LISNews: Librarian News

A union representing Ghana's library workers is promising "the mother of all strikes" unless
a conflict over salaries is resolved:

[Union representative Alex Sackitey] said this time round, the workers said, "enough is enough" and that they were going to stay away until their demands were met.

A section of the workers the paper spoke to claimed their wives had divorced them, owing to poor salaries and conditions of service. "Our children are also out of school because we cannot pay school fees," one worker stressed.

[Library workers] were wearing red bands and chanting war songs at the Greater Accra Regional library in Accra when The Chronicle visited the premises.

Complete story from the Ghanian Chronicle via allAfrica.com.

An anonymous patron dropped by to let us know about an editorial in a Chicago newspaper describing some of the personnel problems in the Chicago Public Library system.

"Remember the dedicated, experienced reference librarians who helped you do research at the Chicago Public Library just a few years ago? Remember the branch librarians who knew your neighborhood and knew the collection and had time to connect the people to the resources? Many of them have taken early retirement, causing a significant loss of intellectual resources to the city. Many others have been re-assigned to departments or branches which do not use their expertise."

Christchurch City, New Zeland, Libraries in top 5 places to work

Christchurch City Libraries was named in the top 5 places to work according to a nationwide survey.

Placed fourth in the medium size workplace (100 – 399 staff) category, and ranked 13th overall, Christchurch City Libraries was selected from 128 other businesses in Unlimited magazines ’20 Best Places to Work’ 2003 annual survey.

Full Story"

Blake writes "News From Ontario where

London libraries could be facing their first labour dispute in more than 30 years. Staff at the city's public libraries gave strong support for a strike this week, voting 90 per cent in favour of walking off the job.

Valerie Chapman, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees' Local 217, which represents more than 200 employees at the public libraries, said 112 of the 217 members turned out to cast a ballot in a strike vote Monday.

Chapman said she was pleased with both the turnout and the result."