#1 2010-01-14 09:34:14
I just wanted to update you on the changed lock on the main door saga. Abby glass (again) changed the locks. At this time, only one full time staff member has a key. The door must be unlocked at the beginning of the day and locked at the end of the day.
If that one member doesn't open the door, the Acting Library Director has to lock and unlock the door. What happens if she can't get there? The staff waits outside? (Remember she was in the hospital for over a week and none of the library staff were aware of it!!!). Do we pay staff for standing at the front door for an hour waiting for someone to open the door? Good use of staff time. And what about the taxpaying patrons who want to use the library during the "waiting for MG time"???
The full time person used to work Thursday afternoons to 8 pm. Who will open the door Thursday am?? She had to change her schedule so she can be there to open the door. Now the children's room will be closed Thursday evening because there is no staff. And what happens if she gets sick one day?
The other full time staff member will get a key but she is on a 6-8 week medical leave. Another reason for the already overworked and understaffed workers to increase their work load. I have nothing but respect for these town employees. If you stop by the library, say a kind word. They need to hear they have SOME support and SOME appreciation for all they do.
This is a safety issue also. All staff members are female and with a skeleton staff, and no key to lock the door if necessary, who knows. I won't give details because I don't want to be blamed for giving ideas, but if any equipment gets stolen or staff members hurt for any reason, we will know the base cause.
The janitor has a key but he is only part time at the library now.
I have never in my life heard of anything so crazy. The town is "locking out" it's employees.
This is a perfect example of the vendetta against the library. Ok, it was against the trustees and friends, so why are they PUNISHING THE STAFF??? MG was overheard at the COA recently complaining about the staff. (I won't even go in to how UNPROFESSIONAL that is--and yes, Brenda Eckstrom will tell her I said this and no doubt, the staff will be punished even more, so sorry to the staff in advance, but that is MY OPINION and my opinion only!!)
She's never in the library so how does she know what the staff does or doesn't do. It was the staff who had to totally rework their schedules to accommodate this fiasco. That, by the way, should be the director's job!! Has she made any effort to smooth things out or to get her library staff to work well in such difficult situations? I think that would be the mark of a good manager and a good leader, but that's just my opinion.
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#2 2010-01-14 10:22:17
MY GOD HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE GOING TO CHANGE THE LOCKS ON THIS BUILDING AND WHY?
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#3 2010-01-14 13:42:31
Nora, are the restrooms locked? Have those locks been changed?
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#4 2010-01-14 13:47:23
MAYBE MARICA GRISWOLD SHOULD ADD LOCKSMITH TO HER RESUME AND GO TO A LOCKSMITH SCHOOL TO SAVE THE TOWN SOME MONEY CHANGING THE LOCKS EVERY WEEK.
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#5 2010-01-14 15:07:47
If I was a library staff member, I would call this a hostile working environment. I feel very bad for these people whom I consider my friends as well as library colleagues. There has NEVER been a problem with the previous lock/alarm code system. The place is now Fort Knox. What's in there that is so valuable that the staff has to be treated like suspects in a bad melodrama? I can't figure it out. More punishment for a staff that is very deserving of praise for their hard work.
The new TA has not even visited the building (at least not when staff was there) and last Christmas when the BoS had the volunteer party??? None of the library volunteers were invited (I don't mean the Friends, I mean the official volunteers). So you tell me whether or not you think the library is being punished because the BoS and the acting director hate the Friends and Trustees. I can't figure out any other reason than to treat the staff and volunteers with such disrespect. Of course, this is just my opinion, but I think many of you will agree that it is not fair to punish the innocent.
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#6 2010-01-22 16:15:07
A friend of mine once said this about the goings on in Wareham: "You can't make this stuff up!!"
Well, he was right. Problems aplenty with the door/key/open for work business.
When the responsibility for opening the door for the workers is given to a COA volunteer, are we not surprised that the alarm was set off?? (It was set off by the town accountant too by the way when she tried to unlock the door!!) Of course, Wareham's finest get to waste their time and our tax payer dollars answering false alarms.
Should we wonder why a volunteer has the key to the library, when trustworthy staff members do not? These are the same people who have had keys for years, and never has there been a problem. I guess this is just another example of the saga of the recent mismanagement of the library.
Oh, and it's just not that professional when you are the acting director to yell across the library, Hey COA volunteer (her name was used), can you lock the door? Employee X is "bitching" about the key. By the way, Employee X simply informed the police that she didn't have a key to lock the door when she was asked to do so. If you think that criticism is "unfair" then you clearly haven't got a clue what it is like to have a real job with a real boss. Even if you hate your staff for whatever paranoid reasons, you should still ALWAYS act in a professional manner. When other people, including library patrons, overhear the acting director speaking rudely to staff and a member of one of the town's committees, it is perfectly fair to call that behavior unprofessional.
And here is another problem. The staff comes in 1/2 hour before the library opens to get the computers running, empty the book drop, pull holds etc. They used to unlock the door, come in and lock the door until 9:30. Now the door stays unlocked because they don't have the key to "relock" it after the COA volunteer leaves, and patrons have just been walking in thinking the library is open. A few staff were surprised to come out of the stacks and find a person in the library when it wasn't open. Yes there is a sign on the door, but people just push the door and if it opens they think the library is open. A clear safety issue if you ask me. The work environment at the library is what I would call hostile. All of this could have been avoided if the BoS had hired a good director instead of the guy they had to "unhire" for lack of the google! When we asked if there would be a search committee this time, we were told they weren't planning on it. Here we go again!!
Let's hope a new library director will get this library back to its former glory, well respected in the library community and well-loved by the patrons.
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#7 2010-01-22 16:28:08
So a volunteer is trusted with a key, but employees who have worked there for years and years are not and are treated like dirt. These people are completely nuts.
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#8 2010-01-22 16:39:40
MY GOD THIS IS CRAZY ,WE NEED TO GET OUT IN APRIL AND VOTE THESE NUTS OUT,VOULENTEERS GET A KEY TO THE LIBRARY BUT LIBRARY EMPLOYEES DONT GET A KEY,AND NO BOOK SALES BY THE FREINDS ,MY GOD CAN YOU JUST BELEAVE IT ,THIS IS CRAZY,THANK GOD FOR NORA LETTING US KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE LIBRARY.
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#9 2010-01-22 19:14:39
I wonder what the new TA thinks about Marcia yelling across the library and using profanity when referring to a staff person. She had no problem calling some of the staff at the COA “stupid” to their face and behind their backs. That is the reason 2 of the staff quit they couldn’t take her abuse and meltdowns.
I hear she had a major melt down last week because someone from maintenance took some chairs from her office that belonged to another department. She was heard screaming at someone on the phone because someone dared take her chairs, chairs that belonged to another department. She stormed out the office to try and find the maintenance person responsible for the dastardly deed. I don’t know if she found the guilty party but when she did it couldn’t have been a pleasant conversation.
The woman doesn’t know the meaning of the word professional. One of these days someone will end up suing the town for verbal harassment because of her outbursts
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#10 2010-01-23 06:18:42
Let us not forget folks, that the acting library director/COA director AND the new TA work for US, the taxpayers. That's right, we are paying their salaries with benefits. As their bosses, we should expect them to do their jobs.
Although I have not done so, I am aware that recently, more than one person has complained to the TA about the acting director's behavior and actions regarding the library. Let's see what happens.
Edit for typo.
Last edited by Nora Bicki (2010-01-23 07:30:47)
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#11 2010-01-23 08:20:47
From A Phrase a Week: This applies to many aspects of Wareham, but the library comes to mind for sure.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Meaning
If something is working adequately well, leave it alone.
The thought may be Stone Age but the phrase 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', which sounds as though it might come from the Roosevelt or Truman era, is even more recent than that - and it's nice for a change to be able to give an expression a precise date. This one was first uttered by T. Bert (Thomas Bertram) Lance, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in Jimmy Carter's 1977 administration. He was quoted in the newsletter of the US Chamber of Commerce, Nation's Business, May 1977:
Bert Lance believes he can save Uncle Sam billions if he can get the government to adopt a simple motto: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." He explains: "That's the trouble with government: Fixing things that aren't broken and not fixing things that are broken."
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