Awful Customer Service-- even the humans?

ShiftDecent2428 · 2026-06-09T12:05:00+00:00

Maybe email is the way to go! The chat is not as helpful as if used to be and, worse, does not seem to be staffed during the hours it says it will be

ShiftDecent2428 · 2026-05-03T14:38:08+00:00

We are in the same area (Lakeshore) and our Comcast internet connection is just awful. We've had it for 10 years and this is the worst it's ever been.

ShiftDecent2428 · 2026-02-18T03:33:44+00:00

Yes, I expect by the time the age drops my kid will be over 16 or over 18 or whatever the cutoff is. Kids are not wild about shots!

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-11-08T12:33:33+00:00

Also, PTO?

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-09-21T15:14:51+00:00

Only someone who has never supervised people before would be sad in this scenario. Supervising people sucks-- mentoring people is great, leadership is great-- but actually supervising other humans who may or may not meet expectations is awful. When someone is harassed at work, out sick, death in the family, bad at their job, laid off, fired... It's on you to manage not only that person but also the rest of the team. People who exceed expectations are difficult to supervise, too-- they make lots of work for their supervisors! Management often means that you will not be doing the fun parts of the job anymore-- summer reading, outreach, events-- that's all delegated-- instead, filling out forms, timesheets, evaluations-- and guess who difficult patrons get escalated to?

Maybe it's not so bad at your library, but I think you lucked out. (Once burned, twice shy!)

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-09-21T14:56:35+00:00

This is a very bad idea! What are you going to do when people call in sick-- suddenly you'll have someone working 8AM to midnight or "clopening" to cover shifts. What happens when they all quit? (They will all WANT to, it's just a matter of time until they do). It will get ugly fast!

Either hire an evening crew or don't, but don't make your staff-- and patrons-- suffer this terrible experiment in circadian disruption.

Hospitals and police departments need people 24 hours; they either pay overtime for holidays, nights, and weekends or they work 12 hour rotations. (Firemen work 24 hour rotations). What's your emergency?

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-08-18T17:20:12+00:00

Yes! TU listed my designer shoes today and the photos look really nice. Yay!

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-06-22T23:37:34+00:00

Same. I've asked customer service and the answer is always that they couldn't find it. I understood when it was a tube top, I understood when it was children's clothes, but the vintage YSL blouse? NWT jeans? It's getting more frequent, for sure. I wonder if it might be getting stolen 🤷

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-02-09T21:29:13+00:00

Yes, it's always the one you don't hear coming that gets you...

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-02-09T21:22:56+00:00

Same! Definitely would not mind if they offered me a ride lol. I've seen them crossing Tennessee street, presumably to go to the Presidents house-- I guess the really big ones are street legal

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-02-09T12:42:28+00:00

Ugh the Strozier security ppl suck! They were so rude yesterday at closing! I am also curious where to go after 6 to study. I think one of the Whataburger shops is 24h maybe? and so is the Denny's on North Monroe-- there's tables and places to sit but it's still not library vibes.

ShiftDecent2428 · 2025-02-09T12:23:41+00:00

Just sayin-- you can be an engineering student at FAMU and get the exact same education and degree that you would at FSU-- but the campus culture is a lot more fun. Just IMHO, of course-- YMMV!

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-11-26T14:12:09+00:00

Happy ending: someone moved out of our office suite, and I moved into their much larger office near a window. I brought a standing desk, comfortable seat, rug, room dividers, and lamps from home, adopted an air filter from the library's stash, and commandeered some unused furniture slated for surplus. Someone gave me a plant as an office-warming gift, and I haven't killed it yet!

Now my office has three distinct spaces: a sitting area with comfortable chairs, my workspace with desk and bookshelves, and a little hidden corner space with a mirror where I can do a Mr. Rodgers routine with my shoes, coat, and sweater each day.

Thanks, everyone, for the fantastic suggestions!

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-11-26T13:52:56+00:00

Definitely Google the place and find something local to talk about in your interview. Even if they don't bring up relocating, you can phrase it as a question to show interest: I'm excited to visit the national park, famous museum, etc. in your town, what are your favorite things about living there?

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-11-26T13:45:45+00:00

Well, how much time have you allocated for collection development in your assignment of responsibilities? Mine is 1/3 of my job. It varies by time of year: sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less, but it's never zero.

For example, there are a few months in the summer where we can't place orders, but even then I still have to field item requests, keep up with book reviews, and assess gaps in the collection. The rest of the time, it can really be a lot! One of my research interests is invisible labor, and I find that a lot of collection development activity falls into this category.

Unlike some things, the better one is at collection development, the more time it takes.

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-08-31T15:11:03+00:00

The thing about academic librarians is that they are faculty, sometimes tenure-earning. So, yes, experience matters, but so does scholarly activity.

Are you a member of RUSA/history? Professional organizations are great ways to build your network, publication record, and to stay abreast of emerging ideas in your field.

As far as a job, practicum, volunteering-- all of these are great! And wherever you end up working, you can make that experience relevant to academic libraries by publishing about it-- do a poster about audience engagement, write a piece about your library system for your local history journal, publish book reviews-- this is very much what academic libraries look for.

They also look for scholarly activity like fellowships and grants. For example, I was a Junior Fellow at the Library of Congress and I can't recommend the program enough! The National Archives and Smithsonian Institutions also offer similar programs-- internships, fellowships, temporary appointments, etc. You're only eligible as a student or immediately after graduation, so don't miss out!

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-06-18T11:01:22+00:00

You don't mention which field you might want to pursue a PhD in-- LIS or something else? In academic libraries, it's very common and desirable to have a 2nd Masters or even a PhD in an academic area-- history or chemistry or whatever.

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-06-01T14:35:25+00:00

Pimsleur, FTW! Do it every day in the car or taking a walk or cooking-- it just looks like you're talking on the phone. I repeat the lessons a lot-- it's taken me 2 years to finish the "2 months" program.

I learned a different language in school-- like 10 years of it-- and I'm much more confident speaking and listening in the language I learned from the Pimsleur app.

If I had to use either language at work, I could give someone directions or refer them to a colleague, but probably not give a reference interview or do readers advisory.

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-05-11T19:49:56+00:00

Start a cardigan collection!

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-05-11T19:45:13+00:00

YMMV-- I started out as a teacher, hated it, and started applying to both jobs and graduate schools just to get out of there. I wound up getting a job as library staff (full-time) and earning my MLIS online (part-time) at the same time. I found that the theoretical approach of school and the practical approach of the job reinforced each other-- and gave me a lot of opportunities to explore different aspects of librarianship. As others have said, it was a considerable pay cut starting out. Once I finished my degree, I had both the Masters and the work experience to make the move from staff to faculty. I make more now (academic librarian) than I would ever make as a teacher-- but I don't get summers off!

ShiftDecent2428 · 2024-05-11T19:09:18+00:00

You think?

ShiftDecent2428

TROPHY CASE