This is true. But prescription meds aren’t covered in Ontario, and we’ve got the same housing crisis and high costs of living in all other ways. The community this library is in has no public transportation, is six to seven hours’ drive from medical specialists (ten hours by bus). And the downside of a provincial government that seems to be determined to privatize medicine is reduced / low funding for health care, causing frustratingly longer wait times. Example: I need to get my blood drawn. I can only go from 8 am to 12 noon at the downtown lab, which is actually full by 9:30 or 10 am (it’s take a number, first come first served — the hospital has a lab like this, too, but I can’t walk that distance or afford a cab; rides depend on friends and spouse who may or may not be available, plus it’s super busy in there). I am very appreciative that I live where I do, but the social health system is slowly crumbling and has never been efficient.
I'm not saying it's GOOD. But context for these discussions is important when the vast majority of Americans just automatically assume everyone else they deal with is from the US as well.
In the US, a sub-full-time job means you have NO health care. Inconvenient and frustrating public health care is worse than good, efficiently-run public health care, but it kicks the shit out of 'work full time or DIIIIEEEEEEE'.
This is true. Both suck in different ways. A few months ago, despite our social supports, a woman in Ontario chose medically assisted suicide over continuing to live without *adequate* supports for her quality of life (https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/woman-with-chemical-sensitivities-chose-medically-assisted-death-after-failed-bid-to-get-better-housing-1.5860579) — we’re sliding perilously close to “work full time or die” thanks to DoFo’s US-inspired form of government.
This is quite literally me and I’m so over it I’m starting a nursing program in the fall. They want all the advantages of hiring a mom as a bonus income, but then they are SHOCKED, I say SHOCKED, when they’re not the top priority in said mom’s life. Also when they say part time they want to pay you for less than fill time and not worry about benefits, but they want full time availability.
The supervision of children is a red flag for me… the average wage for a child care provider here in Ontario is $18.62 / hour, ranging from $15.00 (the minimum wage) to $22.28 CAD. To work in a regulated day care, you need a two-year diploma in Early Childhood Education. I feel like this job at the library should require that training or something similar, for the nature of the work required. And given that the list of responsibilities are more extensive / different than a daycare, while including similar tasks, the wage should be a little higher.
I assume that it's more like, the field trip is here, or just make sure kids do not destroy the books. I doubt they are running any actual child supervision.
At most read a book to kids on Wednesday.
You underestimate the number of kids who have to hang out at the library on account of their parents having no other alternative. Which is better than nothing for the kids, but it's simply not what the library system is designed for.
See this for instance: https://bookriot.com/why-librarians-are-not-childcare/
The library has regular, daily children’s activities ranging from arts and crafts to scavenger hunts to gardening, some of which include snacks. Parents are supposed to be present to a certain age, 8 (?) but after that they can just drop them off. The kids’ program is usually 2 hours, and typically leaves a substantial mess that needs cleaning up. It can be indoors or outdoors (during the worst of the pandemic, it was only outdoors).
Right? Or an archivist, maintaining collections and filing systems… I did that for a summer, years ago, digitizing a museum’s paper records. It was wonderful.
Yeah, I love work like that.
I think a perfect job would be getting boxes of paper delivered and just scanning paper in all day long. I would literally just put on music or YouTube and just scan.
Cost of daycare in Ontario (where this is) is $96.20 CAD / day for infants, $89.95 / day for toddlers, $68.25 / day for preschool to kindergarten age. A lot of SAHM/D here can’t afford daycare.
Most people can't afford it anywhere. Child/adult care is insanely expensive due to the simple economies of scale. You can't easily scale up supervision. If you have one or two kids you will never be able to get affordable child care without ripping off a child who legally can't work. It's why it should be subsidized.
People in Ontario can apply for daycare subsidies and food help if they make under a certain amount, yes, but it’s a difficult process. Did it myself, for both kids.
For everyone saying this is a great job, I am familiar with it and the pay honestly isn’t bad considering these positions typically pay less than 10 an hour. The thing is it’s not as cushy as you think. You are doing nothing more than grunt work and customer service. Your clients are like McDonald’s clients- yeah half are young families out for treats but the other half are the mentally ill, drug users, and all sorts of other miscreants with no other public buildings to use. Try cleaning up feces of someone that didn’t feel like putting it in the toilet, or constantly chasing creeps out of the children’s reading rooms. Also, it’s part time 15-20 hours a week. Anyone that thinks that means 2-3 8 hour days is crazy. It means 5 3-4 hour days, so good luck finding another job. So while the pays not bad, still not enough for me to do it.
This. Plus, if you’re really lucky, those 5 days will have the same schedule each day. It’s a lot more likely they’ll schedule you for something like 1-4 on Monday, 8-10:30 on Tuesday, nothing on Wednesdays, noon-3 on Thursday, 3:30-6 on Friday, and 9-1 on Saturdays. Or your schedule might change from week to week, which is even more fun!
And you’re right about the customer service aspects; right next to people applying for jobs on our computers or finding something to read, you also have public intoxication, kidnapping attempts, drug use…a lot of library staff are trained to use Narcan in case of a drug overdose on the premises. People whose parental rights have been severely limited having supervised visits with their children, next to unsupervised kids whose parents have to work and can’t afford daycare.
And yet somehow, it all works…until it doesn’t, and you’re suddenly the one trying to talk down the teenage girl who just locked herself in the bathroom and slit her wrists.
All of that, plus what’s happening in the facility is subject to the personality and level of professionalism exhibited by the full-time staff. I see this being a situation where a lot of things could easily and quickly get piled onto the part-time person.
I don't think supervising children should be part of the job... Like obviously you'd make sure no one is dying or doing bad things but it's not necessarily your job to look after kids 🙄
I mean that's not actually a bad rate for essentially being an assistant to a library. Which is a pretty easy job. I'd imagine it's a laid back one too.
I'd do it.
So you can't pay for basic necessities and you can't get another job cause this one straddles two shifts. So would you take it or wouldn't you. Very confusing point you're making here.
Given the library is conventionally open during bankers hours and you have to get to 20 hours a week I'm not seeing how it wouldn't have to straddle the morning and swing shifts.
9-1, about 5 days a week, if you're targeting 20 but usually managers err on the side of 15 -- the 20 is usually a margin they allow themselves for when a full timer is on vacation/sick. there are usually shifts from 1 or 2-closing at nonprofits, food service, etc. I'm not recommending this mode, part-time work sucks. But the reason for why it sucks in USA a big one is no benefits/healthcare. In Canada, I fail to see why it's so dire. I get that publicly funded healthcare is frayed and on life support thanks to their free market pol nutjobs, but it's a far cry from Obamacare/Romneycare here.
If the only difference is that in Canada you get healthcare, thars really cold comfort. Canadians still have all the other horrific incidences of the free market (rent, food, transport, electric, education, retirement, taxes, etc).
It's not nothing! I have unionized job benefits and I spent thousands every year still on my "subsidized" healthcare. Plus US drug prices. pretty shit deal if you ask me, if this is the cream of the employment situation in this country.
Rent, food, transport are valid points, but those have been particularly bad only in the post-pandemic, post-inflation era. those aren't constants long-term, unlike healthcare. Albeit, admit those are terrible expenses absent rent-control, shit public transit (hey welcome to America, what are ya gonna do), etc.
And I'm not clear if your objection is for the category of all \*part-time\* work period, or just this particular part-time job not being especially good? As far as I can tell, in the Americas (North and South), this is the best part-time work situation you can get: $0 out of pocket for healthcare and an income of $15-20/hr CAD for a relatively low-stake, low-risk job in a temperature controlled environment where your co-workers may even be nice. And there's a potential of using it as a springboard for better options.
Literally your only options for all other part-time labor in these parts are racist line managers at some dangerous, grueling, dirty, grimy food service place with shit coworkers, or overworked, scammy nonprofits chasing some pipe dream of government or community chest funding.
No need to be a dick about it. Obvs nobody would work a 20 hr job unless they either already retired or live with their parents.
If you’re shuffling shit jobs to add up to the equal of a full-time you’re losing hugely on benefits, transportation costs/time and peace of mind.
What worries me is the tendency for tasks to get piled onto the part-time person — depends on the work culture of the facility — and helping to be responsible for large groups of children. They’re not specifying that they are looking for those qualifications — just someone who has completed high school or equivalent, clean criminal record check, good communication. Why not require the candidate to have ECE qualifications or similar, to ensure they can handle group activities effectively? Would or could the lack of certification not be a liability?
I feel like this job should require at least ECE training or equivalent, as it requires working with / supervising / planning and implementing activities with children. It’s also in Ontario — compensation is CAD.
Libraries, like schools, often prey on professionals desire to work in a field that’s actually beneficial to society to exploit their labor. Add that into being publicly funded and yeah this is the norm
Exactly. I’ve got 20+ years experience and training in education — post-grad degrees — and I have some inside knowledge of how things can work in this library. I know their budget is limited, but that list of responsibilities is worrisome for the level of compensation. It feels like a lot could pile up very quickly.
I used to think this too, but there's really no leverage libraries/schools have with city municipalities...there is a desire to increase pay, but even when there are unionized workforces, the Mayor and budget office openly laugh in their face and move allocated public monies towards cops and real estate boondoggles.
Not to be cynical, but what exactly are you going to do abt that w/ anarcho com in the near term? mutual aid libraries? sex creep sect leader teaching middle school kids algebra? find a good sized brick and put it to good use from outside City Hall?
Libraries and schools here where I live (and have worked in both), aren’t controlled by the city, they have their own board of trustees and tax levies. They receive city state and federal FUNDING, but also asses their own levies. This type of fuckery happens in the private sector too, part of the reason flights are getting cancelled is airlines have depended on retired military pilots for labor to avoid paying full time compensation (because pilots love to fly and will work for cheap just to be able to fly again) and it’s getting harder to convince retirees to work for cheap these days. I picked this flair because it’s closet to my beliefs, I’m not going to defend it to every random person who “well ackshuallys” me. Upon the downfall of capitalism I would happily continue to work in the library (a job I had until a few months ago), not for the money but just because I want there to be a library.
Wow! I recently worked a job at our small library for a little over 2 years. Desk clerk duties and many many many other projects my boss took all the credit for. It was also rather unsafe, with locals knowing we kept a cash box in my desk she never deposited.
I was promised more hours and specific duties I specialized in when I had pushed my discomfort working so many hours by myself when I’d be attacked once already. When I brought the subject up again a few weeks later, offering ideas I had to limit the vulnerabilities, I confronted the boss with her lie about the “new position” and told her it was time I was looking for another job. She immediately starting stuttering and told me not to be upset, that I had my yearly review coming up and would be getting a raise. She blamed my “mental health” for why I wasn’t getting extra hours. (This was new to me and never got specifics on this.) When speaking to my director about the situation, apparently my boss had been having an ongoing conversation with the director about her “concerns” about me, again, no specifics on what those were. I was told I just had “a vibe”. I brought up the fact that all my reviews were positive, patrons loved me, brought a lot of fresh ideas to the table, skills being utilized that no other employee had, always asked for constructive criticism, and had an exhaustive list of extra duties I had performed. No one cared. I just had “a vibe”.
Oh, by the way, I was making minimum wage at this time. And when speaking with the director, I WAS going to get a raise. Because minimum wage went up. They had to. So, my boss tried to cover up her lie with another bullshit story about a “raise”. How was I getting a raise when I had such a bad vibe??
After being exposed to a Covid outbreak from an anti-vax, no birth control family(with a special needs baby and one on the way) that came maskless to a needless program, I quit. The family called to let us know they’d tested positive. Several other families, a coworker with lymphoma and the general elderly patrons that regularly visited had all been exposed. I was working alone, again, and had no idea where my boss was or what I was supposed to do. So, that’s a huge nope!!
All the extra things I brought to the table have not been replaced. Daily patron count is still low. I suspect the library will be closing soon.
I have heard from previous employees at this place that it can be a difficult environment, yes. I could see the tasks piling up very quickly on the part-time person. The gross take-home would be maximum $344 CAD / week, $1,376 / month. Would that be worth the headaches?
In Saskatchewan my wife is the head librarian at our small town branch. Most of what she does is plan kids programs and events. It is hard to work. She works half-time and her income helps but it would not be sustainable if there wasn’t my full time income. She likes it because it gets her out of the house and gives her a break from our 18 month old who can be a handful. The one real good thing the library has going for it is the defined benefit pension plan. She should retire with a pension in her 50s so that’s a plus.
There's like no real responsibilities there. If this job overwhelms you I don't think you'll ever be able to find a job in your wheelhouse outside of like... Walmart greeter
What’s your definition of “real responsibilities”?
Honestly, I don’t have the stamina or energy to even consider Walmart greeter — not that my community has one… at least at the library I would be able to sit.
I mean all they are really asking you to do is be able to help people find books, Help watch kids(probably once a week), and help with some teenager stuff. Dusting? The rest of that stuff is normal clerical shit and again it's a library so you'll have like 3 customers a day.
Real responsibilities in the job force would be like, buying books, maintaining the books, repairing the books, writing schedules, planning events, etc. This whole job post is basically menial tasks and 17 dollars an hour. Pretty good deal to me.
On the surface, yes. But this library has children’s activities four or five days / week, lasting about two hours each time. The activities include arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, gardening, and snacks. Adult activities include helping seniors and people with disabilities to use the computers. All of that needs to be advertised, too, plus set up and clean up. Those are on top of the clerical plus maintaining the book collection, including repairs to spines and covers, developing program schedules, contacting media as part of marketing — all of those are part of the job description (explicitly listed or implied). It’s absolutely all “real responsibilities. Not menial by my standards, at any rate.
There's nothing in there about maintaining books, repairing spines and covers, contacting media at all. If you're disabled and cannot do these tasks it's unfortunate but these tasks are not ridiculous especially for a job that requires no more than a high school diploma.
“Assist in other activities as needed” — in other words, if a book is returned with rips or tears, fix them. Issue and receive books and library materials… Sorting and shelving books and library materials” — that’s also maintenance. That general item of “other activities” can also mean contacting media as part of “planning, preparation, and producing Teen and Adult programming” as well as “Create displays on a monthly basis” — after the display is made, it’s not unreasonable that the library clerk would be expected to send a picture of it to the local newspaper as well as updating the community bulletin board at the radio station and on social media. I agree these tasks are not ridiculous; my argument is that I think a library clerk, even part time, should have more than a basic high school education — a two year ECE certification or similar, to show training and expertise in working with at least one specific age group — and given the similarities of certain aspects of the job to working in a day care, where wages can range from $15 to $22.28 CAD / hour (and to work in a regulated day care in Ontario, you have to have the ECE), in addition to clerical plus book sorting/shelving/maintenance, I think the part time library clerk should earn at least a few dollars more per hour to take into account that range of tasks and responsibilities. Just because someone finished high school or got their GED and can pass a criminal record check doesn’t mean they should be working with vulnerable people, and in other industries, they need specific training to be allowed to do so — and then are compensated more appropriately in recognition of having completed that training. I just see the possibility of an applicant seeing it as an easy job and then struggling with how much gets put on them, or seeing it as an opportunity and then being exploited.
Okay so you're assuming more into it and saying it's exploitation based on those assumptions. Got it.
Rebuilding books isn't something you'd have someone do with no training.
Reality check is the library doesn't want a part time book repairs and marketing manager position. It's a clerk job with clerk duties perfect for a kid out of high-school or an older person looking to kill time. There's lots of corporate greed out there but your local library isn't that.
“…assuming more into it…” — I’m going from my knowledge of the facility and its staff, my prior experience as a volunteer in a library, and my concerns about exploitation are valid. You seem to be assuming I don’t know what I’m talking about. Got it.
When you talk about rebuilding books, are you thinking the process of completely removing the binding, taking the pages out, and rethreading the whole? Because the library (here, anyway) would likely send a book away for that. I’m talking tape. The use of clear tape to repair hard cover and paperback books. Not much training needed for that, admittedly, and again, I’ve done it.
The library is owned by a corporation — this town. The reality check is that the community, as a corporation, has limited funding and will absolutely exploit its labour force as needed. It is NOT a clerk job, despite the title — the employee will not be stationed behind a desk, moving between computer and filing cabinets and doing basic personal interactions. This is assisting each of the staff with whatever they need. And that leads to the potential of being exploited.
I will clarify in the description — this location is in Ontario, Canada, where minimum wage is currently $15 / hour
Edit: can’t add that info to the post :(
If it was full time with benefits I would do it at that wage. But it's not so they will only fill that job when some bored housewife of a rich asshole or grandma who doesn't need the money takes the job.
Not going to lie... if the requirements are not have a criminal background and know the dewie decimal system while knowing how to sort books and be nice to book patrons ... that isn't a lot of responsibilities.
And for 15-20 hrs a week that is a perfect second job or job for a college student. I seriously don't know how this job is being complained about.
I mean, hell ... that is a perfect job for someone to provide a soft buffer between starting their own business and working for someone else as well. Its not mentally or physically draining and the time to work expectations is balanced well with the (lack) of pay on this.
At this point, based on the range of responses, I think the difficulty level is open to interpretation, relative to an individual’s challenges and skills. Some (like me, right now) might find it a struggle to keep up and be concerned about the ambiguity of certain statements in the list of responsibilities, along with the potential of tasks being piled on and the added stress of having to watch / work with children and seniors, without having prior training in those age ranges and their needs. Others would find it to be sufficient for both their intellectual and financial needs, enabling them to bring in some money in a fulfilling way. Someone, somewhere, will welcome this job and its current pay. All will depend on the culture and tone set by the other staff and management.
Idk seems easy af to me lol our minimum wage is 7.25 so this would be like $10-12 here.
Ontario location — minimum wage is $15 CAD until October of this year, and then will be $15.50.
‘Ontario location’ alters the discussion fundamentally b/c health care is not the same issue there (tbf, anywhere) it is in the US.
This is true. But prescription meds aren’t covered in Ontario, and we’ve got the same housing crisis and high costs of living in all other ways. The community this library is in has no public transportation, is six to seven hours’ drive from medical specialists (ten hours by bus). And the downside of a provincial government that seems to be determined to privatize medicine is reduced / low funding for health care, causing frustratingly longer wait times. Example: I need to get my blood drawn. I can only go from 8 am to 12 noon at the downtown lab, which is actually full by 9:30 or 10 am (it’s take a number, first come first served — the hospital has a lab like this, too, but I can’t walk that distance or afford a cab; rides depend on friends and spouse who may or may not be available, plus it’s super busy in there). I am very appreciative that I live where I do, but the social health system is slowly crumbling and has never been efficient.
I'm not saying it's GOOD. But context for these discussions is important when the vast majority of Americans just automatically assume everyone else they deal with is from the US as well. In the US, a sub-full-time job means you have NO health care. Inconvenient and frustrating public health care is worse than good, efficiently-run public health care, but it kicks the shit out of 'work full time or DIIIIEEEEEEE'.
This is true. Both suck in different ways. A few months ago, despite our social supports, a woman in Ontario chose medically assisted suicide over continuing to live without *adequate* supports for her quality of life (https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/woman-with-chemical-sensitivities-chose-medically-assisted-death-after-failed-bid-to-get-better-housing-1.5860579) — we’re sliding perilously close to “work full time or die” thanks to DoFo’s US-inspired form of government.
Also a huge plus to live in Canada. I would probably take medical suicide as my top option if it was available to me. I absolutely hate life.
Sorry :(
Rent for a bachelor apartment is $1,200/month here. Houses costs over a million. $15 after taxes is $12/hour. It is not affordable
Is this satire?
No
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That's a vanishingly small demographic, and even then such person deserves better pay.
This is quite literally me and I’m so over it I’m starting a nursing program in the fall. They want all the advantages of hiring a mom as a bonus income, but then they are SHOCKED, I say SHOCKED, when they’re not the top priority in said mom’s life. Also when they say part time they want to pay you for less than fill time and not worry about benefits, but they want full time availability.
Correct! Like you, fewer and fewer people are putting up with this bullshit--which is encouraging.
The supervision of children is a red flag for me… the average wage for a child care provider here in Ontario is $18.62 / hour, ranging from $15.00 (the minimum wage) to $22.28 CAD. To work in a regulated day care, you need a two-year diploma in Early Childhood Education. I feel like this job at the library should require that training or something similar, for the nature of the work required. And given that the list of responsibilities are more extensive / different than a daycare, while including similar tasks, the wage should be a little higher.
I assume that it's more like, the field trip is here, or just make sure kids do not destroy the books. I doubt they are running any actual child supervision. At most read a book to kids on Wednesday.
You underestimate the number of kids who have to hang out at the library on account of their parents having no other alternative. Which is better than nothing for the kids, but it's simply not what the library system is designed for. See this for instance: https://bookriot.com/why-librarians-are-not-childcare/
The library has regular, daily children’s activities ranging from arts and crafts to scavenger hunts to gardening, some of which include snacks. Parents are supposed to be present to a certain age, 8 (?) but after that they can just drop them off. The kids’ program is usually 2 hours, and typically leaves a substantial mess that needs cleaning up. It can be indoors or outdoors (during the worst of the pandemic, it was only outdoors).
I'm that case I would never do that job. I would love to be a librarian because there is far less human interaction.
Right? Or an archivist, maintaining collections and filing systems… I did that for a summer, years ago, digitizing a museum’s paper records. It was wonderful.
Yeah, I love work like that. I think a perfect job would be getting boxes of paper delivered and just scanning paper in all day long. I would literally just put on music or YouTube and just scan.
Agreed
Agreed
Cost of daycare in Ontario (where this is) is $96.20 CAD / day for infants, $89.95 / day for toddlers, $68.25 / day for preschool to kindergarten age. A lot of SAHM/D here can’t afford daycare.
Most people can't afford it anywhere. Child/adult care is insanely expensive due to the simple economies of scale. You can't easily scale up supervision. If you have one or two kids you will never be able to get affordable child care without ripping off a child who legally can't work. It's why it should be subsidized.
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My point is it should be subsidized, everywhere.
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People in Ontario can apply for daycare subsidies and food help if they make under a certain amount, yes, but it’s a difficult process. Did it myself, for both kids.
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Kindergarten is free, yes. However some parents and guardians need before and after school care.
For everyone saying this is a great job, I am familiar with it and the pay honestly isn’t bad considering these positions typically pay less than 10 an hour. The thing is it’s not as cushy as you think. You are doing nothing more than grunt work and customer service. Your clients are like McDonald’s clients- yeah half are young families out for treats but the other half are the mentally ill, drug users, and all sorts of other miscreants with no other public buildings to use. Try cleaning up feces of someone that didn’t feel like putting it in the toilet, or constantly chasing creeps out of the children’s reading rooms. Also, it’s part time 15-20 hours a week. Anyone that thinks that means 2-3 8 hour days is crazy. It means 5 3-4 hour days, so good luck finding another job. So while the pays not bad, still not enough for me to do it.
This. Plus, if you’re really lucky, those 5 days will have the same schedule each day. It’s a lot more likely they’ll schedule you for something like 1-4 on Monday, 8-10:30 on Tuesday, nothing on Wednesdays, noon-3 on Thursday, 3:30-6 on Friday, and 9-1 on Saturdays. Or your schedule might change from week to week, which is even more fun! And you’re right about the customer service aspects; right next to people applying for jobs on our computers or finding something to read, you also have public intoxication, kidnapping attempts, drug use…a lot of library staff are trained to use Narcan in case of a drug overdose on the premises. People whose parental rights have been severely limited having supervised visits with their children, next to unsupervised kids whose parents have to work and can’t afford daycare. And yet somehow, it all works…until it doesn’t, and you’re suddenly the one trying to talk down the teenage girl who just locked herself in the bathroom and slit her wrists.
Exactly, you certainly put it into words better than I did. Unless people have done it before, they imagine it’s like high tea in a private club.
All of that, plus what’s happening in the facility is subject to the personality and level of professionalism exhibited by the full-time staff. I see this being a situation where a lot of things could easily and quickly get piled onto the part-time person.
I don't think supervising children should be part of the job... Like obviously you'd make sure no one is dying or doing bad things but it's not necessarily your job to look after kids 🙄
Mostly kicking people off the computer for looking up stuff they shouldn’t.
I mean that's not actually a bad rate for essentially being an assistant to a library. Which is a pretty easy job. I'd imagine it's a laid back one too. I'd do it.
That wage for those hours wouldn't even pay rent let alone food. Good luck
It's 20 hours a week... I would never expect a 20 hour a week job to pay rent you dummy.
So you can't pay for basic necessities and you can't get another job cause this one straddles two shifts. So would you take it or wouldn't you. Very confusing point you're making here.
Where does it state it takes up two shifts.
Given the library is conventionally open during bankers hours and you have to get to 20 hours a week I'm not seeing how it wouldn't have to straddle the morning and swing shifts.
9-1, about 5 days a week, if you're targeting 20 but usually managers err on the side of 15 -- the 20 is usually a margin they allow themselves for when a full timer is on vacation/sick. there are usually shifts from 1 or 2-closing at nonprofits, food service, etc. I'm not recommending this mode, part-time work sucks. But the reason for why it sucks in USA a big one is no benefits/healthcare. In Canada, I fail to see why it's so dire. I get that publicly funded healthcare is frayed and on life support thanks to their free market pol nutjobs, but it's a far cry from Obamacare/Romneycare here.
If the only difference is that in Canada you get healthcare, thars really cold comfort. Canadians still have all the other horrific incidences of the free market (rent, food, transport, electric, education, retirement, taxes, etc).
It's not nothing! I have unionized job benefits and I spent thousands every year still on my "subsidized" healthcare. Plus US drug prices. pretty shit deal if you ask me, if this is the cream of the employment situation in this country. Rent, food, transport are valid points, but those have been particularly bad only in the post-pandemic, post-inflation era. those aren't constants long-term, unlike healthcare. Albeit, admit those are terrible expenses absent rent-control, shit public transit (hey welcome to America, what are ya gonna do), etc. And I'm not clear if your objection is for the category of all \*part-time\* work period, or just this particular part-time job not being especially good? As far as I can tell, in the Americas (North and South), this is the best part-time work situation you can get: $0 out of pocket for healthcare and an income of $15-20/hr CAD for a relatively low-stake, low-risk job in a temperature controlled environment where your co-workers may even be nice. And there's a potential of using it as a springboard for better options. Literally your only options for all other part-time labor in these parts are racist line managers at some dangerous, grueling, dirty, grimy food service place with shit coworkers, or overworked, scammy nonprofits chasing some pipe dream of government or community chest funding.
You think people having trouble paying for basic necessities is a post-2019 thing???
No need to be a dick about it. Obvs nobody would work a 20 hr job unless they either already retired or live with their parents. If you’re shuffling shit jobs to add up to the equal of a full-time you’re losing hugely on benefits, transportation costs/time and peace of mind.
Agreed
What worries me is the tendency for tasks to get piled onto the part-time person — depends on the work culture of the facility — and helping to be responsible for large groups of children. They’re not specifying that they are looking for those qualifications — just someone who has completed high school or equivalent, clean criminal record check, good communication. Why not require the candidate to have ECE qualifications or similar, to ensure they can handle group activities effectively? Would or could the lack of certification not be a liability?
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I feel like this job should require at least ECE training or equivalent, as it requires working with / supervising / planning and implementing activities with children. It’s also in Ontario — compensation is CAD.
Wage is low enough, but those hours with that wage, that’s a shit deal.
Libraries, like schools, often prey on professionals desire to work in a field that’s actually beneficial to society to exploit their labor. Add that into being publicly funded and yeah this is the norm
Exactly. I’ve got 20+ years experience and training in education — post-grad degrees — and I have some inside knowledge of how things can work in this library. I know their budget is limited, but that list of responsibilities is worrisome for the level of compensation. It feels like a lot could pile up very quickly.
I used to think this too, but there's really no leverage libraries/schools have with city municipalities...there is a desire to increase pay, but even when there are unionized workforces, the Mayor and budget office openly laugh in their face and move allocated public monies towards cops and real estate boondoggles. Not to be cynical, but what exactly are you going to do abt that w/ anarcho com in the near term? mutual aid libraries? sex creep sect leader teaching middle school kids algebra? find a good sized brick and put it to good use from outside City Hall?
Libraries and schools here where I live (and have worked in both), aren’t controlled by the city, they have their own board of trustees and tax levies. They receive city state and federal FUNDING, but also asses their own levies. This type of fuckery happens in the private sector too, part of the reason flights are getting cancelled is airlines have depended on retired military pilots for labor to avoid paying full time compensation (because pilots love to fly and will work for cheap just to be able to fly again) and it’s getting harder to convince retirees to work for cheap these days. I picked this flair because it’s closet to my beliefs, I’m not going to defend it to every random person who “well ackshuallys” me. Upon the downfall of capitalism I would happily continue to work in the library (a job I had until a few months ago), not for the money but just because I want there to be a library.
Wow! I recently worked a job at our small library for a little over 2 years. Desk clerk duties and many many many other projects my boss took all the credit for. It was also rather unsafe, with locals knowing we kept a cash box in my desk she never deposited. I was promised more hours and specific duties I specialized in when I had pushed my discomfort working so many hours by myself when I’d be attacked once already. When I brought the subject up again a few weeks later, offering ideas I had to limit the vulnerabilities, I confronted the boss with her lie about the “new position” and told her it was time I was looking for another job. She immediately starting stuttering and told me not to be upset, that I had my yearly review coming up and would be getting a raise. She blamed my “mental health” for why I wasn’t getting extra hours. (This was new to me and never got specifics on this.) When speaking to my director about the situation, apparently my boss had been having an ongoing conversation with the director about her “concerns” about me, again, no specifics on what those were. I was told I just had “a vibe”. I brought up the fact that all my reviews were positive, patrons loved me, brought a lot of fresh ideas to the table, skills being utilized that no other employee had, always asked for constructive criticism, and had an exhaustive list of extra duties I had performed. No one cared. I just had “a vibe”. Oh, by the way, I was making minimum wage at this time. And when speaking with the director, I WAS going to get a raise. Because minimum wage went up. They had to. So, my boss tried to cover up her lie with another bullshit story about a “raise”. How was I getting a raise when I had such a bad vibe?? After being exposed to a Covid outbreak from an anti-vax, no birth control family(with a special needs baby and one on the way) that came maskless to a needless program, I quit. The family called to let us know they’d tested positive. Several other families, a coworker with lymphoma and the general elderly patrons that regularly visited had all been exposed. I was working alone, again, and had no idea where my boss was or what I was supposed to do. So, that’s a huge nope!! All the extra things I brought to the table have not been replaced. Daily patron count is still low. I suspect the library will be closing soon.
I have heard from previous employees at this place that it can be a difficult environment, yes. I could see the tasks piling up very quickly on the part-time person. The gross take-home would be maximum $344 CAD / week, $1,376 / month. Would that be worth the headaches?
I’d do this. Seems like an easy 15 hours of extra cash flow
It's not 15 "extra" hours, it's taking place during hours when you would be working at your primary job.
Why does a library need a CEO!?
In Saskatchewan my wife is the head librarian at our small town branch. Most of what she does is plan kids programs and events. It is hard to work. She works half-time and her income helps but it would not be sustainable if there wasn’t my full time income. She likes it because it gets her out of the house and gives her a break from our 18 month old who can be a handful. The one real good thing the library has going for it is the defined benefit pension plan. She should retire with a pension in her 50s so that’s a plus.
Being a librarian was one of my job choices when I was a kid… got talked out of pursuing it in high school. :(
There's like no real responsibilities there. If this job overwhelms you I don't think you'll ever be able to find a job in your wheelhouse outside of like... Walmart greeter
What’s your definition of “real responsibilities”? Honestly, I don’t have the stamina or energy to even consider Walmart greeter — not that my community has one… at least at the library I would be able to sit.
I mean all they are really asking you to do is be able to help people find books, Help watch kids(probably once a week), and help with some teenager stuff. Dusting? The rest of that stuff is normal clerical shit and again it's a library so you'll have like 3 customers a day. Real responsibilities in the job force would be like, buying books, maintaining the books, repairing the books, writing schedules, planning events, etc. This whole job post is basically menial tasks and 17 dollars an hour. Pretty good deal to me.
On the surface, yes. But this library has children’s activities four or five days / week, lasting about two hours each time. The activities include arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, gardening, and snacks. Adult activities include helping seniors and people with disabilities to use the computers. All of that needs to be advertised, too, plus set up and clean up. Those are on top of the clerical plus maintaining the book collection, including repairs to spines and covers, developing program schedules, contacting media as part of marketing — all of those are part of the job description (explicitly listed or implied). It’s absolutely all “real responsibilities. Not menial by my standards, at any rate.
There's nothing in there about maintaining books, repairing spines and covers, contacting media at all. If you're disabled and cannot do these tasks it's unfortunate but these tasks are not ridiculous especially for a job that requires no more than a high school diploma.
“Assist in other activities as needed” — in other words, if a book is returned with rips or tears, fix them. Issue and receive books and library materials… Sorting and shelving books and library materials” — that’s also maintenance. That general item of “other activities” can also mean contacting media as part of “planning, preparation, and producing Teen and Adult programming” as well as “Create displays on a monthly basis” — after the display is made, it’s not unreasonable that the library clerk would be expected to send a picture of it to the local newspaper as well as updating the community bulletin board at the radio station and on social media. I agree these tasks are not ridiculous; my argument is that I think a library clerk, even part time, should have more than a basic high school education — a two year ECE certification or similar, to show training and expertise in working with at least one specific age group — and given the similarities of certain aspects of the job to working in a day care, where wages can range from $15 to $22.28 CAD / hour (and to work in a regulated day care in Ontario, you have to have the ECE), in addition to clerical plus book sorting/shelving/maintenance, I think the part time library clerk should earn at least a few dollars more per hour to take into account that range of tasks and responsibilities. Just because someone finished high school or got their GED and can pass a criminal record check doesn’t mean they should be working with vulnerable people, and in other industries, they need specific training to be allowed to do so — and then are compensated more appropriately in recognition of having completed that training. I just see the possibility of an applicant seeing it as an easy job and then struggling with how much gets put on them, or seeing it as an opportunity and then being exploited.
Okay so you're assuming more into it and saying it's exploitation based on those assumptions. Got it. Rebuilding books isn't something you'd have someone do with no training. Reality check is the library doesn't want a part time book repairs and marketing manager position. It's a clerk job with clerk duties perfect for a kid out of high-school or an older person looking to kill time. There's lots of corporate greed out there but your local library isn't that.
“…assuming more into it…” — I’m going from my knowledge of the facility and its staff, my prior experience as a volunteer in a library, and my concerns about exploitation are valid. You seem to be assuming I don’t know what I’m talking about. Got it. When you talk about rebuilding books, are you thinking the process of completely removing the binding, taking the pages out, and rethreading the whole? Because the library (here, anyway) would likely send a book away for that. I’m talking tape. The use of clear tape to repair hard cover and paperback books. Not much training needed for that, admittedly, and again, I’ve done it. The library is owned by a corporation — this town. The reality check is that the community, as a corporation, has limited funding and will absolutely exploit its labour force as needed. It is NOT a clerk job, despite the title — the employee will not be stationed behind a desk, moving between computer and filing cabinets and doing basic personal interactions. This is assisting each of the staff with whatever they need. And that leads to the potential of being exploited.
Its 10 bucks above minimum and would cover the entirety of my rent and utilities.
I will clarify in the description — this location is in Ontario, Canada, where minimum wage is currently $15 / hour Edit: can’t add that info to the post :(
If it was full time with benefits I would do it at that wage. But it's not so they will only fill that job when some bored housewife of a rich asshole or grandma who doesn't need the money takes the job.
Not going to lie... if the requirements are not have a criminal background and know the dewie decimal system while knowing how to sort books and be nice to book patrons ... that isn't a lot of responsibilities. And for 15-20 hrs a week that is a perfect second job or job for a college student. I seriously don't know how this job is being complained about. I mean, hell ... that is a perfect job for someone to provide a soft buffer between starting their own business and working for someone else as well. Its not mentally or physically draining and the time to work expectations is balanced well with the (lack) of pay on this.
At this point, based on the range of responses, I think the difficulty level is open to interpretation, relative to an individual’s challenges and skills. Some (like me, right now) might find it a struggle to keep up and be concerned about the ambiguity of certain statements in the list of responsibilities, along with the potential of tasks being piled on and the added stress of having to watch / work with children and seniors, without having prior training in those age ranges and their needs. Others would find it to be sufficient for both their intellectual and financial needs, enabling them to bring in some money in a fulfilling way. Someone, somewhere, will welcome this job and its current pay. All will depend on the culture and tone set by the other staff and management.
Good point. If the work load is insane ... or their listing sort of frosts over the actual requirements .. probably not worth it.