Job Article

I work as a circulation clerk for a local suburban library. A common misconception is that a library is a boring place to work, however, it is comparable to that of a company’s customer service. Dealing with the public is not always easy. Unlike the type of business that was described in Richtel’s article, a library is not out to make a profit. It is state funded and municipal taxes pay our salaries. What the article is describing is the means in which companies control their employees to maintain efficiency and accuracy. McDonald’s, for example, uses call centers to maximize profits by sparing no wasted time at the drive up. This is related to what Marx was discussing when the capitalist, driven by profit-making and competition, resorts to maximizing the amount of labor-power that he or she can extract from the worker. At the library, managing time and efficiency are still important but not as strictly regulated. This might be due to the fact that there is no profit involved, however, our library is one of the busiest in our system and the state and library board look at that. We have to be efficient and accurate in order to meet the needs of our patrons. The more people that go to the library more often equals more funding to meet our demands. The library board is also responsible for dividing the tax money into our wages. We receive annual raises which are based off of manager reviews and merit. So there is some incentive to working hard. The management of the library is set up like a hierarchy. Each department has managers, the departments are overseen by the administration and directors, and the administration is overseen by the library board, which is made up of elected officials. This makes employee evaluations even more important. Since the board sets our wages, it might not be eager to dish out money to employees that are not efficient and accurate because they can supply that money for other library programs.