[Publib] Splitting the Difference and a Fighting Chance for Holidays

[Chris Albertson]

Sigh....I usually just lurk but must be feeling more communicative in my
old age these days...[ always enjoy reading John Richmond.....Hi
John...cold enough for you up there in the Land of Lincoln since you
left us here in the Land of Sam Houston?? :-) ] I guess other folks must
be faster readers/thinkers/doers than I, since I hardly ever get time to
peruse all these postings.....which is my demurral that perhaps someone
has already made the points I am going to mention about holidays:

In our library we mediate ( vacillate?) between what we call "Splitting
the Difference" and "Giving Patrons a Fighting Chance" regarding holiday
observances.

Although our City organization has a list of specific holidays it
celebrates (that do NOT necessarily coincide with Texas STATE holidays
which include such idiosyncrasies as Confederate Heroes Day [ replaces
Jeff Davis' Birthday which USED to be a June holiday until 1973 and yes
I have been around THAT long ]Texas Independence Day [ March 2 if you
missed it] and San Jacinto Day [ coming up on April 21 ])these City
Holidays subtly assume that closing City Hall on a Friday or Monday
automatically results in a three day holiday for all staff. Well, some
of us operate seven day a week departments and observing the letter of
the law does not allow for AUTOMATIC three day holidays over here in our
department since by policy the only OFFICIAL day we can pay staff
"holiday pay" are the exact days called out in city ordinance.
Accordingly we have to set our own policy in and around these OFFICIAL
city holidays.

In doing so we have tried to be cognizant of both staff and patron
morale. What we try to do is be open at least PART of a long weekend or
holiday "duration" ( I say duration because with "moveable feasts" the
"capture rule" comes into play....for example...Independence Day..just
like a comet or planetoid... sometimes comes close enough to a weekend
either as a Friday or Monday holiday to result in a potential three day
windfall, at least for City Hall, while the Christmas Eve and Christmas
Day duo as well as the Thanksgiving Day and the Day After Thanksgiving
duo also sometimes link up with a weekend to create a potential FOUR day
closure.) This way the public can come do business at least sometime
during the holiday.

At the same time we know that staff appreciate long weekends from time
to time and it's always good to have at least a few days strung together
when the public won't be here so we can fumigate the foyer and wax the
hallway. (Although the book drops still need emptying EVERY day.)

As an example...for this year's recently past MLK Day Weekend...since
this is not really a traditional "travel time" for staff, unlike City
Hall, we were open Saturday and Sunday but closed Monday. For the
upcoming Memorial Day Weekend we will be open Saturday but closed Sunday
and Monday to "split the difference" with the public and allow staff at
least 48 hours of travel. While we haven't made up our mind for
Independence Day yet ( July 4th is on a Friday so it "captures" the
weekend this year)we will probably be closed on Saturday so that staff
can travel and then get back to town but will open on Sunday for patrons
to browse, borrow and surf without having to wait until Monday.

Of course the issue then arises of how to "make the staff whole" with
regard to pay. With these "unofficial" LIBRARY closings near "official"
CITY holidays we generally encourage employees to get with their
supervisors to work extra hours before or after the closings or take
leave time to keep their paychecks level

As a counterbalance you may want to look around town and see if your
local Wally Worlds and Macys will be open those days and ponder YOUR
stance in regard to YOUR customers in comparison to their approach to
their customers.

And now, like Nonno in Night of the Iguana, having struggled to compose
and deliver my lines I must rest :-)  


Chris Albertson
 
Mr. Chris Albertson
City Librarian
Tyler Public Library
City of Tyler
Tyler, Texas
Voice            903-593-READ (7323)
After Hours 903-593-HELP (4357)
Fax                903-531-1FAX (1329)
E-Mail  calbertson at tylertexas.com
 
"The unexamined life is not worth living"