ALA Think Tank

I am applying for a librarian i entry level position, but my cover letter extends to the 2nd page by a paragraph, should I cut it to be one page?

I've never been an Assistant Branch Manager, so I have no idea what to expect for a salary. So what should I put in the "Desired Salary" box of the application?

What do you do when you're short staffed and extremely busy with patrons at your desk?

I work at a private elementary school, and the administration just asked me to keep a controversial book in the back office until the school had a chance to have a deeper conversation about it. I'm really uncomfortable with this censorship happening without going through the official channels (we have a challenge procedure in our collection development policy) and without anyone knowing about it. At the same time, I don't want to lose my job over this. What would you do in this situation?

I have an honest question. Why apply for a job that pays lower than you can afford and that you have no interest in accepting? We have just spent much time and energy reviewing resumes, calling references, getting to know people and introducing them to our community. After second interviews and tours, our top candidates rejected the position because of pay. The salary was in the advertisement & the job description. How can we refine our recruiting materials to avoid this in the future?

I often see a lot of grammatical errors in some librarians' pages, emails, and I am currently in a search committee which some applications made my head hurt. When I see posts here that have grammatical errors, I want to make a comment and correct people but I don't want to sound judgmental. I just want to help and make people aware of their mistakes. I would appreciate if people pointed out my errors but I don't know how other people would perceive corrections on this page. How would you feel?

I am new to marketing our library events on social media. I'd like to receive suggestions from more established library marketers on which libraries and organizations to follow in my feed for inspiration. I haven't received many suggestions from those in my system and in other area systems - perhaps my region is just unique in that way - so I appreciate the input!

Imagine: Your library receives a gift of a magazine subscription. This magazine is something that your library had previously offered and decided to not renew because it didn't circ well. While you will catalog the magazine while the subscription lasts, do you do anything to counter the patron renewing the subscription later, ask that the patron refer to the library in the future before gifting, or do you just leave well enough alone because: hey, free magazine?

Any advice for dealing with management taking away responsibilities of librarian staff without any vocalized reason? When we ask for a meeting or more information, we're told vaguely that a meeting will occur "at some point in the future" but it's been over six months. What's next?

I want to ask whether JD/MLS librarians, particularly in academic libraries, give legal advice to their institutions (not patrons). An admin at my library suggested that would appropriate for a JD/MLS b/c the institution's in house counsel is too busy. An example would be advising the library on copyright issues (versus just providing resources on those issues).

Guybrarians and their beards… Left coast, interviewing,… How much beard is too much beard, assuming the goal is to land the job?

Life after Branch Managing a public library: Have any fellow ALATT members decided they aren't management material? What did you do next?

Looking through old catalog records. What does "ICO" stand for on a catalog card? Example: 1979 (ICO) 4th Place Float. Maybe this is something I should know....???? I know I will feel silly when someone points out the obvious.

I'm an upper level supervisor working in a system that appears to have gone completely batshit. I could use someone to talk to re. making things better and making it through the day, but am terrified of going public (the particular brand of batshit lends itself to paranoia). Also, Library Land is TEENY. Also social media is NOT CONFIDENTIAL. Any suggestions re. finding a sane, seasoned professional who can be helpful but discrete?

I had a library coworker who regularly sabotaged other people's programs (hiding important things, or sending out passive aggressive e-mails to everyone), poorly redid work others had already completed and took credit for it, and snooped through coworkers' digital files. This person regularly makes nasty comments about other coworkers behind their backs, and sometimes publicly on Facebook, creating a huge amount of tension in the workplace. Has anyone else experienced this? Can anything be done?

I'm about to start an MLIS program and will graduate at age 55. All the new hires at my large library system are under 35. Does any place actually hire middle-aged, new librarians? I have a very diverse background and another advanced degree, but so do other many librarians I know who regularly get passed over in hiring.

Hello I am a New Director, however I get the sense that certain long standing staff members want me to start making sweeping changes. Is it ok to inform staff that there will be no changes in the first instance?