Book Companion:

Library and Information Center Management,
Seventh Edition

Library Layoffs

Erin Jameson, a manager working at a small town library, has recently been placed in a tough situation regarding the need to fire one of her four employees. The budget for the library has decreased dramatically over the past three years due to the recession. The library staff has been forced to cut some of their best programs and decrease the number of books, software programs, and resources being bought. At this point in time, the manager has no choice but to lay off one of her four full time employees and hire two part-time employees who collectively will work fewer hours than a full time worker. The library staff are all very good friends from working together for years in the library. How is Erin to choose?

After reviewing the information below on all four employees, complete the following:

1. Set up a criteria for choosing who to lay off.
2. Say who you would lay off and explain your reasoning.
3. Identify key issues that should be considered in this situation.
4. Develop a series of steps you would take in order to address all of these issues and handle the firing.
5. List an alternate solution the manager can pursue.

Employees:

..

1. Jane Thomas:	Jane is 44 years old with a husband and no children. She has been with the library for 3 years and is considered an asset because of her extensive involvement with the community. Her husband is a member of the town School Board and Lion's club. She is the lowest paid worker because of her fairly short time with the library and lack of a formal education in the library systems. She often has trouble finding a solution or resource for users and is a slower worker than the other three, but interacts very well with the library users. You fear that firing Jane would cause the community to be upset with you and the library because of their support of Jane.
2. Lauren Hunt:	Lauren is 56 years old. Her husband passed away this year and her children live far away. She has been with the library for 15 years. She is the highest paid worker and deserves it because of all the time she has put into the library. Although she can solve about any problem a user has, she is often abrupt with users and you have received quite a few complaints over the past year. You attribute this to her adjusting to life without her husband and her children being so far away. She is by far the staff member with the most expertise, but her thought are very narrow and you wonder if bringing in two younger part time employees would add some zest to the library after all the cuts it will have to undergo
3. Tom Smith:	Tom is 30 years old. He had no wife or children and has been with the library for 5 years. He brings a creative mindset to the library and has helped you develop innovative cost-cutting ideas over these past three years. He is the 3rd highest paid worker, although you would give him a raise if possible because of all the help he has given in cutting costs. Your main consideration for firing him is that he is young, very marketable, and has no family ties. It would be easiest for him to pick up and find another job in a library. The library users are fond of him as well
4. Lisa Reynolds:	Lisa is 33 years old with a husband and two-year old daughter. She has been with the library for six years and was one of the best workers you've ever had. After she became pregnant, Lisa focused much more of her attention on her family and began taking many days off. This past year she has put you in the situation of having to call someone at 6 am on their day off to come in because Lisa has had a conflict with the babysitter. You are close to her and her family, but are reminded to consider the best interests of the library in this specific situation. You think Lisa will be back on track and performing well again in a few months when her mother moves into town (and therefore she has a reliable baby sitter), but you think the other three employees will be upset if you were to fire them over Lisa because of all the days she has taken off.

Case written by Kelly E. Hoffmann, a graduate of SILS, UNC-CH