Rain, rain...

[altivo]

More rain. Cold, miserable, drippy rain. Started midmorning and continued all day until now, four hours after sunset. No end in sight.

They finally came yesterday noonish and took away the dead utility pole, leaving little piles of dirt and gravel all over the front yard where the lawnmower will hit them.

The delegates' assembly of our library consortium made some very stupid decisions yesterday, driven by loads of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) and promoted by a small self-serving faction that has been as persistent at distraction and misdirection as the Bush Administration has been in shouting "Terrorists!" and pointing into the closet or under the bed every time something embarrassing to them shows up. I will not be supporting or cooperating with those decisions.

This is not likely to cost me my job, though it sort of forces me to start looking for a new one. It curtails my ability to do my present job adequately, and I won't tolerate that. I may be able to change my own job description to avoid it, or I may just have to leave. It's all politics and has nothing to do with providing better or even adequate services.

Comments

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm going to give you a call... I have an idea on a new job. But yes, working in environments full of FUD sucks. The scared leading the blind is worse than the blind leading the blind.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Got your message, thanks. I'm not sure yet what I'm doing, actually. I'm a professional librarian, fully qualified as a cataloger and reference librarian, with master's degree and 30+ years of experience. I prefer academic libraries, but have been working in a public library for the last five years or so, which is a different kind of political venue.

What I can't do easily is relocate. I'm in McHenry County, where I own a small farm and have horses and sheep.

[duskwuff.livejournal.com]

I take it that you're intentionally not mentioning what those decisions were?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, I figured it really was of little interest to anyone here. It's largely a matter of certain lunatics fighting turf wars and getting themselves into a corner where they have to insist on absurdities in order to save face.

I won't be used as a pawn in someone else's coverups and power grabs.

[duskwuff.livejournal.com]

Ah... so, office library politics?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, at the interlibrary level. Not office politics, but institutional politics.

[tinbender.livejournal.com]

It's a shame that kind of crap enters into it. Hope you find something more workable.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Last time it happened I spent 18 months unemployed. I'd rather avoid that again and am working toward a better compromise without bending to the will of the micromanagers.

Goofyness

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Dear Rider,

First, I am also tired of this incessant, cold, miserable rain. Guess I shouldn't complain though, this is just like Alaska.

Dunno much about library politics but workplace politics is old hat. Even where I now work, they are cutting costs but stupidly, like wanting us to turn off the lights and fan in the bathroom and not use more than one Dixie cup per day and yet there is so much big dollar waste all I can do is laugh. Either that or cry.

Imperator

Re: Goofyness

[altivo.livejournal.com]

This is the same sort of thing. Certain people, even though they are ineffectual in terms of actual productivity, have to exercise their egos by pissing on things. I think that's the best summation I can make.

The irritation in this case is that the people involved are not my employers, don't pay my salary, and really have no authority over me as an individual. But they can enforce stupid policies that affect a large group of libraries and try to control things remotely, which is what they are doing, largely just for their own personal sense of power.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

You and me, we'll go to the bar (well, maybe coffee house) and drown our sorrows over stupid organization tricks. I know I'm pretty tired of the ones my employer keeps pulling.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Fortunately my employer is pretty small. My boss has backed me on this, so I'm under no pressure to leave. The issue is one between libraries, rather than within my library.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

My guess would have been that it had something to do with the Patriot Act requesting/requiring? libraries to share information with the FBI about who borrows books on certain topics.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Nothing that interesting. It has to do with access to the catalog database, as in who is able to make corrections or add new records. We favored open access to catalogers at all member libraries, the other faction wanted to restrict access severely. They won, largely because they frightened a lot of very small institutions into voting with them by telling them that otherwise they would have to do all their own database work.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Gad even libraries have that kind of politics...well I suppose it is a civil service organisation.

As to the rain, please will it down this way, we desperately need it as we're going into Level 4 restrictions *cries*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Sorry, 'fraid my telekinetic powers are nowhere near enough to get rain to you from here. Evidently brunbera has got what we had now, out in New England.

The politics are from outside my own library, at the consortium level. The state twisted arms to force three large library groups to merge, ostensibly because it would save money. It hasn't, but has created tremendous headaches trying to get 550 libraries to agree on common policies and such.