I want to be in the Spotlight!

A Journey in Itself: My Career Path in Unions and Librarianship

Jannie R. Cobb

At one point in my life, I believe that I was truly the “hardest working woman in librarianship” as I was holding down four library jobs at the same time. I was working full-time in my current position as Librarian for the National Labor College, Monday nights at the library of the Maple Springs Baptist Bible College & Seminary, Tuesday nights at the Center to Protect Workers Rights Library, and Sunday afternoons as a Sunday Substitute Librarian at the Surratts Public Library for the Prince Georges County Library System in Maryland. A few months of working this schedule made me realize that although I truly love librarianship, perhaps doing just one job and doing it well was good enough.  So, now I have just one job as Librarian for the National Labor College and this job has been a journey in itself. MORE

Libraries team up for weight-loss challenge

By Genea Webb, Pittsburgh (PA) Tribune-Review: May 29, 2008

Library employees in Whitehall and South Park, PA, will compete to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. The contest, called “The Biggest Loser,” began on Memorial Day and will end on Labor Day. MORE

Library Funding Before Board

Daily World (Opelousas, LA): June 17, 2008

The city of Eunice is expected to increase the amount of financial support it provides to the Opelousas-Eunice Public Library System. If the budget is approved, the library board plans to use the surplus to adjust the salaries of library workers. MORE

Allen Library Plans On More Self-Checkouts

By Benjamin Lanka, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: June 27, 2008

According to Library Director Jeff Krull, Indiana’s new property tax caps will force the Allen County Public Library to cut costs wherever possible, especially in personnel, who make up a large chunk of the library's $17.1 million budget. MORE

County Library May Reduce Staff Because Of Budget Woes

By Steve Brandt, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN): June 28, 2008

The Hennepin County Library plans to cut about 50 positions from its staff of more than 700 in order to swallow higher-than-expected costs that it disclosed this week. MORE

Library Closings Opposed; Group Plans 'Read-In' Today

By Tina A. Brown, Hartford Courant (Connecticut): July 1, 2008

Hartford Public Library Cuts Looming;
The System's Board Plans To Close Two Branches, Lay Off 40 To Make Ends Meet

By Steven Goode and Vanessa De La Torre, Hartford Courant (Connecticut): June 28, 2008

A neighborhood group staged a June 30 “read-in” at the Hartford (CT) Public Library to protest a proposal to close two branches and lay off 40 library employees. MORE

Spokane Moms Campaign Grass-Roots Success Story; South Hill Women Raise Awareness, Help To Restore Library Funding

By Dan Hansen, Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA): June 25, 2008

Thanks largely to the lobbying efforts of three women who have become heroes among librarians nationwide, Spokane Public Schools is restoring some of the funding cut from elementary libraries last year. MORE

I want to write about Career Advancement!

Learning to be Resilient at Work

By Laura Blessing

Whether they face departmental reorganizations, technological upgrades, library renovations or budget cuts, library workers must adjust to change. Over the years I have noted common characteristics among co-workers who not only recover easily from change but in fact thrive on it. I was happy to see those same characteristics cited in social psychology literature as factors that can help employees become more resilient. MORE

I want to write about Certification!

Certified Public Library Administrator Program Approves Seven New Candidates

CHICAGO - The Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA) Certification Review Committee (CRC) committee approved seven new candidates at the 2008 American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA. The Certification Review Committee (CPLA CRC) was pleased to announce that the program now has 106 candidates and seven graduates. MORE

I want to write about Salaries and Pay Equity!

HR-ology: Reasonable Recruiting Area

By Angela Adams, CEBS, SPHR, Senior Human Resources Specialist

Reprinted with permission from the Management Association of Illinois’s Web site, www.hrsource.org. The article was posted on July 1, 2008.

Reasonable recruiting area is a term used in written affirmative action programs (AAPs), which are required of federal contractors and subcontractors with 50 or more employees and $50,000 or more in contracts. MORE

I want to write about HR Practice!

Joining a Union

By Diane Fay

Working within a union can be a very effective strategy to achieve pay equity and better salaries. The Bureau of National Affairs notes that union librarians made an average of 44 percent more than nonunion librarians in 2005. The 2006 ALA-APA Salary Survey: Non-MLS – Public and Academic showed similar results. Union library assistants made 41 percent more than non-union assistants. Thirty-one percent of librarians and 15 percent of library technicians were covered by a collective bargaining agreement; 27 percent of librarians and 11 percent of support staff were union members. And in addition to improving salaries, union contracts can create or protect transfer rights, encourage promotion from within, safeguard job security, secure seniority rights and improve other conditions of work. MORE

ALA Council Adopts Resolution Supporting Working Women as Caregivers

On January 16, 2008, at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, ALA Council adopted ALA CD#41, Resolution in Support of Women as Caregivers in the Workforce, which read: “That the American Library Association recognizes the responsibility of libraries to help all employees that are family caregivers; and that the American Library Association will form a task force to study and recommend to the Council of the American Library Association specific programs that libraries can use to support their employees who are family caregivers.” MORE

I want to write about Salaries and Pay Equity!

Living Wage Resolution Passed by ALA-APA Council

The ALA-APA Council passed a living wage resolution for library employees at the American Library Association meeting in Anaheim, California.  On Monday, June 30, the ALA-APA Standing Committee on the Salaries and Status of Library Workers, represented by incoming chair Patty Anderson, brought forward a resolution supporting the annual updating of the $40,000 minimum salary for librarians and recommending a salary of $13 an hour for library workers, also to be updated annually.  MORE

I want to write about Statistics!

MLS May Provide Edge in Non-MLS Library Positions; Early Career Specialization May Enhance Later Earnings

By Doris Van Kampen

The salary survey questionnaire developed by the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association: the Organization for Advancement of Library Employees (ALA-APA) was in its second year of data collection in 2007. The survey should assist current and prospective library employees in determining pay scale by geographic region as well as by departments and specializations within public and academic libraries. The survey included six jobs which bear the title of librarian but whose positions are not designated as requiring an MLS. Discussion of these non-MLS librarian positions is the focus of this article. MORE

I want to write about Support Staff!

COLT invites ALA-APA Director to Keynote at Annual Conference

The Council on Library Technicians (COLT) 41st annual conference was held in Anaheim, CA, on June 26-27, 2008. The theme was "Library Support Staff: The Face of the Library." COLT members were treated to a varied and full two-day event that began with a conversation with Jenifer Grady, ALA-APA Director. Her theme was a series of questions asking about what it means to be the face of the library and whether that face remains the same for all those who enter the library. MORE

I want to write about Work/Life!

Innovations in Employee Productivity Aids: Perks from the Private Sector May Apply to Libraries

By John B. Harer, PhD

Several years ago, the U.S. Congress created a tax credit for businesses that incorporated an on-site day care. The purpose of this tax credit was to encourage employers to provide their employees who had young children with quality, affordable day care close to their children. One goal of the legislation was to improve day care with its extended benefits for the welfare of young children and their improved educational outlook. However, another benefit realized by these companies was that their employees who needed the day care facility became motivated, highly productive employees (Palmer, 1999). MORE

Editors: Jenifer Grady, Jamie Bragg

Index of all articles from volume 1, no. 1, though volume 5, no. 6.

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