librarians

a lot of back and forth over S/M librarian losing her job

Once more with the librarian who was also an S/M dom, had a website, had her contract “not renewed” in the small town she worked in. Here’s an absolutely fascinating transcript of the board meeting where this issue was discussed. Of particular note is a defense of the librarian by her own sister. I’ve pulled some good bits for quotes but it’s really worth reading the whole thing.

“we have a lady … public domain with a website. Anybody could access it. So we have a lady who has gone public domain with her beliefs…. if she’s gone pubic already, why would she not go public in her workplace, in a place like a library. That’s a trust issue that people are concerned with. If she’s gone public, and obviously she has, why would she stop at the workplace.

“We’re trying to protect them from simple spankings and stuff like this, and yet these things are okay for adults? I can’t stand the thought of it. I don’t care if it’s behind closed doors. If they think it’s okay for them that’s fine, but I just can’t stand the thought that you can say…it’s a double standard. It’s just wrong.”

“It’s very easy to discriminate against something and somebody else when you can look at them, when you can see what they’re doing. That’s one reason I’m so tolerant. I don’t give a ____ if she has these problems. I don’t care if she’s put it out in the public. If you’re worried about your kids reading this, then you can look after them. That’s what parents are really supposed to do. That is our job.”

“It’s not that I think it makes the woman a bad person. What anyone does privately is strictly their own – the fact that she made this a non-private issue by having a website. I don’t think anyone here thinks this makes her a bad person, it’s just how it affects the library.”

[thanks jason]

union blues in King County

Posted on 02Dec03 by jessamyn

Did I ever mention that I am now a member of AFSCME? They take $6 a week and in return I get to agitate for things like Professional Days when I go to ALA. It’s an okay trade off. I am well-compensated. Things in King County aren’t going as well, the administration is stalling the procdess of getting newly-unionized workers their first contract. [thanks bill]

damn!

Posted on 02Dec03 by jessamyn

Speaking of job security, the librarian who had a website advertising her S/M services has not had her contract renewed. [thanks jemmy]

the image thing, stop ragging on us

Posted on 24Nov03 by jessamyn

A livejournal user chimes in with some thoughts on “the image thing” Pay special attention to the “I bet you have a secret wild sexy life, eh?” this sort of thing happens to me all the time. [thanks josh]

Ewwww this book sucks

Posted on 24Nov03 by jessamyn

Another LJ user chimes in with some thoughts about being judged by by his librarian for what he checks out of his library, since it’s only a subset of what he actually reads…. Some librarians chimed in to let him know that not only are we not snobby about what the patron’s are reading [we’re just happy they are reading, duh] but we adore the trashy mystery and the cheesy tabloid magazines ourselves once in a while. [thanks thaddeus]