Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Welcome!
Hello to all. With this blog, I will be exploring the many difficulties encountered by small rural libraries with attracting good and experienced employees. Often, these institutions are unable to offer the competitive salaries, logistical support, or benefits to be found in larger library systems. And yet the small library remains a staple of the American landscape. Let's hope it remains that way!
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It is of interest that Library Directors in my library system-which is primarily rural- are a traveling lot. At 3 years into this I am one of the old-timers! I think there has to be genuine love for the community and the library for it to stick. None of us are in this for the money! It also gives a lot of control and autonomy when you are the one that steers the boat!-Diane
ReplyDeleteThis a particularly difficult area of rural libraries-the recruitment. Even hiring someone for part time work one or two days a week is difficult.
ReplyDeleteAnother angle of recruitment is getting good library board members. Too often their agenda is themselves and not the library's benefit.
ReplyDeleteWhen I became the director at my library, I was the fourth director in about 3 years. The first had been a local woman who had the job for 17 years and retired. She was replaced in quick succession by two other directors, who were local and weren't able to work for such a small salary. As I live in the community I work in, my tenure will probably be longer. And certainly, as others have said, I do it because I love the library and my community. Yet, being director is a tough job and there are days the idea of working as a librarian in a larger library seems inviting. Because someone else gets all the other headaches - building maintenance, staffing, funding, etc. etc. Recruitment isn't only a problem for professional staff though. With small salaries, hiring paraprofessionals with the level of skills needed can be hard.
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