Books are Doomed

Books are Doomed, doomed I say!

Ok, maybe not completely doomed, but they are about to get a run for their money. I recently purchased a Sony e-reader (@ Target). At first, I was a little apprehensive about spending over $200 on a gadget, but my apprehension was short lived once I got to know my new device. I downloaded a few books from various sources, some free, some not. The ones that were not free included DRM software, which was not any big deal for me to use. There is a version of Adobe Acrobat with DRM (Digital Rights Management) built right in. The books first downloaded to my PC, then transferred over to my Sony reader. I read all of them (over 1200 pages worth), and it was a pleasure! I LOVE my reader!

I would like to clarify a misconceptions about these devices....

1) They are hard to read. The text is too small and blurry and it strains your eyes.
The 'digital ink' these devices use is actually crystal clear! Clearer then most printed type! Yes, really. With the possible exception of glossy paper type, the digital ink does not have the bleed that print on cheap paper exhibits. Furthermore, any book that you download comes with a LP (large print) version right at your fingertips. Actually, it comes with several LP versions of varying print sizes. Just tap the zoom button and the text enlarges incrementally based on how many times you touch the zoom button.

Additionally, there is no 'back-light' on the screens, so you have no more eyestrain than you would have with a wooden book. Less, actually, since there is no bleed.

2) You cannot curl up in bed with them.
Yes, you can. And I did. These are as portable as a regular book. More so, if you are using multiple books.

3)The Screen is too tiny
This was a valid argument for older e-book with tiny 3 inch screens. But, as you can see from the picture, these new e-books have huge screens. No longer an issue.

4) They are complicated and hard to use.
If you are reading this blog, you will not have a problem with the complexity these devices present. Granted, your grandma who has never used a computer is not an ideal candidate for one of these,,, but those that do own computers and have used Acrobat Reader in the past should be good to go. Oh, and did I mention the batter lasts days? You can read an entire book on one charge! ...or two... or three.

Here are some other good factors that make these e-books viable alternatives to wooden format books.

1) You can put 200 books into one reader.
If you are tight on space or would like to take large numbers of books with you, this device is perfect for you.

2) The e-versions of the books are far cheaper then the wooden format version.
You can save 1/3 to 1/2 off the cover price on books if you go with the electronic version. This just makes sense as just about all the middle men and materials are cut out of the process. The e-book reader pays for itself in under 70 books.

I have only 3 complaints about the device...

1) Not all books are available for the device.
Not all publishers are on board with the format,,, yet. This is the largest and most crippling complaint I have about the product. Amazon offer the Kindle (Sony reader competitor), with has a larger selection of books to choose from, but there are still tons of titles not yet available for either reader.

2) Only Black and White.
This is a cheesy complaint tho, since most books in the library are also black and white. Still, would be nice to have it all.

3) Cannot read them in the dark.
Because they lack an eye-straining backlight, you cannot read them in the dark. But, you cannot read a book in the dark either. You can use the same little book-lights that you would use on books on this device. The new 700 series Sony will have one of these lights built in.

Once titles become readily available I predict these devices will really take off. Until then, we will bide our time and wait for the publishers to pull their heads out of their hineys and step into the 21st century. When this happens, prepare to see the way books are bought and sold changing significantly.

Job Security for librarians? That is another matter. =P

Comparison Site

Another good reason for Webcams

I read a hilarious post by another blogger today... long story short... some 'ladies' were using library webcams to immortalize their breasts online.

Short story long...

First, the author claims her reaction was not ideal. She feels her loud and public statement of "what the hell is wrong with you" is somehow out of line. I disagree, and am having trouble coming up with a better response then that. I guess yelling something like "BOOBS!!" at the top of your lungs would have been a bit funnier, but not as appropriate. I would have given $20 to witness this whole scenario go down. If it was that funny to read, it would have been ROTFLMAO funny to see.

Reminds me of the time a fine young gentleman wanted me to help him upload some pictures to his website. I suckered right in of course. We put in the CD, went to the upload utility and looked thru the pics to see which ones to select. I just assumed we were looking for formal pics, or maybe some action shots taken while hiking or camping. There were some action shots allrighty! Picture of him butt nekkid fondling himself! Ok, ok, he was not fondling himself in all the pictures, I exaggerate a little, but there were some in which some exercise was taking place. This all took place in about 6 seconds, I bailed on him almost immediately, but not before I was scarred for life. Whenever I see him I cannot help but think of his skinny little butt-nekkid body in those pictures.

I get paid how much?


Link to original story

Getting Arrested @ Your Library

If you have not heard about this yet,,, read the following article...

Woman Arrested For Failing To Return Library Books

What I do not get is the bias associated with these types of stories. It is almost like the general public thinks that getting arrested for stealing public goods is outrageous and ridiculous. Why would you not get arrested for stealing library books? You get arrested for stealing from a store don’t you? If you borrow your neighbors car for a month too long, you will also get arrested. So what makes library books different? You might say “Because Minks you numbskull, they are cheap!”. What difference does that make? Stealing is stealing. You do not hear about Blockbuster or Netflix (other places you can ‘borrow’ items) arresting people because they simply charge your credit card for the indefinitely borrowed item(s). In fact, no place else is there such a setup where you can borrow a significant amount of valuable merchandise with no security deposit what-so-ever.

Lets looks at some different items and the ramifications from not paying them….

1) Store – Arrested (Shoplifting)

2) Utility Bills – Utilities cut off

3) Auto (and numerous other goods) – Repossession

4) House – Foreclosure

5) Apartment – Eviction

6) Credit Cards – Bankruptcy (and about 4 billion calls a day from creditors)

7) Uncle – Punched in nose

That leaves us with library books….

Library – Fines (enforceable by arrest)

Lets compare the above options and see if any would work for library books…

Option 1 = Arrest. What we have now. Seems to work, but some think too extreme

Option 2 = Cut off service. We can, and do, cut off service. But, unlike cable or electricity, the library is a service that can be sacrificed for a very long time. Besides, the library down the street will let me check out books no problemo.

Option 3 = Repossession. Yea, if they cannot find the books, like we would be able to.

Option 4 = Foreclosure. Not applicable here in any way that I can see.

Option 5 = Evictions. Kick them out of the library service area. And you thought arrest was bad.

Option 6 = Bankruptcy. Actually, bankruptcy does work, at least in my library. But few actually do it.

Option 7= Physical Abuse. Uncle Vinnie Style. While I kinda like this one, I am fairly certain it will not float.

So, really, what else are you gonna do other then arrest them? I have heard some say “just chalk it up to the cost of doing business and don’t worry about it”. Exsqueeze me?? Personally I think that stealing from a library is a pretty reprehensible act. You are actually stealing from many people in one clean swoop. I am not willing to let such deeds just go like they are not big deal.

Ok,, back to the article for a second. Look how many times the city tried to contact her. 9. Nine! 6 letters, 2 phone calls, and a citation! This is a person that just really did not care what-so-ever about returning anything to the library. The only way you were going to get this person to return items was to force her. They did. She paid the $170 fine.

I think libraries should be able to rate patrons kinda like credit card companies rate people. When you first get a card, you are a “Bronze Member” and you can check out three items at a time. After you check out and return 100 items, you are now a “Silver Member” and can check out 10 items at a time. After you check out another,,,, oh,, say,,, 250 items, you are now a “Gold Member” and can have unlimited checkouts. Now, with a valid credit card or deposit, you can buy your way right to “Gold Member” status. But, that is actually against ALA rules, so I guess that is out.

In the mean time,,

Arrest Them All, Let the Law Sort Them Out.

I had always heard, that as the economy slips into recession, or even declines, that library use increases. There are even numbers to back that up, based on previous recessions. However, what effect does gas prices sky-rocketing in conjunction with a declining economy have on library usage stats?

I will tell you that at my library, it is having some negative effects. Basically, the majority (about 53% actually) have at least a 10 minute drive to get to the library. Lets say that they drive 5 miles to get to the library. That means that based on 20mpg they are blowing half a gallon to get here and then back home. So, essentially, they are paying almost $2 to go to the library. it would seem that for the demographic that frequents public libraries, that is too much. Our stats are seeing double digit decreases over the last 4 months (both in door count and circs). I will crunch some number here after 12 months, but I suspect there is a direct correlation between gas price and library use... that I can then use to calculate future library use based on gas prices in the future. Should be a fun model.

I wonder if this is going to be a national trend?

Peek a Boo!

In yet another installment of my fabulous perverts in libraries series, I bring you a good old fashioned peeping tom! It would appear that 38 year old Robert Pfantz was taking a little too much time in the mens room one afternoon. That, and he was peeping through a rather large hole between the stalls hoping to get a glimpse at other mens nekkid bodies. I will admit this story is not very shocking. The guy barely even qualifies as a pervert. He is obviously gay, and in a room with lots of other men with their pants down. A recipe for hilarity. What I thought was actually more interesting is the name the school has for the third floor of their library. It is affectionately known as "sin floor" for all the sexual shenanigans that take place there. The story goes on to tell of all the fonicatery that goes on up in the various 3rd floor bathrooms.

The sad thing is, my library is one big sin floor itself. We find used condoms in the bathrooms and 'used' pornography from time to time too. Other then libraries and adult bookstores, what other businesses typically have "sin floors"? Not too many. We have the monopoly on that. Yay!

Link to Story

Who are you?

Should librarians have to wear nametags? Some say it is just asking for trouble.

In this article, Stephen Abram, A SirsiDynix VP, had this to say…

“If we want to be treated as professionals,” he said, librarians shouldn’t wear badges that say merely “Librarian” without their name. He mocked those who say, “I don’t want to tell anybody my name, I might be stalked,” suggesting it doesn’t occur to workers at Wal-Mart. If you want to be treated like a professional, you have start acting like one,” he said. (link)

I have heard from several librarians that they are fully opposed to putting their names on name tags for fear of stalking. They seem sincere about their concern, even fearful! At my library, we met in the middle. First names only on the nametags, unless you are management. I still think this is kind of silly since we are a public library and everything (almost) is public record. We work for the citizens. If they want our names, they are going to get them one way or another. We have no policy in place on how to handle name requests.

Here are the issues I see with nametags in public libraries…

Unless you have clear policies in place, if somebody wants to find out your name, they are going to find out your name. They may go to a co worker, or they may just peek at the stuff on your desk. They can go to city hall and ask for the names and salaries of all city employees. They might even follow you home. One way or another, if they want your name, they are going to get it.

Nametags, make you readily identifiable as a library staff member. This may seem like a bad idea, but in the long run, it is a great idea. Read any of my other posts? One of our goals as librarians needs to be to get our demand up. One way to do this is to make our helpful selves available to patrons. I am not saying we should wear bright orange vests, but some indicator of availability cannot hurt. Those of us with an education should try to tout this education. Maybe work it into the nametag somewhere? I know when I go to any professional I like to see all the certifications on his/her wall. It makes me feel like I am getting my monies worth. I like to see that the person violating me in various ways is a certified doctor. Patrons who see our titles and maybe even an “M.L.S.” tag might get the subtle positive feeling too.

I have also heard some say that that wearing nametags is itself is an unprofessional move. I can see both sides of this argument. Wearing a great big pink nametag shaped like a book using bubbly fonts is far from professional. Wearing a metal name tag with name and title in Arial is very professional. Doctors all wear name tags. They are pretty professional. Well, most of the time. So too are police officers.

Here is the rub, name tags are for the customer. They are not for employee. I would imagine you all know who you are by now. They are to make the customer feel more in touch with you. Therefore, nametags proliferate the service industry. Anybody that signs up to work in a service industry needs to understand they may be wearing a nametag. They need to understand the risks of working with people. Working with the public is not inherently safe. You hear all the time some story where disgruntled customers punch, spit, and even shoot unfortunate employees. It happens. If you are so terrified of the people you serve that you do not want them to know your name, you may be in the wrong industry. And again, it is not that hard to find out a persons name. If by some miracle you get a policy in place that does make it hard to get your name, what kind of customer service is that? Heaven forbid you have a couple of really crappy people working for you. They piss off a bunch of patrons. The patron asks for their name. They tell the patron “It is against policy for me to give you my name, so sorry”. How do you think the patron would feel? If you were the patron, how would you feel?

Alas, nametags should be worn at all times. Last names are optional, but do not fool yourselves into thinking that this is in any significant way safer. Do not think that wearing no tags is somehow going to keep you safe. Nametags are a cheap and effective way to bond with the patrons and to relay a sense of competence. Remember who you work for.

Beware of Perverts Bearing Candy

Another pervert was busted at a library... big surprise - NOT!

Article

What is surprising tho, is the fascinating array of child abduction equipment found in his car. Authorities said they found "disturbing items" — including blankets, ropes and duct tape — in the trunk of Ballard's car and a bag of candy in the glove box. Ah yes, the proverbial bag of candy,,, standard fare in any abductor's toolkit. Thank goodness a staff member was not fearful of contacting authorities. As you are all aware, doing so can cost you your job! Stop a Pervert - Lose Your Job!

There is a reasonable chance that by ratting this dirt bag out, one (or more) children were saved from a very unpleasant experience. I am sure the ALA is not pleased with the 'ratting' but I am quite certain it was a good call.

I can assure you my kids are getting yet another "Stranger Danger!" lecture later today.

More Perverts!

This article struck me as particulary odd in that I can not make hide-nor-hair of what this fellow was up to.


Library Patron Squirting Womans Shoes

I can understand people masturbating in the library. I can understand men trying to peek up womans skirts. I can understand having sex in the bathrooms. I can even sorta understand smearing poop all over bathrooms walls,, but using a syringe to spray salt water on peoples shoes. I just don't get that one.

My only question is,, are they sure it was salt water? How exactly do they know it was salt water? Did they taste it?

Part 3 – Demand

Part 3 – Demand

Now that we have established what is going on with supply, and how it will affect the job market, let’s take a moment and look at the final component of the discussion… Demand for librarians. Before I continue, I want to mention that I am well aware that there are exceptions to all that I am about to say. There always are. Everything I say should be considered as being ‘as a general rule’. Please to not nit-pick stuff on a micro level. Feel free to nit-pick on a Macro level tho! I LOVE debating. Seriously. I do. =)

Ok, then, here we go. Let’s start by touching on some of the things that affect librarian demand.

• Price of Librarians. How much would one cost?
• Quality of Librarians. How do they compare to other Master Degreed people?
• Price of Alternatives. How much are Paraprofessionals?
• Quality of Alternatives. How well can Paraprofessionals perform at a Librarian level?
• Number of positions nationally (Demand). Currently, there are 132,991 such positions according to the ALA.
• Number of Librarians nationally. How many MLS’s either employed or looking for a job.

The textbooks would argue that the price of librarians (at the moment this number is $56,259 according to the ALA. FWIW not anyplace I have ever lived) is the most important factor in determining the demand for librarians. I would agree if the price for Librarians was to decrease, but would contest this if the price was increasing because based on a sharply left veering Demand Curve near the Price line. Therefore there is very little flexibility in upward price. This is due in part to the fact that librarians, especially public librarians, are not funded on profit motives. In other words, the entity hiring the librarians does not have to demonstrate their worth (but there are some good ROI models out there), making the Librarian price inflexible at best, fixed at worst. Sticking it to the tax payer syndrome so to speak. However, even tho the taxpayers foot the bill without choice, you will still never see $80k a year librarians for fear of rioting. No politician feels that lucky. Hence the near horizontal demand curve as it approached Price line. I will coin this theory the “Green Ceiling for Librarians”. They cannot prove they are worth more, thus will not be worth more. I contend that in their current state (skill-set and abilities), they simply are not worth more.

Add to that the fact you have 132,991 librarian positions (according to ALA) and there is very little motivation to add more. What do you get if you add more? Better customer service? Maybe. More profit? No. Truth is, it is hard to quantify the benefit from adding another 10,000 librarians to the mix. Now factor in all the alternatives such as Google and paraprofessionals, and you have a real hum-dinger of a situation in regards to demand for Librarians.

I assert that the most important factor in determining Librarian demand is not price, but quality. If Librarian meant more to the job market then just ‘can use wooden information retrieval devices’ then it would be a step in the right direction. Librarianship needs a complete re-tooling. Librarians need to be masters of the Internet and all information in digital format. They need massive database training. They need to understand business to better manage people, libraries, and information. All industries, no matter the scope, should want a few Librarians amongst their ranks. Just like all businesses benefit from an Accountant, so too should they benefit from a Librarian.

Of course this would change the very foundation of what a Librarian is. Like we talked about in Part 2, the Librarian would posses an undergraduate that alone, would offer a profitable career. The MLS should be the icing on the cake, not the whole dish. Alas, these types of degrees are hard work and the washout rate would be high. Yay! I say! Like one of my Economics professors once said… “Money = Not Easy”. Succinct and very true. The MLS undergrad should be 2 parts Business, 1 part Computer Science, and 1 part Education. That would be the perfect foundation for the perfect Librarian. Anything else is less then optimum. Nothing else should be accepted. No longer can we accept incompetent or undereducated people into our ranks. This must stop. It has to. Our reputation is at stake! Reputation will play a key part in our Demand.

Paraprofessionals

The other great threat to Librarian Demand is the Paraprofessional. Why? Quit simple really, they can do what a librarian does almost as well, just as well, or even better, for a lot less money. Many librarians will disagree, however you are not fooling anybody. I went thru library school. I know how easy it is. I know full well that a person with an undergrad in art and an MLS is far inferior to a person with a Bachelor in Business as far as overall quality is concerned (remember the washout discussion in Part 2?). Many tell me how hard library school was. I have to try not to lol. Obviously these were not Business or Science Undergrads. You never hear the latter complaining of how hard the MLS was. What does that tell you?

Librarian Darwinism

Charles Darwin had a little theory. It went something like this…. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

This can be summed up in Minks speak as “Adapt or Die”. This applies directly to Librarians.

Librarians, due to their unique situation (i.e. tax funded and/or hard to fire) have managed to avoid the natural evolution that occurs in the normal workforce. If you offer a product nobody wants, your business fails and you are done. If you are incompetent, you are fired. You must produce something somebody wants or it is all over. Librarians however, can be computer ignorant in the digital age and still have a job. Exsqueeze me? Alas, it is true. I know many Librarians that can barely function online. They have never downloaded an E-book (or anything for that matter) and have never used a flash drive. They cannot function in Excel and you can just forget Access. They are typically older ‘boomers’ and many have no desire or willingness to learn. They will continue to suckle at the library/taxpayer teat until they see fit to retire, immune from Darwin’s grasp. And why would they retire? Sucking teat is easy, and it pays fairly well. They are not going anywhere. Their only purpose in life seems to be to make the rest of us look bad… to sully the Librarian name. Darwin needs to be allowed back into libraries. The weak, the incompetent, the people with ‘social issues’, they need to go. I don’t care where. Only once being a Librarian equates to competence and is nationally recognized to be a desirable addition to any organization can we expect to solidify the Demand curve or shift it to the right, if only just a little.

Part 2 - Supply

Part 2 - Supply

Now that we can see what our future holds, what can we do to mitigate the damage that is about to occur? As we discussed below, there are two main issues, supply of Librarians and demand for Librarians. Both issues should be addressed. Today, we will examine Librarian supply.

Barriers to Entry (link)

This is an important business term for us to understand as it relates directly to the problem and solution to the Librarian supply dilemma. I suggest you spend a few minutes in wikipedia and brush up on the concept before continuing.

The first and easiest action we can take would be to control the supply of Librarians. As is stands now, there are only minimal barriers to entry to be a Librarian. What are the current Barriers to Entry?

1) HS Diploma

2) Bachelor Degree

3) Graduate Degree entrance exams

4) Masters in Library Science

5) Education Finance

At first glance, these five barriers may seem formidable, but lets examine them a bit closer to see the truth. We will look at the problems with each and examine some solutions.

HS Diploma – Not that difficult to get, almost everybody is able to pull this one off.

Bachelor Degree – There are many different types of Bachelor Degrees available. There are easy ones and hard ones, and all sorts of them in between. MLS programs take any degree. This is problematic for several reasons. First, you get tons of people that can barely pass college enrolling in the MLS program. Second, you get MLS graduates without the basic skills needed to run a library because they have some cheesy undergrad. Third, the mass of semi-smart librarians gives the librarian profession a bad reputation. “These are the least smart of all Masters Degreed people”, the marketplace mutters. Shh,, can you hear that whooshing sound? That is the sound of Demand dropping. Sorry, I am getting ahead of myself. That is the next blog.

What can be done? First, change the Undergraduate requirements to get into Library School. I suggest a business degree (any flavor, Economics, Finance, Accounting, all will do as the core curriculums are very similar) or a computer technology degree. Absolutely no more ‘easy’ degrees should be permitted. What practical good would a undergraduate in art, political science, history, anthropology, etc. be for a librarian?

None of these topics trains you in what is really important to run a library. Nor does it make you very marketable overall. Basically, you are lower quality then all the other graduates. Other professions have strict undergraduate requirements. To be a doctor you must have a life science undergraduate to get into medical school (with astounding grades). To get a Masters in criminal justice you have to have a C.J. undergrad. The list goes on. But to be a librarian? Any lame ass undergrad will do! Not good. I hear that sound again, do you?

You want a high dropout rate too btw. My undergrad (Information Systems) had around a 50% dropout rate! I kid you not. I made it ok, but half of my peers did not. Guess what? Right out of college I was worth $50k a year. Quality over quantity. The marketplace knows of this little theory. Librarians need to too. We need to wash out the inferior. Sounds cruel, but it is critical to the fix.

Graduate Degree entrance exams – Currently the passing scores on these entrance exams is a joke. Most high schoolers could pass the tests with ease. My scores on the GRE were way above minimal passing score, and I barely studied (brushed up on my calculus a bit). Entrance exams into other programs take weeks and months of study to pass, so too should the exams into the MLS program.

Masters in Library Science – Now we get to the meat. As is stands now, the curriculum is way too easy. Do not confuse easy with fast. The coursework takes a lot of time. But again, any highschooler could do it. My entire program I never took one real test! Not one! What? Ooo,, that is bad beyond words as far as program reputation is concerned. And, for the record, I passed with a perfect 4.0… without breaking a sweat. My undergrad was phenomenally more difficult then my MLS.

To make sure MLS graduates have the necessary skills to succeed there are two ways you can go. You can skip changing the undergraduate requirement and cover some of the basics during the MLS program, or you can rely on the undergraduate program to be sure people with an MLS know how to;

Manage People

Use a spreadsheet

Understand Accounting

Use a Database

Create a PowerPoint presentation

Skilled in public speaking

Know how to dress

Understand personnel basics

No person should graduate without these skills. Where they get them, not a big issue, but not having them after graduation? Big issue. Remember, we do not want the whooshing sound.

Education Finance – Last but not least we have a barrier to entry that is on par with the others. It costs about the same to get an Art History Degree as it does to get a Finance Degree. Same goes for the various Masters Degrees available. Here is one barrier that is in place properly. Thank goodness.

Next blog… Librarian Demand. This ones gonna sting. =P

Supply & Demand

On AL’s blog this week, there was a lively discussion on the assumption some students have that upon graduation from library school, they should be able to find a job. That is over simplifying the topic, but for the most part, that is it in a nutshell.

Several posters touched on ‘Supply and Demand’ as it relates to Librarians in the workforce. Having a buttload of hours of Economics under my belt, I want to talk about this in a little more detail. There is a lot to talk about; I will break it into several different blogs.

Supply and Demand

The Library Degree is easy and there are no barriers to entry. A few of you already see where this is going. And to make matters worse, there are plenty of people that can do the work, without a MLS. Those are the basic problems with the MLS. But more importantly, those are some of the reasons why supply of MLS’s is high, and Demand is static,,, or even dropping.

I am going to assume that most librarians have no clue about basic economics. I am going to base this on the type of student I witnessed in library school. Therefore I am going to give a little refresher course on Economic. Here is your basic Supply and Demand graph.

The law of Supply and Demand states that as demand for a good or service increases and supply remains the same, the Price Increases.

According to the ALA there are 132,991 librarians on the market today, with an average salary of $56,259. Plugging those numbers into the ole S&D graph we have the following:

In the above graph you can see that S & D are in equilibrium where P1 and Q1 intersect. That is the quantity of librarians and the cost to obtain a librarian when in equilibrium. Congratulations, you are a commodity! This graph is actually accurate. I made it according to ALA figures. According to the ALA there are 132,991 librarians on the market today, with an average salary of $56,259. Plugging those numbers into the ole S&D graph we have the above graph.

Here is where it starts to get exciting,,, and a bit depressing. The Demand Curve (which has been a straight line so far) is not a nice clean 45 degree angle for librarians. The Demand Curve is actually closer to vertical. Why? Because there are only so many libraries. There are only so many positions for librarians. The physical limitations of ‘desks’ cap out your demand. The Demand Curve is actually closer to vertical. Many librarians are paid for with taxes. Most of the people that pay the taxes do not use the librarians. Demand can not exceed the number of ‘desks’ available and it is unlikely that enough demand will exist to build more libraries. Don’t get all nitpicky here and go into population growth and affluence, this overcomplicates the basic points I am trying to get across.

This graph more accurately represents the real scenario.

Here is the sad part,, while max demand is limited, minimum demand is not! Should supply ever falter, price will rise, and more people will enter library school, this shifting the Supply Curve back out to the right.

Here is a graph of what I am talking about:

Notice the minimal Quantity increase (Q0 to Q1) and the massive salary drop (P0 to P1) with a 20k increase in supply. Ouch. This is due is part to the capped demand.

Here is where it gets kinda scary. The Demand Curve can shift too. As Librarian jobs become more and more menial, more and more paraprofessionals are able to fill Librarian shoes. Also, more people are able to do their own reference work using online sources such as Google and Wikipedia. These factors reduce demand for librarians and shift the demand curve to the left.

This is the worst case scenario for Librarians. Not only are they loosing salary at an alarming rate (P2) but they are seeing fewer open positions (Q2)!

So, that is a basic rundown of Librarian Salaries and why they are what they are and where they are likely to go in the near future. Not a pretty picture unless something changes.

What can be done?

That will be the next blog. =)

References

ALA - Librarian Stats

ALA - Salary Stats

Supply and Demand 1, 2, 3, 4.

Librarian Stress

There was an article published a while back touting the stress levels librarians claim to be experiencing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4605476.stm

What struck me as funny was what was causing the stress…

“Librarians complained about their physical environment, saying they were sick of being stuck between book shelves all day, as well as claiming their skills were not used and how little control they felt they had over their career.”

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but this does not sound like stress, this sounds like boredom. And AFAIK, boredom the complete opposite of stress. How weird is that?

I think I know what is going on here. I have had other jobs in my previous lives. I worked with lawyers in a law firm. I also worked in construction. I can tell you from experience; those jobs were far more stressful then working as a librarian. I suspect we have a lot of career librarians who have no good base point for measuring their stress levels. Think about it, any stress at all, no matter how little, will seem like a lot if you have never really experienced sex. Err,.,, stress. You get my point.

Law firm: The night before a deposition we would often work all night. This was normal. On a sidnote, lawyers are cool people to work with. Really cool. Out of 30, only 2 were your stereotypical wastes of flesh. Loved the rest of them. Miss ‘em.

Construction: Yelling and screaming at contractors and employees was normal. Office cussing and inappropriate behavior (sexual harassment anybody) also a norm.

Nursing: My mother is a nurse (RN) , peoples lives in your hands… nothing more stressful then peoples lives depending on you. You screw up, somebody dies. No thank you!

No matter how bad a librarian screws up, nobody dies (they may be raped in the stacks, but that is the below blog). Librarians are not that important in the scheme of things and when you start to think you are “all-that”, it is time for a reality check.

another ridiculous article...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article787479.ece

Boy Raped in New Bedford Free Public Library

Another sad story about perverts in libraries.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/library_boy_assaulted;_ylt=Arcn2usvLSXm.WJUZA3r_hUDW7oF

Corey Saunders, 26, is accused of luring the boy into the stacks and raping him while the child's mother worked on a computer less than 10 feet away from her son.

There are a lot of things wrong with this scenario.

First, you have the mother. She drags her boy with her to the library so that she can get on the computers. It did not say what she was doing, but I can tell you from experience, it was probably just farting around on myspace or gambling online. We have a name for these kids around my library. We call them "Internet Orphans". Before we limited daily access to the computers to just a few hours, we would have kids in here for 10+ hours straight! Poor kids. Bad parents.

Second, you have the library policy on the internet. Or, lack of automatic enforcement of the policy. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert uses a term I love. Weasel Words. "Weasel words are deliberately misleading or ambiguous language used to avoid making a straightforward statement while giving the appearance that such has been made. This type of language is used to deceive, distract, or manipulate an audience." ref

Instead of just saying "we do not filter", the library states...

"The Library cannot control and is not able to monitor any information on the Internet for either content or accuracy."

http://www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us/Library/internetpolicy.html

What does this mean exactly? I can tell you,, it means they do not filter. I did further sleuthing into boring meeting minutes to confirm this. "Yes-sir-ree, no filters for me!".. sang all the perverts in New Bedford, Mass.

Third and finally, you have the boy. I am not in any way saying it is the boys fault, but it is sad that he did not think to scream or yell or run or bite or something. Especially considering his mom was ten feet away. I have told my kids to scream their bloody heads off if anybody tries anything 'funny'. I certainly hope they would follow thru with it. It is sad this poor fellow did not.

In conclusion, perverts are bad.

Ph.D. 4 U

It would appear that you can buy more then used underwear and body parts online. It would appear that you can now purchase a nice shiny new Ph.D. as well. Why mess with spending large amounts of time learning things and taking tests when you can write “one 2000 word paper” and cough up $3500 and be done with it? That is what Laura L. Callahan did, and it landed her several cushy high paying jobs for almost 2 decades. Ironically, if she had treated her people a little better, she probably would have continued to get away with it. First rule of scamming: Don’t treat the people you are trying to scam like crap. Well, I just made that up, but if there were a set of rules, that one should be in there.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/36443.html

Now, many of you know I am very critical of the MLS degree. I think it is too easy to get. I think that the ease with which one can achieve this degree, lessens the value of it to all. After reading about the degree mills, I feel a little better. At least librarians have to write dozens of such papers and shell out 8x the bucks. However, If it were not for the GRE requirements to enter, anybody could get into library school. As we all know, once into library school, you have to be colossally stupid or run out of time to churn out papers to get kicked out. Library Schools are Degree Mills? Not quite, but closer then any of us would like to admit.

First Blog

This is just a test blog, to see if any of this high tech doo-daddery works like I think it should. Odds are it will, but until I clicky that posty we will not know for sure. Wish me luck.