Library and Information Center Management,
Seventh Edition

A Difficult Decision

When Pine Valley Public Library Director Christine Lavery looked out the door of her office and saw who was waiting in the reception area, her heart sank. Under almost any other circumstances, she would have been thrilled to see Amy Williams again. But on this occasion, Christine feared, Amy's visit would not be entirely pleasant.

Amy had retired from the Pine Valley Public Library two years ago after putting in twenty-five years as a model employee. Amy had begun her career in the library by working at the circulation desk and had then worked in the reference and cataloging departments. As a consequence of her various jobs, the longevity of her library career, and her naturally outgoing and cheerful personality, Amy had made friends throughout the library.

Amy had been the type of person who knew her various jobs backwards and forwards and was happy to pass along the knowledge that she'd accumulated over the years. Her supervisors, subordinates, and coworkers all had wonderful things to say about her, and she clearly enjoyed working with them.

A

dditionally, Amy had been a willing mentor to many library employees over the years. In fact, Amy had taken Christine under her wing when Christine had been appointed as Pine Valley Public Library Director nearly six years ago, after Christine had been recruited from another public library system. Christine hadn't known anyone at the Pine Valley library, and so Amy had made a special point of introducing Christine to the library staff and of helping her learn the way that things were being done at the library and the reasons for which the things were being done the way they were. In many ways, Amy had contributed to Christine's smooth transition into the Library Director position.

So Christine, like many other Pine Valley library employees, felt that she was indebted to Amy. Christine had wondered if she'd ever get a chance to repay Amy for her many kind acts over the years, and then about a week ago it seemed that she'd gotten her answer. A paraprofessional job had opened up in the circulation department, and Christine had placed an advertisement in the local newspaper and on the library's web site. Among the many applications she received in response to her ads was one from Brian Williams, Amy's only child.

Brian's application confirmed what Christine had already known about him from hearing Amy talk about him: he had been a decent - though far from strong - student and had held a variety of jobs at which he'd always received good - though not excellent - performance evaluations. In short, Brian was not the weakest candidate for the circulation department job opening, but he certainly wasn't the strongest candidate either. In fact, after Christine had carefully considered all of the applications for the position, she'd ranked Brian as her fifth choice (out of 30 applications) for the job.

When Amy was shown into Christine's office, she got right to the point. "I know that your job as Library Director keeps you swamped, Christine, and I hate taking up your time like this. But I just wanted to put in a good word for Brian in regards to the circulation desk position that he's applied for. I know that Brian could do a good job at the circulation desk. He's a good kid. He just has never had a chance to live up to his potential. Please give him a chance. Please hire him for the circulation desk position. It would mean so much to me."

After Amy left, Christine reviewed the job applications once again. It certainly might be true that Brian would do a good job at the circulation desk, but it was evident that his education and work background were not as strong as some of the other candidates'. And would it be fair for Christine to bump Brian up to the top of her selection list simply because his mother had vouched for him? The other applicants hadn't gotten the chance to have that extra bit of input. But then again, Christine did want to do something to show her appreciation for all that Amy had done for her.

Christine sighed loudly. She would need to make her selection decision by the end of the day, and she knew that it would not be an easy decision to make.

If you were in Christine's place, what selection decision would you make, and why would you make that decision?

Case written by Cynthia Thomes