[Publib] Re: Children of staff

[Karen Mahnk]

I was fortunate enough that when my son was a child, to have worked in
a firm library & I had an office. Nethertheless, children couldn't be
brought w/o permission. Let's face it kids can bring out awkward
situations; we love kids but often they don't always behave when they
really need to. My kid almost never made embarrassing remarks - except
at the wrong times.. It happens & I think having a child at work one
too many times makes it tough to do the things one needs to do there
easily. By the same token, kids need to see/know where we work if we
are going to spend more time there instead of with them.   I think
it's sad that we have"therapy dogs"/cats" - but your child is verboten
- both have the same propensity to get stains on the carpet & in terms
of return on your attention, I think a kid will give you more for your
attention, or lack of it than your pet - who will never be a lawyer
nor a drug addict or serial killer(except in horror flicks).
Sometimes, we forget why we work. - there can be a balance.
Karen Mahnk

On Feb 4, 2008 9:34 PM, Dale McNeill <dale.mcneill at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have just a few thoughts:
>
> as an administrator in a large public library system--it only makes sense to
> have a very clear rule that only staff who are actually at work can be in
> staff areas (no children, no friends, no spouses, no "I thought I would come
> by on my day off and drink coffee")
>
> as a former manager--I did (with my supervisor's approval) allow staff to
> bring children to work from time to time.  I worked in a non-public part of
> the library and had two young employees with young children and complex
> lives; it wasn't easy, though, as it's very hard to be fair to other
> employees.
>
> as a child of a single mother (for a few years)--I waited for my mother
> every day for at least 3 hours, either at the public library or at a local
> version of the Woolworth luncheonette.  I know how difficult this was for my
> mother and for both places where we waited.  But that job, almost an hour
> away, was the only job my mother could get and our house was the only asset
> she had.
>
> It is very easy to forget how complicated people's lives can be, especially
> of those staff members who carefully *don't* bring their personal lives to
> work.
>
> Dale (a child in rural Oklahoma, a librarian in Texas and New York)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Publib mailing list
> Publib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib
>
>



-- 
Karen Mahnk,
Reference Librarian
Lake Park Public Library
529 Park Avenue
Lake Park, Fl., 33403
561 881-3330 Fax: 561881-3336
kmahnk at lakeparkflorida.gov
www.lakepark-fl.gov