72 replies to this topic

[Boges]

And what is it you do for a living???

Something that doesn't require a Doctorate.

[Jack Weber]

Something that doesn't require a Doctorate.

Me neither...

[Michael Hardner]

Something that doesn't require a Doctorate.

Are you ok with other people characterizing you as a dolt who deserves minimum wage ?

When people start talking about value of work, it's amazing how much they seem to value their own merits.

[Jack Weber]

Are you ok with other people characterizing you as a dolt who deserves minimum wage ?

When people start talking about value of work, it's amazing how much they seem to value their own merits.

I've noticed it's almost always the free marketeers doing this...

[cybercoma]

None but to compare the skills needed to run a library to that of being a lawyer, teacher and/or doctor is rather humourous to me.

What does a librarian do? What skills do they need exactly?

[cybercoma]

You jumped in and started using "chushy" after I asked for a definition, so I guess you know what it means ?

I have a sense that other people's jobs are cushy but never ours...

Sorry, I didn't notice you asked for a definition. I take cushy to mean a job that pays well, but requires little work or effort.

[Boges]

What does a librarian do? What skills do they need exactly?

I asked Black Dog that earlier. I guess it'd help if they knew how to read.

[cybercoma]

I asked Black Dog that earlier. I guess it'd help if they knew how to read.

You know what else would help? Actually knowing what a job entails before you criticize it and the people that do it.

[Michael Hardner]

Sorry, I didn't notice you asked for a definition. I take cushy to mean a job that pays well, but requires little work or effort.

Work or effort as in hours spent on the job ? Hours spent training ? So being a supermodel is a cushy job then ? Are they not worth the money they make ?

What I'm getting at is that it's pointless for people to go down the rabbit hole of "what is this job worth", in terms of merit. The market supports a certain price for labour, and will undercut it if it can. Economics trumps morality every time as somebody here said...

But wait a second, if that were true - why aren't we all prostitutes ?

[Boges]

I'm not sure that being a librarian is as cushy as it seems. There is actually post-graduate studies required to be a librarian, just as there is for teachers, doctors, and lawyers.

I guess I just took exception to this post where you equate being a librarian to doctors and lawyers.

There are post-graduate studies to being a PR flack or managing a Golf Course, Humber College has a comedy course even.

There are very few jobs that are super-easy. I'm not even saying being a Librarian is cushy. I'm sure dyslexics like myself would find keep track of all that inventory very difficult.

My issue is more to question if Toronto really needs 98 libraries. And are the concessions the city is asking for reasonable. Like any public service they want to ensure their staff can't be laid off. Something unheard of anywhere in the private sector.

[TheNewTeddy]

I had no idea they went on strike.

The last time I went to a Library was in 2003 to see if they happened to have ANY kind of documentation of past federal budgets.

Of course this is Rural New Brunswick... so they only had 3 previous random years (I was sort of shocked they had any) and they were all in French, which I don't speak. Fortunately, I know what all the federal departments are in French thanks to CPAC and Question Period. Unfortunately, this small story interests me (even though it already happened to me) more than any Library Strike does.

[cybercoma]

There's a lot of competing ideas in economics about employment and wages. I wouldn't hold it as gospel.

[Black Dog]

I guess I just took exception to this post where you equate being a librarian to doctors and lawyers.

He didn't. You need to go to library perhaps, bone up on your reading comprehension. What he said was that librarians are an accredited professional class like those others.

There are post-graduate studies to being a PR flack or managing a Golf Course, Humber College has a comedy course even.

Masters? Doctorates? I doubt that very much.

There are very few jobs that are super-easy. I'm not even saying being a Librarian is cushy. I'm sure dyslexics like myself would find keep track of all that inventory very difficult.

My issue is more to question if Toronto really needs 98 libraries. And are the concessions the city is asking for reasonable. Like any public service they want to ensure their staff can't be laid off. Something unheard of anywhere in the private sector.

No, you're not actually questioning it. That would involve doing a little digging. You're starting from the point that Toronto doesn't need 98 libraries and working back from there.

Edited by Black Dog, 22 March 2012 - 05:51 PM.

[cybercoma]

There are both Master's and Doctorate level degrees in Library, Archival and Information Studies at some of the best universities in the country. I'm thinking 10 years of post-secondary education is on par with being a doctor or a lawyer.

[TheNewTeddy]

I'd be curious to find out how many Libraries Toronto can put to good use. I care not weather it's 50, 98, or 198, but we should at least seriously try to answer the question.