Lives

Library staffs are just like staffs in any field. Some of them have lives and some of them don’t have lives. There are advantages and disadvantages in having staffs who have lives. People who have lives are generally more stable and are less apt to snap at you or become difficult than people who don’t have lives. People who have lives are more flexible in terms of procedures (if not hours) than people who don’t have lives. On the negative side, people who have lives hate to work evenings or Saturdays. They must have Christmas week, the day after Thanksgiving and several weeks off in the summer to be with their families.

People who don’t have lives are more likely to be willing to work multiple evenings, stay late, work extra weekends and around holidays. A life can be more than just a significant other and a family. A single person whose sister has a baby may suddenly have a life. Someone who must care for an ailing parent has a life. A well-rounded staff consists equally of people who have lives and people who don’t have lives.


Having a cat does not, in and of itself, give someone a life.