Had a long conversation tonight with retired RPL Deputy Director, Julie McKenna when she happened to be attending a program at the branch I was working at.
I told her how, though we didn’t always agree on everything (to put it mildly!), one of the things I always appreciated about her was her deep knowledge of public libraries. (we had very similar views on one trending topic in particular.)
Another of the many things we reminisced about was how she had possibly one of the first iPads in Saskatchewan as she bought it when she was at a conference in Chicago before iPads were available for sale in Canada.
She was very brave to let Pace have a look at it at one of the “Books to Beers” gatherings I used to organize monthly for Regina and area librarians!
My aunt is here visiting from Kelowna for a month as she always does in the spring and my sister was down from Melfort working out of her Regina office for a few days so we decided to have an early birthday supper for Pace who turns 17 this year!
We loved that a traveling fair used to set-up in the parking lot of a mall near our house every June since it was cheaper, less busy and more convenient than Regina’s main exhibition and fair in August not to mention a great way to celebrate the end of the school year.
It’s an absolute sickness of our society that so many owners and managers make their employees desperate by giving casual or part-time hours (but expecting total availability), no or limited benefits, and giving no consideration to factors beyond the workplace – childcare concerns, vehicle availability, even the impact of sudden unexpected expenses – in how it affects the worker and therefore the workplace.
The worst part is that it takes very little – and often not even financial considerations – to make those same desperate people into happy loyal employees.
