CUPE 932: The Hamilton Public Library
The Hamilton Public Library (HPL) serves a population of just over 500,000 in Hamilton and the smaller urban and rural communities of what was once The Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth.
HPL is staffed by approximately 520 employees of that a little over 200 are Pages and Shelf readers who are non-unionized and paid little more than minimum wage.
Just over 240 staff members are union members, about half are represented by part-time, or temporary workers. This component is steadily increasing as full-time positions are replaced with part-time workers.
HPL has eliminated many public service full-time technician and mid-level clerk positions and continues replacing them with part-time Information Clerk positions which are in a lower paid band.
The unionized staff is represented by CUPE Local 932 comprised of a president, chief steward, three vice-presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer.
Hamilton has enjoyed the services of a public library since the 1830s. The first publicly funded and operated library building was officially opened in February 1890. In 1913 a new building, funded by Andrew Carnegie, was built to replace the former library. As the library system expanded with the establishment of branches throughout the city this new building became the Central Branch.
In 1980 Central branch was once again replaced this time with a six storey building that, in addition to the large reference collection, can accommodate the departments of acquisitions, cataloguing, shipping and receiving, and the administration offices.
In 2001, Hamilton was forced to amalgamate with Dundas and the former towns and rural communities of Wentworth County to become the new City of Hamilton.
Dundas’ own library was established 1822, while the communities of Wentworth County had their own libraries dating from the late 1940's. This mandated union created a number of challenges for the new Hamilton Library because all three systems had their own distinct culture, practices and different levels of services which needed to be harmonized throughout the new City.
In addition, there was a considerable wage gap among the systems: Wentworth was a non-unionized organization while both Hamilton and Dundas were unionized. Tensions arose as Hamilton employees expressed dismay at what they felt was a heavy financial toll to harmonize the wages and services, while Wentworth staff felt bullied by a system that they felt took away their autonomy and distinct community representation.
Today the Hamilton Public Library is comprised of 24 branches, two bookmobiles serving 34 stops, a virtual online branch, visiting library services, local history and archives department, a LINC program, as well as Job Discovery Centres in some of the branches.
Currently 11 branches are equipped with self checkout and of those five have self check-in as well. The conversion to self service is still in process as older branches are renovated.
Currently HPL is in the process of replacing the old Waterdown library with a fully automated branch to be completed in 2013. The digital technology department has grown exponentially, it is staffed with 17 employees and still increasing.
Where, in the past, branches kept their own permanent collections, HPL has moved to a shared collection concept which creates inequities in terms of ready access to borrowing materials. Some branches end up with many duplicates while others are left with none depending on where patrons return their materials. Collection maintenance has shifted from subject librarians to a few collection librarians who order for the whole system.
In the past HPL designated branches as community or neighbourhood branches (dependent on size) this concept has now been abandoned as branches are renovated to comply with a system-wide consistent look.
Once there was an impressive non-fiction book and materials collection at the Central branch, during the past number of years massive numbers of books, periodicals, and reference materials have been weeded out and replaced with over 30 databases, e-reference, ebooks , DVDs, Playaways and computers. The end result is that the main branch, Central, has been reduced from five floors of material to three, - ironic after an extensive and costly renovation.
Employees with twenty or more years of service at HPL have worked in, and continue to cope in an environment with tremendous and ever increasing changes. The negative impact of the increasing use of technology is the loss of full-time well paying jobs.
There is less meaningful personal engagement with patrons as more self check-out and check-in stations are put in place and floor space for circulating collections are devoted to computers and circulating DVDs.
Many of the new employees are hired as call-in to fill open shifts or temporary positions as they become available. Because of the highly precarious nature of employment at HPL and the decreasing full-time permanent positions, there is a high turn-over rate in all locations, this adds to the pressure put upon current staff.
Absenteeism is increasing in spite of the introduction of a punitive attendance management policy. Promotion from within has become more challenging as new qualifications that internal applicants don’t meet are introduced and more hires of applicants from outside the organization, who do have the pertinent qualifications, are hired. HPL appears to be an organization which is clearly in step with the current corporate trend of eliminating well-paid, mid-level, full-time employment opportunities and all the benefits those entail.
The Hamilton Public Library of today is a very different place from even ten years ago and will continue to change at a rapid rate. The challenge for its employees will be adapting quickly to new technologies, front-line staff shortages, high demand from both the employer and the public and yet finding positive and meaningful ways to engage and connect with their public.