So here we stand. I've made it through the fog of the union nominations. I was voted in as a steward to represent my Manager and Coordinator peeps and I am thrilled. No position that I have held within the UAW gave me as much pleasure is the time in which I served as the steward previously for the Librarian I-IIIs.
I have missed the grievances and the negotiation process. So now I will be back in the fray. There is no time like the present because the library is in a state of peril.
Peril? Did someone say peril?
Otherwise, my life seems to be righting itself. The drama seems to be slowing and my tolerance for it is building back up I suppose. I feel like I have something that looks like a plan in place after my mom's passing and the pillaging of my home space.
I feel like I am done. I have stuck it out in this place through the good, the bad, and the ugly. I don't owe anyone else anything else. I gave it the college try. I can no longer afford to suffer and make my daughter suffer as I see the community crumbling around me.
The schools here suck to say the least. I cannot even tell you what I pay for my daughter's tuition. They want to pare down library services to the bone. Not to mention that there aren't even adequate street lights on my block. So I have some decisions ahead of me.
In the words of Diddy... Now let's work.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Solidarity Forever
Tonight's union meeting will be historic. A changing of the guard will be taking place and I have never been more in love with the UAW.
I've been a UAW librarian for almost seven years now and wouldn't have it any other way. When I came to my library, I needed to get involved. I had a passion for knowing the innerworkings of the organization.
After all, I had just left a place where people were angry and threatened to organize, but never did. They continued on as sheep. Unhappy, but afraid nevertheless. So when I came aboard The Titanic (as I have so lovingly nicknamed my job), I landed at the desk of our local's president. He was my direct supervisor. Imagine my luck.
He found a place for me within the executive board and I was off and running. I've served in several capacities since and my favorite was serving as a steward for the union. Tonight, I will be running again to serve as a steward again for a different unit of our local. Every position is up for grabs and it is going to be historic.
I am excited. The adrenaline is amazing. I cannot wait until the meeting. This is going to be a game-changer. Indeed.
Solidarity Forever!
I've been a UAW librarian for almost seven years now and wouldn't have it any other way. When I came to my library, I needed to get involved. I had a passion for knowing the innerworkings of the organization.
After all, I had just left a place where people were angry and threatened to organize, but never did. They continued on as sheep. Unhappy, but afraid nevertheless. So when I came aboard The Titanic (as I have so lovingly nicknamed my job), I landed at the desk of our local's president. He was my direct supervisor. Imagine my luck.
He found a place for me within the executive board and I was off and running. I've served in several capacities since and my favorite was serving as a steward for the union. Tonight, I will be running again to serve as a steward again for a different unit of our local. Every position is up for grabs and it is going to be historic.
I am excited. The adrenaline is amazing. I cannot wait until the meeting. This is going to be a game-changer. Indeed.
Solidarity Forever!
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Thursday, May 12, 2011
Keep calm and carry on
It's been a hell of a few months. Adjusting to my new life has been rather daunting.
One day, my mom was here then next she was gone. Then my job turned into a free all expenses paid trip aboard the Titanic. The media is onto their every move, which happens to include bad financial judgments and pending layoffs.
What's a librarian to do?
Then you bundle that with the fact that this passed weekend, my goal was to forget Mother's Day. Well, mission accomplished.
They broke into my home. There's nothing like trying to secure your place with plywood to help take your mind off of the rest of your life. Or not...
I'm not sure who ordered up the black cloud that hovers over my life, but I would really like a reprieve. Please and thank you.
It has to get better. There's simply no way to go but up from here.
One day, my mom was here then next she was gone. Then my job turned into a free all expenses paid trip aboard the Titanic. The media is onto their every move, which happens to include bad financial judgments and pending layoffs.
What's a librarian to do?
Then you bundle that with the fact that this passed weekend, my goal was to forget Mother's Day. Well, mission accomplished.
They broke into my home. There's nothing like trying to secure your place with plywood to help take your mind off of the rest of your life. Or not...
I'm not sure who ordered up the black cloud that hovers over my life, but I would really like a reprieve. Please and thank you.
It has to get better. There's simply no way to go but up from here.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9
Thursday, May 5, 2011
the fall of the public library
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
if we listen closely, we can hear the sound of yet another public institution crumbling. sadly, i work at a place that i have pretty accurately nicknamed The Titanic. i love working here. i love my customers. i love the library.
i've been in love with the library for a lifetime. i was a little girl checking out books with my mother in the 80s. we went to every program that the branch by our modest two-family flat offered. i celebrated halloween there making paiper-mache pumpkins and seeing the headless horseman for myself. the library was a wondrous place.
that wondrous place hired me to shelve the books. those books that i shelved led me to find buddhism, which offers me a place of solace. those same shelves called out to me one fall afternoon to try my hand at a Master's in librarianship. so i listened.
i found that librarianship merged my need for community service with my desire for a regular paycheck. nothing lavish, but a paycheck nonetheless. years have passed since that time. i've moved up the food chain to manage my own little corner of the library world and now the ass has fallen out of even that.
allegations of administrative corruption and misspent funding abound and staff members are faced with layoffs. what happened to that community hub that was so beloved to me? i feel like i am on the outside looking in as i see newspaper articles surface about my employer by the day. all i can do is wait and hope that enough people create enough fuss to say that we refuse to be asleep at the wheel when the library comes to a grinding halt.
if we listen closely, we can hear the sound of yet another public institution crumbling. sadly, i work at a place that i have pretty accurately nicknamed The Titanic. i love working here. i love my customers. i love the library.
i've been in love with the library for a lifetime. i was a little girl checking out books with my mother in the 80s. we went to every program that the branch by our modest two-family flat offered. i celebrated halloween there making paiper-mache pumpkins and seeing the headless horseman for myself. the library was a wondrous place.
that wondrous place hired me to shelve the books. those books that i shelved led me to find buddhism, which offers me a place of solace. those same shelves called out to me one fall afternoon to try my hand at a Master's in librarianship. so i listened.
i found that librarianship merged my need for community service with my desire for a regular paycheck. nothing lavish, but a paycheck nonetheless. years have passed since that time. i've moved up the food chain to manage my own little corner of the library world and now the ass has fallen out of even that.
allegations of administrative corruption and misspent funding abound and staff members are faced with layoffs. what happened to that community hub that was so beloved to me? i feel like i am on the outside looking in as i see newspaper articles surface about my employer by the day. all i can do is wait and hope that enough people create enough fuss to say that we refuse to be asleep at the wheel when the library comes to a grinding halt.
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