;dr: I’m an art major looking for a minor that will help me get on track to work within a library as a stable career.

I am having a delimma and I have gone through the emotions...annoyed, hurt, frustrated to now just shrugging my shoulders. I have a person who is my reference assistant and previously worked in the school environment and called herself a librarian. When i began my role as director at a community college, the employee stated that they could do my job or any librarians job without a degree, which they did not even have a bachelor's degree. I do think that experience is important, but the employee has never has professional library experience only paraprofessional experience. At times the tone the employee takes with me is rude and disrespectful and has been addressed. I have informed the employee that they were highly disrespectful discounting someone who has earned the credentials and worked for the title of librarian. The employee has also said this about a another masters degree level position and it just feels and when i mention it, the employee says well i can do the job. Am I being elitist or sensitive?

Hello all!! I am a youth services librarian looking to rearrange my space for my youngest readers. Just curious as to how other libraries organize their toddler/board books?? My library currently has ZERO organization, and it's very frustrating when searching for a particular title.

I was considering just alphabetically by first word of the title; but figured I might see if any other librarians had any better systems!

Hello everyone,

Title pretty much says it all. I'm wondering what the actual difference is between Bluetooth vs wireless scanners are for the purpose of cateloging and checking out books.

I'm tasked with buying one for my new library and will need to justify my purchase choice. What do you recommend for a new library with a tiny budget and very tightly held purse strings?

Thanks so much!

I've had the idea of moderating an asynchronous book club for a couple years now. I'm a branch manager so I've got a lot going on. I don't necessarily want to start a book club on Zoom and I honestly don't think I have the time or mental bandwidth to maintain a traditional in-person one. Something asynchronous involving discussion questions, chapter checkpoints, forum posts, maybe a chat -- that's the vision. I've tried out and looked into a couple different platforms, but I haven't been able to commit to one that seems like it fulfills everything I want.

So the question is: does anyone know of or recommend a platform/app/site/whatever that would work for this? Anybody out there try something similar? Is it working or did it crash and burn? Any input or advice is welcome!

Hi all, youth public librarian here. I'm thinking about hosting a Pokemon card trading program within the next few months. It'll probably be a family/all-ages event. In the programming language I'm going to put a disclaimer that card trades are not monitored and no money will be exchanged. Just wondering if anyone has hosted something similar and has any advice or cautionary tales to avoid.

(Also - no sub flair specifically for programming?)

We pulled David Walliams' books from the shelves in January, but kept them in a storage room in the library. Students can borrow them with permission from a parent/guardian. We had a lot of students ask for his books through April, but it's definitely died back since then (info: I'm in Australia and the school year is late January to mid-December).

Just curious what other libraries have done.

Card catalog-specific question. What is the order/arrangement of the drawers in a card catalog? Is it from left to right until the end of the cabinet, similar to bays in shelving rules? Or is it top to bottom along a single column then return to top on the next column?

The only reason I can think of why I have seen the top to bottom method is because the consecutive cabinets along a wall don't have a definitive edge or barrier to imply an end of the row causing an unknown stop and start to the row. Basically it looks like a solid face of drawers, with no delineations between pieces of furniture to restart the sequence, so out of necessity they ordered it going from top to bottom, which does have clear delineations (ie the floor).

Does this make sense?

I'm not sure if there's appropriate flare for this. Please let me know if there is and I'd be glad to correct it.

My library is currently trying to see if we can configure settings in our circulation system to block requests on books once all copies have been requested or checked out. We use Alma.

We are an academic library and have an end of semester due date on most of our collection. Our problem rears its head once all copies of the popular assigned novels are checked out. Students start placing requests for the novels and are put on hold. However, they end up stuck in hold purgatory and never get the book they need because most students don't return their books until the end of the semester.

We do have a consortia and partner networks we rely on to request copies of these books for students once all of our copies are claimed so we aren't rejecting requests for these books, and we do order additional copies when the need is very great.

Essentially, is there any way we can configure Alma to block hold requests on titles that are checked out?

I'm happy to provide additional context if needed.