(no subject)

[owlectomy]

Having the most frustrating experience arguing in Library Facebook Group about a job posting (part-time!) that requires you to submit a list of books you've read in the last year, to prove that you read widely.

1. The increasingly high burden of job applications. When I was first applying for librarian jobs, I basically just had to submit a cover letter and resume; now, I'm very often having to submit answers to essay questions. Preparing a list of all the books I've read in a year could take a significant amount of time. I think it's unreasonable to ask someone to put that much time into an application when there are a couple hundred other people applying for a job.

2. The EEOC says that you cannot discriminate in employment on the basis of age, disability, national origin, race, religion, or sex. Some states have laws against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. That's why HR people say you shouldn't even make small talk about someone's religious jewelry in a job interview -- because it raises the possibility that it might turn into an issue. But based on a list of books a person reads, it seems all too easy to draw up a profile of what kind of person they are and what protected categories might apply to them, and discriminate (even subconsciously) on that basis.

There have to be better ways to get at "Do you read a lot, do you read widely, how would you do in reader's advisory situations" than asking for my Diary Of Books Read Which Contains Many Personal Feelings.

Comments

[the_rck]

Forty or so years ago, when Border's used to be a single, local store, they hired people (or not) based on the results of a written test that asked them questions about things they'd recommend and where they'd look to find certain specific books and things like that. Computers make that last no longer as much an issue, but I don't see why they couldn't offer up some reader advisory scenarios and see what candidates come up with.

[owlectomy]

Yeah, in my experience that's pretty standard for librarian interviews - and that's the kind of thing that actually seems useful for figuring out whether a person can do reader's advisory!

[j00j]

That sounds much better! And asking for a list of books you personally have read over the past year seems like a major violation of librarian ethics-- what, our patrons get privacy, but we don't!?