Hi, my name is Justin_Bailey and I’m a bad librarian.
I buy the audiobooks for my library. The audiobook budget is a small fraction of the book budget and I can only afford between 10-15 every month. As such, I refuse to purchase the audiobook versions of anything written by Glenn Beck or Ann Coulter even though both are bestselling authors. It’s because I think they’re bigoted ass holes and I view it as a waste of taxpayer money (as an aside, it appears I’m not alone in my library system, few libraries carry either’s audiobooks while almost all carry their books).
A librarian isn’t supposed to let their personal feelings affect book buying, but it happens. And any librarian who says they would never is lying. I have complete control over what audiobooks are and are not purchased so I’m not breaking any rules, but I still feel guilty about it?
So how are you a bad manager/clerk/assistant/engineer/teacher/etc.?
Eh, those two spread ignorance, and librarians are supposed to spread knowledge. So I think I’m gonna give you a pass on this. If people want to become more ignorant, they should do so on their own dime.
You should feel guilty. Librarians are the last people on the planet I’d expect to engage in censorship. And I say this as someone who absolutely despises Beck and Coulter (who would burn half the books in every library in the country if they got the chance).
I’d bet good money you were pretty outraged at the stories that circulated during the last presidential election about Sarah Palin’s alleged attempts to have certain books removed from library shelves.
+1 - this is censorship. Like it or not, your job is to serve the public, and that includes supplying facts or opinions you may be uncomfortable with.
In addition, you’re not doing much for your job security. As you say, they are best selling authors, and if you refuse to serve the public what they demand, you’re turning people away from your “store”.
And since your “store” is the public library, I think that’s kinda sad.
I don’t care. I really just do not give a rat’s ass about my job. My boss works excruciatingly slowly, when he’s not shopping online - which is rare. That’s really what he does all day and everyone knows it but his boss. I’m given few real goals, so little that I’ve already met my goals for the year. In fact, I completed all my goals in March. So when I am given work, I hoard it so I can spread it out and have something to do later.
I’ve kept myself somewhat busy because I work with others who need help, but if I got fired tomorrow, I’d probably be pissed only because I didn’t leave first.
Once again, my guilt is solely my own. There are no rules saying what I must purchase, it is solely at my discretion. Beck and Coulter aren’t the only bestselling authors I skip, just the ones that I do so for political reasons. 10-15 titles a month does not go as far as you’d think.
Also, it’s not censorship. Censorship is removing something that was already there. Not purchasing something in the first place is deciding how best to use the library’s limited funds.
I’m also a librarian (though in a different type environment than Justin - while I understand his feelings…I have a hard time with the reasoning behind it. If he’d said he doesn’t buy them because with limited funds he buys what’s in highest demand, or his library doesn’t duplicate things that they have more than X number of copies of in the system, I’d be ok with it.) However, this thread is about how I’m bad at my job, and he’s already admitted to how he’s bad at his job.
I hate - I mean hate - doing collection building. I can weed the collection like there’s no tomorrow, but I hate buying and will put it off as long as possible. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t get done - but I will do anything in my power to find something else to do instead. Unfortunately, this means when I do it, I tend to do it in a much more slapdash fashion than I would if I just set aside time to do it regularly. But I’m going to do better about it next fiscal year! I swear! I have a plan!
Not to hijack further, but a strong case could still be made that it is a case of self censorship and you are preventing access to those materials by people who may not be able to read print versions.
And that’s all I intend to say about that at this point because I’ll get my ire up and that’s not what this thread is about.
I’m phone-shy. I hate returning to the office with the message light blinking, and an electronic voice telling me “You have [pause] four [pause] teen new messages”. The problem I’ve had before; I’ll go through the messages, and struggle to return them (because I’m phone-shy, remember), only to find the light blinking and be greeted with “You have [pause] six [pause] teen new messages”. Occasionally, I’ll say “screw it” and just delete everything.
For sure, but perhaps if you’re doing that then you’re not fulfilling your job as a public servant.
It is practically your first duty as such to be politically neutral. If you’re not prepared to be, then you shouldn’t be doing the job (clarification: I’m assuming you’re working in a state library. If you’re not, do what you want :D)
HOWEVER that isn’t automatic. E.G. applying the Nazi or Nelson Mandela tests, there are some literature where there is a higher moral principle than being a good librarian. But it seems to me as a Brit that Coulter and Beck are just fuckwits, rather than evil. Maybe I’m wrong, it’s not as though I pay much attention to them!
And in ANY case where you are doing such censorship you have to recognise that you’re not doing your job as a librarian properly. It just so happens that you’re following a higher calling.
I’m really good at my job, but I’m bad at networking, and I’m especially timid around “suits.” I’m worried there’s little incentive to promote me, because I’m a go-to guy where I am now, and I’d be pretty useless at a conference table discussing synergy and metrics.
Not to hijack further, but…have you read these two authors? I can’t speak for Coulter, but many–perhaps most–of the statements in Beck’s books are factually incorrect, no matter what political beliefs you have. He seems to have an almost paranoid aversion to basic fact-checking. That’s ignorance in any party.
I guess my question to the OP would be: if a patron specifically requested one of those audiobooks, would you get it for them? I would argue anything other than “yes” is the wrong answer.
As for the actual OP: I have all the skills required to do an excellent job in my profession, and use them. I’m probably pretty bad at my job, though, since much of it seems to be politics, processes, and procedures that bear no relationship to the supposed work we do.
I’m an artist, and there’s no part of my job that I’m bad at . . .
Except for marketing and selling my paintings. I have a house full of art . . . not only my own, but also by my parents. I’d need a mansion to have enough wall space to hang everything.
My job title is “Project Manager.” For anyone who knows me, this is laughable. The idea of me planning, and then seeing through, any complicated project is not only horrifying but damn-near impossible.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I contribute at work – I solve problems, I wrangle difficult software, I support cow-orkers, I teach – but none of it’s “project management” by any stretch. I think the title was just meant to connote “go-to guy” or “generalist” or something.
In short, I’m good at my real job but bad at my nominal job. Better than the other way around, I guess.
I don’t feel the need to coddle people I supervise, as much as some of them wish that I would. Apparently there are some people* who crave daily affirmations that they’re doing a good job - but they don’t get them from me. I talk to people when there are issues and praise them for doing a good job/improving, but I’m not interested in doling out reassurances that yes, today you didn’t screw up much. So…I’m bad at my job in that I make a certain type of person anxious.
fun fact: you hear about this sort of personality trait being common to millennials, but I have the biggest issues with boomers who act this way.
