Anna writes “The parents of students at Doherty Middle School in Andover (MA) have stepped in to help keep the library open. The hours of the school librarian, who has been in the Andover school system as a librarian for over 40 years, have been cut down to four per week, so parent volunteers are filling in the gaps to provide an adult presence and someone to check the books in and out.
“Knapp and Stacey said the parents can handle the basic running of the library, but they need Freedman’s guidance for bigger problems.”
“Freedman concurs. “When I come in there’s (a stack of) questions this high,” she said.””
It’s very sweet that she works for free
(the librarian), but I don’t see how this is going to help them hire a full-time librarian, or see why a librarian is needed at all.
This simply reinforces the librarians-should-work-for-free idea that too many have.
I hate this kind of thing.
Thoughout Library school every instructor that dealt with managment issues always tried to reinforce the idea that you should do more then you are paid to do. The key is to “think of the children”, or some equally ridiculous thing. It is not professional behaviour to devote your life to a job without compensation. I’d bet money not one of her superiors took a pay cut for the kids.
She should not be ordering books for the collection from home. She should do that while answering the volunteers questions. If everything doesn’t get done, that is effect the decision to cut her hours nets. If the books arent’t processed properly, let the district deal with it. They should either find the money or suffer the consequences. Giving them your labor without compensation sets us all back.
Maybe they can hire another librarian for twenty hours a week, but have her work forty and manage a corps of volunteers. What school board could pass that up?
So do I.
It’s terrible for librarians, libraries, schools, kids, everyone.
I am getting so sick of reading stuff like this. And playing on the what-about-the-kids stuff is a cynical ploy to manipulate already underpaid workers.
Why is it the librarians who always must sacrifice?