|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Dec 12th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
|
United States
|
USA
|
passionate coworkers, frustrating leadership
|
|
Dedicated, fun colleagues; meaningful work; lots of creativity and innovative thinking among staff; strong appetite for internal collaboration
|
lack of transparent/clear communication from leadership; lack of resources; overall burnout leads to poor morale
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.0
|
3.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
9.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Dec 9th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
Social Media Intern
|
New York, NY
|
|
Good place to work
|
|
friendly environment nice stepping stone
|
not many hours available to work
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.0
|
5.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
PART_TIME
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Aug 14th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
|
United States
|
USA
|
Follow the company line and you'll be fine
|
|
staff is passionate about the mission
alot of smart people
|
Too many staff know nothing beyond ALA
Diversity of thought is not encouraged - you have to have the same beliefs
Council is full of socialists
Financially troubled
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
0.0
|
3.0
|
3.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
5.0
|
2.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Aug 12th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
Manager
|
Chicago, IL
|
|
Good work environment but needs to reorganize
|
|
Good people to work with and great members, strong benefits, support for flexible schedules, average on salaries
|
Antiquated organizational structure, silos, very process heavy. Ongoing financial issues.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
0.0
|
NEUTRAL
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
3.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
Simplify the structure, invest in IT, more realistic budgeting
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Aug 8th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
Communications
|
United States
|
USA
|
great staff, difficult times
|
|
Great benefits, people really care
|
no room for advancement, low pay
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Aug 1st, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
Program Assistant
|
Chicago, IL
|
|
Fun place to work
|
|
Fun colleagues at this work place.
|
Would like higher pay for work completed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.0
|
3.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Jan 3rd, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
Communications Manager
|
Chicago, IL
|
|
Unlimited tolerance for uncertainty required
|
|
In comparison with the members of some other professional associations I've worked for, ALA's members (i.e., librarians) are generally cordial, respectful toward staff, and highly dedicated to their field. Much like the members, ALA staff are highly committed to their work as well. The services that libraries, particularly public libraries, provide are largely misunderstood and underappreciated in American society, which is to say that ALA's work is quite important.
|
Many critical components which are critical to employees' peace of mind are unsettled, and staff who have not yet departed are either working feverishly to find new jobs or have seemingly unlimited tolerance for uncertainty.
Uncertainty #1: Compensation -- ALA has instituted an organization-wide freeze on salary increases for several years. Technically they have given tiny 1-2% "cost of living increases" which don't come close to meeting the actual rise in the cost of living in the Greater Chicago area. But regardless, employees have to accept that their annual salaries, in terms of buying power, are decreasing year over year, which is to say you'll earn less with every passing year.
Uncertainty #2: Fiscal Unsustainability. After many decades of ignoring the problem, ALA leadership has finally decided to attempt to address the fact that its fiscal model is entirely unsustainable (thus the pay freeze). However, the organization is saddled by arcane governance structures that make systemic change essentially impossible and financial insolvency is a real possibility.
Uncertainty #3: Organizational Structure. ALA is in the midst of a complete reorganization of its staff and volunteer structure, which means employees must worry about whether their job will continue to exist, or exist in its current form, when the reorganization is finally implemented. For better or worse, those same arcane governance structures have prevented much actual change from taking place although the reorganization process was initiated about 2 years ago.
Uncertainty #4: Leadership. ALA does not currently have an executive director. Mary Ghikas is an interim ED put in place while the executive board and council stumbled through a multi-year attempt to recruit a replacement for Keith Michael Fiels, who left in 2017. Apparently a new ED has been selected and is supposed to start at the end of January 2020, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen.
Uncertainty #5: Location. Due to its fiscal unsustainability, ALA was also forced to sell its building at 40-50 East Huron Street. Staff are supposed to be moving to a leased office in the Loop in April 2020, but that date has already been delayed numerous times.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
4.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
1.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
Revoke the organization-wide freeze on salary increases in order to retain the core group of die-hard employees who have remained with ALA despite years of being overworked, undercompensated and kept in the dark about critical issues that affect their jobs.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Dec 12th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
|
United States
|
USA
|
Meaningful hard work ... for little pay
|
|
You will meet some passionate, brilliant people working very hard to create programming, resources, and professional development for a membership made up of similarly passionate, brilliant people. If you care about library and information science, librarians, advocacy, and all things books, you can find a home at the ALA. If you are in a department that allows you to travel you'll get to enjoy conferences. The benefits package is nice. You can take a lot of time off (usually 3-4 weeks accrued vacation throughout the fiscal year, plus holidays), and the work week is 35 hours. Flexible work hours are available as well. If you are exempt you can work from home 1-2 days per week. The atmosphere is openly on the progressive side. Lots of excellently nerdy people work there. If you prefer a quieter work environment, it is the place for you.
|
If you start at a manager level or higher position it might not be bad compensation-wise, however, it can be very stressful. For the little guys, it's stressful and low paying. It's not uncommon for some employees (esp. young and single-income) to have to work a part-time job in order to make ends meet. The workload can be very heavy. Even if the work is "simple", the volume is staggering especially around conference times. Moving up inside ALA requires department hopping if you'd like to see a higher salary, otherwise, you might need to wait near a decade to see a meaningful promotion. Then again, if a few people leave at the same time, you might be able to get a promotion sooner. It's about timing and luck in some cases. Sometimes work can get gummed up in bureaucracy and poor communication. Siloing is an issue as well, however, more and more departments are working to improve this problem.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
0.0
|
NEUTRAL
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
4.0
|
3.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
3.0
|
2.0
|
4.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
20.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
Dec 10th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
|
Chicago, IL
|
|
Conference Manager
|
|
Worked there '98, but that was not an option. I can only imagine that as an organization, its gotten better. Very worthwhile place to work.
|
Left there because the new boss was evil.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
0.0
|
NEUTRAL
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
0.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
3.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
Vet former reports before hiring management.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|
|
private:americanlibraryassociation
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=5531
|
May 30th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
American Library Assoc.
|
|
Chicago, IL
|
|
Mostly pleasant place to work
|
|
work-life balance, friendly coworkers, generous vacation time
|
lower pay, sometimes bureaucratic and static
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
|
|
0.0
|
NO_OPINION
|
1.0
|
3.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
3.0
|
2.0
|
0.0
|
|
5531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
Jan 6th, 2021 05:41PM
|
American Library Association
|
|
|