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Am I crazy?

jennybeamsjennybeams member
in 1st Trimester
DH just got a call from our old church.  They have an uneducated (non MLS, Master's in Library Science Degree) "person" working in the elementary school who doesn't even know how to run a library.  The priest just called and asked my DH if he would come and teach her how to organize and catalog books.  Now, DH has been out of work for the past three years (2 while obtaining his MLS, and one, now looking for a library job.)  I told him if they have questions they can call him, but he shouldn't be going down there and working for free to train someone to do a job he spend $50k in student loans learning how to do.  Is it just me, or is this unreasonable?
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Re: Am I crazy?

  • Mandalyn8Mandalyn8
    um, no, you're not being unreasonable. They should hire the guy who actually knows what he's doing, not expect him to do someone else's job for free!
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  • GBucksHollysMOMGBucksHollysMOM member
    No your perfectly sane!
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  • DiscusCoachDiscusCoach

    Tough call. You give your services away for free and it lowers the value of what you have. On the other hand, it is your church and doing good deeds like helping someone with the basics has got to be a plus.

    If is it just a couple of hours I would say do it!

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  • jennybeamsjennybeams member
    Just to clarify also, we tally our hours and donations to our church every year and I won't disclose the $, but not including Sunday Mass we put in over 1000 hours of our time. 
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  • mrsmyers8mrsmyers8 member
    imageDiscusCoach:

    Tough call. You give your services away for free and it lowers the value of what you have. On the other hand, it is your church and doing good deeds like helping someone with the basics has got to be a plus.

    If is it just a couple of hours I would say do it!

    Ditto, if it wasn't a church i would be floored.  Do kind things to others cause kind things will happen to you..

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  • FLVintageBrideFLVintageBride
    I don't think I'd be terribly offended by it.  If he doesn't want to do it, he shouldn't.  If he does, I'd consider it a "donation" to the church.  In an ideal world, they should have an MLS running their library, but I could see how in this economy a church run elementary school may have to cut back on its budget.  As a parent, I would rather that my daughter's school cut back by hiring and "librarian" without an MLS (and I'm just assuming paying them less), than having to lay-off qualified teachers, combine classes, cut back on necessary educational equipment, etc.  I know that probably sounds harsh, like your H's skills aren't valued and that's not what I mean at all.  I just think these days schools are being forced to make very tough choices on where to allocated their limited resources.
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  • nadiarlnadiarl member

    No, you are not crazy. He could find a few websites with info on the subject and share them with this lady. Beyond that, it is an imposition.

    Esp if you are already spending 25 full time weeks of man hours at the church. That is a LOT!

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  • KellyOct15KellyOct15
    Makes sense to me!! I'd say you're right on the money.
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  • jennybeamsjennybeams member

    We just got off the phone and that's what he said he was going to do, give her a few websites to reference.  When the "librarian" called him, she actually expected him to come down and catalog all the books for her and then show her how to upkeep it.  We don't do 25 every week, some weeks we do 40 and others less..no lie, we're very active parishioners.

     Thanks for the feedback!  I'm glad that crisis is averted for now.

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  • FLVintageBrideFLVintageBride
    imagejennybeams:

    We just got off the phone and that's what he said he was going to do, give her a few websites to reference.  When the "librarian" called him, she actually expected him to come down and catalog all the books for her and then show her how to upkeep it.  We don't do 25 every week, some weeks we do 40 and others less..no lie, we're very active parishioners.

     Thanks for the feedback!  I'm glad that crisis is averted for now.

    Wow, that's a pretty unrealistic expectation on their part!

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  • mwallisermwalliser member

    imageMandalyn8:
    um, no, you're not being unreasonable. They should hire the guy who actually knows what he's doing, not expect him to do someone else's job for free!

    This exactly!!!  He should tell them that he's willing to help if they are willing to pay him for the work he does... or better yet, hire him instead.

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  • leigh203leigh203

    imageFLVintageBride:
    I don't think I'd be terribly offended by it.  If he doesn't want to do it, he shouldn't.  If he does, I'd consider it a "donation" to the church.  In an ideal world, they should have an MLS running their library, but I could see how in this economy a church run elementary school may have to cut back on its budget.  As a parent, I would rather that my daughter's school cut back by hiring and "librarian" without an MLS (and I'm just assuming paying them less), than having to lay-off qualified teachers, combine classes, cut back on necessary educational equipment, etc.  I know that probably sounds harsh, like your H's skills aren't valued and that's not what I mean at all.  I just think these days schools are being forced to make very tough choices on where to allocated their limited resources.

    I agree with this completely. I don't think there's anything to be offended by here. The truth is that they probably cannot afford your husband's services. Also, you told them to give him a call if they had questions. If he doesn't have the time or would rather not do it then he shouldn't, but I don't see any reason to take offense. My husband is in a very similar situation. He is currently out of work and has a master's in strategic planning. A family member who runs a non-profit reached out to him for help and he essentially provides consulting services for free. My husband likes the situation...it gives him a project to focus on and he gets to use his education toward something relavant to his degree while he looks for work. He didn't have to agree to help-he never actually offered his services-but he wasn't offended at being asked. Your husband might consider looking at it this way. Or he can just say no.

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  • leigh203leigh203

    Sorry to reply twice...as if my initial reply wasn't long-winded enough. But working on this project could be a great way for your husband to get a reference from the church for potential employers. Something else to think about.

    Wink

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