I want to be in the Spotlight!

"How Would You Represent ALA-APA As President In 2009-2010 And Beyond?"

Elections will be held in the spring! The candidates for ALA President are Camila Alire, dean emerita at the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University in Fort Collins (CO), and J. Linda Williams, coordinator of library media services for Anne Arundel County public schools in Annapolis (MD). As the victor will also serve as ALA-APA President, the candidates were asked, “How would you would represent ALA-APA as President in 2009-2010 and beyond?” Here are their responses. MORE

Submit a Star and Tell Us About Your Healthy Workplace for National Library Workers Day on April 15, 2008

CHICAGO - Start the celebration early for National Library Workers Day (NLWD) by telling the world what makes your favorite library employee special. ALA-APA is accepting submissions for the NLWD Stars website. NLWD is celebrated on Tuesday, April 15, during the American Library Association (ALA)-sponsored National Library Week. This year, we also want to know how your library administration and employees encourage staff to get and stay healthy.MORE

ALA Youth Divisions Send Valentine’s Day Advocacy Call to Action

 What's it all about? This Valentine’s Day, have your teens, parents, children and library supporters flood federal elected officials’ district offices with Valentines that express love for your library and its staff and ask for support for important legislation. MORE

WSLit Rallies for School Library Staffing Reform, Senate Bill 6380

School library supporters from across the country gathered at noon on Friday, Feb. 1, at the Washington State Capitol, Olympia, Wash., to rally in support of school library funding and staffing reform and Senate Bill 6380, which would give all Washington students full-time access to school libraries and certified school library media specialists. MORE

I want to write about Career Advancement!

When Is A Second Job The Right Career Move?

By Carrie Netzer Wajda

As libraries face increasing pressure to provide more services with fewer resources, libraries increasingly use part-time positions to cover required hours. There are many reasons to consider taking a second job, from becoming a parent to pursuing a degree, but working a second job can put tremendous pressure on relationships, study and free time. It can interfere with vacations, increase stress and contribute to job burnout. Yet a second job can also contribute to an employee’s skill set, provide job experience and provide a secondary stream of income for the many librarians whose salaries fall short of the ALA’s survey finding of a mean $51,000 salary. How can you know when taking a second job makes sense? And how can you best find part-time employment that will contribute both to your well-being and to the bills? MORE

I want to write about HR Law & Regulation!

Crossing the Border: NAFTA Visas for Information Professionals

By Megan Fitzgibbons

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted in 1994 to facilitate trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its provisions remove tariffs and trade barriers for many manufactured goods produced and sold in member countries. In addition, the pact includes agreements relating to cross-border investments, intellectual property law and labor regulations. The latter category is relevant for librarians and information professionals who wish to work in NAFTA countries. MORE

I want to write about HR Practice!

Where Do We Go From Here?

Understanding and Conducting the Exit Interview
From The Employer’s Perspective – A Case for the Future
Part I

By Julius E. Rhodes

Many HR professionals and employers view the exit interview with the same dread as they do the performance interview and handling corrective action. The interview, conducted with an employee in the final days of his/her service, examines the reasons for departure; such a conversation can easily become emotionally loaded and even destructive to both employer and employee.MORE

I want to write about Recruitment!

Assessing Workplace Fit Not an Easy Task

By Mary Lynn Fayoumi, CAE, SPHR, GPHR, President & CEO

Reprinted with permission from the Management Association of Illinois’s Web site, www.hrsource.org. The article was posted on February 7, 2008.

The word "fit" is used frequently in the field of human resource management. For example, when interviewing candidates, certain questions are used to determine if the candidate will fit the organization's culture. Or, current employees who are experiencing difficulties getting along with the team are often deemed to not be a good fit for a particular position or department. Assessing fit assumes that you have a relatively good feel for not only what the person in question but also the environment and/or other employees or customers are like. In short, making decisions about degree of fit assumes that you are beginning with a pretty solid frame of reference. MORE

I want to write about Salaries and Pay Equity!

The Basics of Position Review, or How Your Job Description Affects Your Pay

By Gail Munde, PhD, PHR

Classification schemes are employment systems that classify positions into a hierarchy with corresponding pay levels. If you are in a classified position, a Human Resources professional has analyzed the set of responsibilities and the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the duties of your position and “classified” the position within a job series. MORE

Brian Keith and Camilla B. Reid named winners of the 20072008 Sirsi-Dynix–ALA-APA Award for Improving Salaries

CHICAGO ‑ The ALA-APA: the Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees (ALA‑APA) is pleased to announce that Brian Keith, Head of Library Human Relations at the University of Florida Smathers Libraries, and Camilla B. Reid, Associate Director of the Augusta State University Reese Library, are the winners of the fourth annual SirsiDynix–ALA&-APA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting Salaries and Status for Library Workers. MORE

Libraries nationwide receiving ALA-APA Library Salary Survey

CHICAGO – Library directors and human Resources staff, check your mail.  Almost 4,000 public and academic libraries are being asked to participate in the 2008 ALA-APA Library Salary Survey.  This year, the survey asks for salary data for six librarian titles. MORE

I want to write about Statistics!

The Black Experience In Library School:

A Survey of Encounters With Racism Among African American Library School Students, 1990-2007

By Toccara Porter

In this preliminary report, Toccara Porter provides an exciting overview of responses to her 2007 survey. The report discusses responses by school and by region, and it also considers the roles of minority recruitment, mentorship and membership in ethnic caucuses in combating racism in Library and Information Science programs. Please consider that this report provides preliminary data only; a full report will be published at a later date. MORE

I want to write about Work/Life!

Workplace Wellness Survey Reveals Correlation Between Work-Life Initiative Availability, Participation

By Jamie Bragg

The second installment of Library Worklife’s discussion of the 2007 Library Workplace Wellness online survey focuses on the accomplishments will identify trends by type of library (academic, public, special and other). The first section, Employer Options, will study the activities or initiatives offered by employers. Using data from the survey we will compare the average number of initiatives offered by each type of library. The second section, Employee Participation, will examine workers’ choices to participate in different initiatives. MORE - Public Access to Article

Editors: Jenifer Grady, Jamie Bragg

Index of all articles from volume 1, no. 1, though volume 5, no. 2.

 An article in Volume 4, Number 7 (July 2007) entitled "If I were in Charge! 14 Tips for Improving Leadership" incompletely attributed authorship. The article was co-written by Ravonne Green and Leann Boyd; Dr. Green’s name was omitted. Library Worklife regrets the error.

Library Worklife welcomes comments and suggestions and will address errors that warrant correction. Messages may be e-mailed to jgrady@ala.org or jbragg@ala.org.