K-12 Rehab Project – Episode 3

The Importance of Staffing

Before I arrived at my current job, the library assistant I was to have was chosen for me. I was told that this person had worked in the library before (in the “before time,” before COVID turned everything upside down). I foolishly thought this meant that the person had some basic knowledge about how a library works – like how to put the books in the right order on the shelf and the importance of putting the books in the right place on the shelf.

Unfortunately, not only did the person not have a clear concept of how a library works and foundational things like how to put books on the shelf, but they lacked a significant set of skills absolutely necessary for working in a library. It also turned out to be something that they could not learn.

Examples:

1. After working in the library for three weeks, the assistant was still asking if it was necessary to put a barcode label on every book. The catalog system does not allow saving a copy record without a barcode entered. Why was this a question three weeks in? (Especially since this person was supposedly experienced in working in this library.)
2. The assistant could not find a student’s patron record, so chose to enter a new one. The system would not allow the same student ID number to be entered into two records, so the assistant used the book’s ISBN as the student ID number. It did not occur to the assistant to search using the ID number to access the original patron record.
3. Instead of TXT as a call number for a textbook, the assistant entered the entire title of the book into the call number field.
4. Given a packing list for a book delivery, the task was to check the books received against the list and identify any discrepancies, like books not received or damaged. It was a huge list – 20 printed pages and not in any order, like alphabetical by title. So, I insisted that the vendor give us a digital copy and then showed the assistant how to search the spreadsheet by scanning in the ISBN. The assistant took two days to do this, in between other tasks like class visits. At the end, the assistant indicated a stack of books that did not have scannable ISBN barcodes. The assistant indicated they were done with the task and asked if they should email the vendor with the results. I had to indicate that the task is not done because of this stack of books that you have not checked against the list due to the lack of a scannable barcode. The assistant COULD NOT THINK OF ANY OTHER WAY TO FIND THE BOOKS IN THE LIST. I had to show the assistant how to search by the title of the book. I sat next to them and guided them title by title, writing the ISBN from the packing list onto the book for future reference. (I expected a grown adult to have the critical thinking skills to come up with an alternate way to find those titles on the list.)
5. The library has two floors – Primary Library and Secondary Library. The books for the secondary library are labeled with an S + Dewey Decimal Number + Author for nonfiction and YA + Author + Title for fiction. This is pretty straightforward and clear. I had cataloged a handful of Korean secondary nonfiction books and labeled them with the above system (adding KOR for Korean). I found them shelved in the primary library Korean books shelves on an empty shelf separated from the existing books on those shelves. It did not occur to the assistant to take them upstairs and put them with the other Korean nonfiction books shelved there. I found a YA graphic novel shelved in the primary library graphic novels. I pulled it. Presented the assistant with the book pointing at the call number label and asked where this book should go? The assistant struggled a bit, but said it should be in the secondary library. I asked why the assistant had it on the primary graphic novel shelves then? I stressed that the book must go to the right place as it was not appropriate for younger children. The assistant spent the rest of the day justifying to me why it is hard to put things in the right place.
6. Graphic novels were to be arranged by call number – GN + Author + Title/Series + Number. The assistant arranged them by size. The large format books tended to fall over, so they were segregated. Call number order was irrelevant to the assistant.
7. Chinese books were arranged in Fiction and Nonfiction. The fiction call number format was CHI + Author + Title. I found books separated within the Fiction section into subsections. I asked for explanation. The assistant indicated that the group on the left were fictional stories written in Chinese for Chinese readers. The group on the left were fictional stories written in Chinese to be read by language learners. [insert eye roll here] I had to explain that fiction was fiction was fiction and they were not to be separated out. Again, call number order was irrelevant to the assistant because of their own logic being more important than the library system.
8. Once I determined what all the call number formats, circulation type codes, and location codes would be, I documented this in a chart and provided this to the assistant in a printed copy. I went over it line by line explaining it carefully. The assistant nodded profusely indicating understanding. Days later the assistant turned and asked me what the call number should be for the item they were currently handling. I said, “Where’s the instructions I gave you?” The printed instructions had been tucked away and forgotten immediately. The assistant was just blithely doing their own thing making up call numbers and assigning whatever codes seemed good at the time. I had to explain that I had given these printed instructions for a reason and that the assistant was to consult this document and follow it. This was a novel concept to the assistant.
9. I ran a report of records recently cataloged by the assistant, identified errors and delegated the task of correcting the errors in hope that the assistant would learn from this experience. I had to to it twice and then gave up, because no learning was taking place.
10. In cataloging a set of books that were purchased for a single price, the assistant was confused about what price to put in the copy record for each book. I said “count the books, divide that number into the total price, enter it in the copy record.” The assistant said “But there are workbooks, student books, and teacher books. The prices should be different.” I said, ” Count the number of books and divide the cost by that number.” The assistant said “So, I should leave the price field blank?” (The logic behind this escapes me.) I said “I am going to say it for the third time (holding up three fingers for emphasis). Take the number of books and divide the price.” The assistant got the emphasis and that I was now angry. After I returned from lunch, I found that the assistant had been searching for prices on the internet and wanted to use these prices in our copy records. I had to point out that we DO NOT HAVE TIME to be researching each book for a price that the assistant would find more acceptable and that the assistant needed to RELAX and just do as instructed.

I could go on. The examples are endless.

Having said all that, let me counter that the assistant was an affable person, a pleasant conversationalist, and well liked by everyone. I have never worked with anyone more self-motivated. The assistant was constantly working on something and in no way a slacker. However, working very diligently, while doing things the wrong way, is not desirable. It is not productive to be making messes for someone else to clean up. Having to micromanage the assistant to try to mitigate the damage being done and trying (in vain) to teach the right way to do things, kept me from doing the work I needed to be doing.

I started coming into work an hour early just so that I could have one hour of peace and quiet to prioritize my work and get things done before the assistant arrived. Not only was it necessary to micromanage the assistant to catch the constant stream of errors, but being around the assistant was draining. Once the person was transferred out of the library, I realized how different the work environment was and how much less stress I was under. There are people who take away your energy (energy vampires, if you will) and this person had that effect on me. Even when not asking the same basic questions over and over, the assistant was narrating their experience for me. This takes the form of telling me things that I don’t need to know. Like, “that student borrowed a book” or ” I found this book on that table” or “the stuffed toys are dirty and worn.” It causes constant interruption of my work and thought processes, for no purpose

Having documented these and many other repetitious errors, my administrators agreed that the assistant should be transferred to a different job and that I would be able to hire two new assistants. I was able to lead the interviews and I provided skill tests to make sure that the applicants had the skills I needed. I am very happy to report that I have two assistants who have the skills needed to work independently at the job. I can trust them to follow instructions without argument or making up their own ways to do things. In fact, they find my mistakes, which I do occasionally make. Books are mostly in the right places on the shelves, certainly not in the TOTALLY WRONG places.

Skills needed to work in a library:

1. Ability to accept and follow directions/instructions.
2. Organizational skills – know the organizing system and apply it consistently.
3. Honest communication – do not say you understand if you do not understand.
4. Problem solving without creating more problems – be able to adapt and apply different approaches, be able to predict the consequences of your choices.
5. Basic ABC’s and 123’s.
6. Ability to accept responsibility for your actions and change future actions to align with expectations.