Jefferson County Public Library Reviews in Denver, CO Area

Pros

great benefits if you are a salaried employee (at least 20 hrs/week), holiday time+vacation time
Nice people to work with, very good management

Cons

Very busy weekends, less money from the government

Advice to Senior Management

keep up the good work

Pros

I guess I would say that they do seem to offer a fairly good benefits package. I don't really have any other pros to offer.

Cons

I think I have probably an unusual perspective on this organization because I was a Library Manager. So this review is best read by professional or management level librarians who are considering working for this organization, particularly those who may be considering relocating here to work for Jefferson County Public Library. I think for nonprofessional folks JCPL is an ok place to work, but as a Library Manager I could not work for this organization. Jefferson County is a widely dispersed, geographically huge county, with many different types of communities. Yet, the management philosophy here (actually, it is more like an ideology) is that JCPL is to be run as "one library". In other words, there is no decision that can be made by any library manager without consulting with the "Public Services Management Team", or PSMT. If this "Team" doesn't vote unanimously to approve your idea, you are not allowed to implement it in your library. Any program implemented in one library must be implemented in all. So, why have managers? This is truly one of the most bizarre libraries I have ever worked for in my 20 year career.

The other major, major bread and butter issue that they do not tell you when you are interviewing is that for all practical purposes they do not offer cost of living raises for the vast majority of staff. I think they were deceptive when I interviewed.

Advice to Senior Management

I am not sure what to say to the management, because all of them have been with this system for many years and clearly want no change.

Pros

good co-workers, ability to add variety to what my responsibilities are, ability to balance my personal outside interests with my professional job life, feel very good about what I do (I believe strongly in what public libraries offer to our society, and offering that with outstanding customer service is what JCPL is about)

Cons

there is not a tremendous amount of room to move up - because being a government agency (in a conservative county), new positions are not created very often. And since most of the people I know are happy in their positions, openings don't come up all that often.

Advice to Senior Management

keep being open with communications - satisfactory level of that now

Pros

I think if you want to work part time, it could be a good place to work because it is one of the few places that provide benefits to part timers.

Cons

There are absolutely no opportunities for advancement at all. And even if you are promoted to a management position, you really don't have any autonomy or authority as a manager to do anything unique or innovative in your library. The management tries to impose absolute conformity in all 10 locations, when these communities are actually pretty different and have different needs. Every decision or initiative has to be cleared through 3 levels of managers, and there are no guidelines as far as when you will get a decision. Basically, the senior management team wants only change that is initiated by those three managers.

Advice to Senior Management

There is no point to providing feedback or advice, since they don't accept any feedback anyway.

Pros

There are really no reasons to work for JCPL. If you are looking for a part time job where you can just go in, do your job, and leave, it's fine. If you're a professional librarian, it's a very frustrating place to work. The benefits package is good, and they offer that to part timers, which is unusual. However, your pay never really increases because JCPL doesn't have cost of living raises, only "merit" raises. Managers have a choice of 0, 2, or 5% raises, and many people don't get any kind of raise. The library managers think you are just lucky to have a job.

Cons

Where do I start? First off, there are no opportunities for advancement. Not many management positions come open to begin with, then when they do, they are always, invariably, advertised and hired from outside the system. (Usually out of state, because JCPL's reputation is so bad at this point, no one from inside Colorado who knows anything about public libraries will apply). Then, there is JCPL's policy as far as raises. There are no "cost of living" raises, only merit raises. JCPL doesn't tell you this until you are hired, by the way. Managers get an option of 0, 2, or 5%. Many people get no raises, but most people get 2%. Typically, health insurance (Kaiser or United Healthcare) goes up 3% a year, so you're ending up falling behind. The worst part of working at JCPL is the morale and atmosphere. Working at JCPL is like being back in high school. There are "in groups", and "out groups", and gossip about newcomers. There is an old clique of JCPL staff who have been there for over 10 years, and they hate new people and do everything possible to get them to leave. There is also an atmosphere of paranoia and secrecy that emanates from the Director that filters down to all staff. People are afraid to communicate with each other.

Advice to Senior Management

I'm not sure what feedback to provide, because they are so insulated from everyone they have created kind of an echo chamber for themselves.