Monday, January 21, 2013

I have learned

The new folks that I manage have been babied by managers past. What I think they have learned from this week is that I'm not about that life. Thankfully, I will only be with them until they get a permanent manager,or my branch opens. My branch finally is scheduled to open at the end of February. I cannot wait. I am so tired of being shuffled around. I feel as if it needs to read next to my name in the staff directory, "Branch Manager, will travel to whatever location needs management."

My first week at a new temporary location

Once again, I have been given the assignment of being the interim manager at a unwanted branch. No one chose to reassign to that branch, so it must go to the list of eligibles. Most likely, someone from outside will interview for the job. Those who work in our library system are well aware of the patron problems at this branch. What I have learned this week is that there are staff issues also. On Wednesday, I informed a patron that his "cart of belongings" was too large to be inside the library. I gave him a copy of the library guidelines and highlighted the sentence that addressed this particular problem. The patron's response was that we never have a problem with the strollers. I told the patron that the strollers were used to transport humans and there is a difference. The patron had the nerve to tell me that his cart and a baby stroller were the same. The same patron was back on Thursday with his cart. I stopped and spoke with the patron. I asked him why he had brought the cart once again. I expained that he was still in violation of the library's guidelines for patron use. The guy had the nerve to ask me why I had a problem. He said that he comes to this branch all of the time and no one else had a problem with his cart. I walked away and went into my office. Not 10 minutes later, library security arrived. One of the officers came into my office. I asked him if they has spoken to the patron about his cart. The officer said they had. I then told the officer that I had spoken to the patron the day before. The officer said, " Oh you did? We'll take care of it!" The patron was escorted out of the library and he was suspended for 1 day, per library guidelines. That same day, I had an issue with one of the pages. When I returned from the staff room, he was in my office with the door closed(& locked) and on the computer. There were so many things wrong with that picture. I first stepped away, went to the restroom and returned. I told him,"First impressions last! I am going to the store and when I return, I expect you to be out of here." The fool had the nerve to yell at me. I closed the door in his face while he was talking and left the libary. He sent his district manager an email about the incident. He thought that he was tellling my boss on me. Two things. 1. She is not my boss. 2. He was oh so in the wrong. The district manager called me, asked for my version of the story. She was extremely surprised to learn that the employee in question was on the manager's computer with the door closed and locked.