[Publib] children of staff

[Mary Soucie]

I have a 14 year old son. We got him when he was 8- we fostered and then adopted him. There have been few occasions when he has come to work with me. Most of those times have been to volunteer. I'm in a slightly different situation because until tow years ago, I was the only staff member with a child that wasn't a grown up. :-) 
 
We do have some staff whose children come in to visit- but it's almost always brief. We have had an issue with a staff member's out of town (adult) child spending a bit of time in the library when she's been in to visit. I've let it go to this point but have told the supervisor that if it continues to increase or affects the employees output then we'll address it at that point.
 
I don't mind having someone's child in to visit or to volunteer. There's always something that needs to be done. I have told my son that he won't be hired at the library when he becomes working age- even though hiring children of employees has long been the practice here. I don't think that's a good idea, especially when it's the director's kid.
 
It's unfortunate the situation you've been put in by this employee spreading untruths. I've experienced that myself in the last year and I can say it really stinks. Unless you can prove she's spreading the rumors, I'm not sure there's much you can do to address that. If you've told her not to bring her child in and she does it again, I would think you should either write her up or terminate her, depending on your discipline policy. Having an employee out in the community telling vicious lies can be so detrimental to the community. If you ride it out though and just answer truthfully when approached about it by someone, people will soon find someone or something else to gossip about.
 
Good luck and let us know what happens,
Mary
 
Mary J. Soucie, MLIS
Library Director
Wilmington Public Library District
Visit the world @ your library(tm)
201 S Kankakee St, Wilmington IL 60481
815-476-2834 Phone
815-476-7805 Fax
mailto:mjsoucie at wilmingtonlibrary.org <mailto:mjsoucie at wilmingtonlibrary.org>  
 
Wilmington Public Library District is committed 
to providing excellent comprehensive service to 
its community.
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