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Not Just a Job but a
Career
The Ferguson Library offers a challenging and
rewarding work environment for both professional
and support staff members. You’ll work with
interesting and creative colleagues and serve a
diverse and vibrant community.
A career at Ferguson can begin as early as age
14. Many high school students enjoy meaningful,
well-paid employment as
pages, those part-time
staff members who re-shelve materials returned
by our patrons and provide technical assistance
to users of our high-tech, public access
equipment. Later, many staff members work at the
Library as part-time or substitute employees
while they attend college in the Connecticut –
New York metropolitan area. College graduates
find interesting careers at the Library as
library assistants. They bring a wide range of
skills, qualifications and experience to our
Library, such as expertise in cinema,
storytelling, foreign languages, technology and
the like.
Our professional librarians include many staff
members who began their careers as library
assistants, clerks and even pages. They have
changed as the profession has changed, such that
now in addition to providing traditional
reference information and maintaining their
collections, librarians are required to keep
abreast of the latest information technologies.
They also work with our diverse community in
promoting literacy, encouraging a love of books
and devising programs to attract more of the
public into the Library. And, of course, many of
our professional librarians are encouraged to
advance to management positions.
Clearly, a position at the Ferguson Library is
not just a job, but a career.
The Ferguson Library
System
Efforts to establish a public library in
Stamford began as early as 1837, but it was not
until 1882 that a library was incorporated and
opened to the public. Books and periodicals were
free for all to read in the building, but an
annual subscription fee of $2 was required to
take books from the library. Private financing
could not keep up with the demand for books and
service, so in 1909, the city assumed financial
responsibility for the operation of the library.
By September of 1911, a new library building was
opened at the corner of Broad and Bedford
Streets, the site of the current Main Library
building. The new building had a capacity of
over 20,000 volumes and separate reference and
children’s rooms.
In 1930, the first addition to the main building
was constructed. The reference room and stacks
were doubled in size. Bookmobile service was
inaugurated in 1940. That same year, library
trustees bought the lot just to the north of the
main building, which was maintained as a park
until 1981, when it became the site of the
second addition.
In 1953, the first permanent branch was
established in the Springdale section of
Stamford, made possible by the gift of a
residence on Hope Street. The Turn of River
Branch was opened in June, 1967 on High Ridge
Road. Thirty-two years later, the branch was
moved to a much larger, modern building on a
nearby site on Vine Road. Meanwhile, in 1968,
the South End Branch was opened in a community
center on Woodland Avenue.
So now, the Ferguson Library system consists of
a Main Library facility, three branches and a
bookmobile. A different weekly schedule exists
in the various facilities. The Main Library is
open 69 hours a week throughout the year. The
system serves almost a million visitors
annually.
Although we are Stamford’s public library, the
Ferguson Library is not a municipal library. We
are a private, not-for-profit corporation. We
receive almost 90 percent of our annual funding
from the city. The remainder of our annual
revenues are derived principally from operations
which provide additional value to members of the
public who visit our facilities – a Starbucks
coffee shop in the Main Library, used books
stores operated by the Friends of the Ferguson
Library in the Main Library and one of the
branches, and passport acceptance operations
authorized by the U.S. Government, which are
located at two of our facilities. The Ferguson
Library is a system designed to fit the needs of
the expanding and diverse Stamford community.
Our Mission and Our
Values
The Ferguson Library, Stamford’s Public Library,
provides free and equal access to print,
audiovisual and evolving electronic resources,
and supports lifelong learning through reading
and other forms of communication, by addressing
the informational, educational, cultural, and
literacy needs of the Stamford community.
-
Accelerate Promotion of Reading: Beyond
providing resources, support basic literacy
services and life-long learning habits.
- Access Hours
for all ages: Provide convenient hours for
the Stamford community; provide 24/7 access via
the “virtual branch.”
-
Accountability: Responsible for our actions.
-
Creativity/Innovation: Introduce and/or
adopt new technology, services, and work styles.
- Diversity:
Embrace the numerous cultures, races, and ideas
inherent in the community.
- Equity:
Freedom from bias or favoritism.
- Intellectual
Freedom: Encourage the free exchange of
information and ideas in a democratic society.
-
Safety/Security: Create a safe and
comfortable haven that is conducive to reading,
studying, and browsing. Provide quality
customer-driven services.
- Technology
Leadership: Use the latest technological
advances to help provide better services.
Professional Growth and
Development
The Ferguson Library administers numerous
programs designed to encourage and assist staff
members in the pursuit of personal and
professional growth.
-
Scholarship Fund – This program provides
scholarships to staff members who are
enrolled in degree programs in library or
information sciences or other degree
programs that directly contribute to their
duties as a member of the Library’s staff.
This program is funded by the Friends of the
Ferguson Library. Full and part-time staff
members are eligible to apply for these
scholarships.
- Staff
Development Fund – This program, also funded
by the Friends and available to both full and
part-time staff members, is designed to provide
financial assistance for participation in
non-degree activities, such as workshops,
conferences and institutes which bear a
reasonably close relationship to the overall
goals, values or services of a public library.
- Professional
Conferences and Workshops – The Library
grants time-off with pay and expense
reimbursement to staff members who attend
approved professional conferences, workshops,
meetings and the like. Staff members are
encouraged to participate in state and national
organizations related to the library profession.
- In-house
Activities – The Library also provides a
continuous program of in-house activities, such
as workshops, lectures and self-directed
training, during work time. Some recent examples
of these programs included training in
conversational Spanish suited to serving
Spanish-speaking patrons and a Learning 2.0
project to encourage staff to experiment with
and learn about the new and emerging
technologies that are reshaping the context of
information gathering on the Internet.
Other Employee Benefits
The Ferguson Library provides its staff members
with a comprehensive and generous package of
employee benefits to supplement their salaries
and wages:
Group Insurance
Programs
Health: Full-time staff members are
eligible for group medical, dental and vision
insurance, covering the employee and family
members. The staff member pays 7 ½ percent of
the monthly premium cost of such coverage.
Life and AD&D: Full-time staff members
are also covered by a $10,000 group term
insurance policy, including an equal amount of
accidental death and dismemberment coverage,
paid for by the Library.
Retiree Life: Full-time staff members who
retire from the Library under the Library
pension plan are covered by a $2,000 life
insurance policy, also paid for by the Library.
Leaves of Absence
Vacations: Newly hired full-time staff
members are eligible for 2 weeks of paid
vacation per year. Over time, their entitlement
increases to 4 weeks per year. Unused vacation
time may be accumulated up to a maximum of 7
weeks of vacation and will be paid to the staff
member upon termination of employment.
Sick time: All full-time staff members
accrue 15 days of paid sick leave per year.
Unused sick time may be accumulated up to a
maximum of 35 weeks of paid sick time.
Personal time: A full-time staff member
is eligible to use up to three days of his or
her sick time accrual as paid personal time-off.
Bereavement: Following a death in the
immediate family, a full-time staff member is
eligible to take up to six calendar days off and
will receive full pay for each day he or she was
regularly scheduled to work during such 6-day
period. A single day off with pay is also
granted for purposes of attending the funeral in
the event of death of other close relatives.
Jury Duty: Full time staff members are
granted leave of absence with pay to fulfill
their jury duty obligations. Part-time staff
members are entitled to paid leave in accordance
with state law.
Holidays – Full-time staff members
receive 13 paid holidays per year. The Library
is closed on 8 of those holidays. When a staff
member works on a designated holiday on which
the Library is open, the employee is paid at
time and one-half his/her regular hourly rate of
pay.
Retirement – The Library has created and
administers a defined benefit pension plan for
eligible staff members. Normal retirement is at
age 60, at which time the retiring staff member
is eligible for a monthly benefit based on his
or her years of service and final average
compensation. All staff members are also
eligible to purchase a supplemental retirement
annuity through TIAA-CREF in a tax-sheltered
program sponsored by the Library.
Workers Compensation – The Library
purchases workers compensation insurance to
cover salary continuation and the medical
expenses of staff members who are disabled by
work-related injuries or illnesses. In the case
of full-time staff members, the Library
supplements the disabled staff member’s salary
continuation benefit payments so as to maintain
the staff member’s full pay for up to one year
of disability.
Flexible Spending Accounts – Staff
members may set aside a portion of their pre-tax
earnings each pay period to cover some health
and dependent care expenses not covered by
insurance. The staff member does not pay income
tax upon the earnings set aside under the FSA
program.
Deduct-a-Ride – The Library has also
adopted a program under which staff members may
pay for some or all of their monthly commutation
and parking expense with pre-tax dollars,
resulting in substantial additional tax savings
for some staff members.
Premium Pay – Full-time staff members
receive premium pay when working evenings and
Saturdays. On evenings, they work seven hours
and receive seven and one-half hours’ pay and on
Saturdays, they work six and one-half hours and
receive seven and one-half hours’ pay. In
addition, full time staff members who work more
than the regular weekly hours (37 ½ hours per
week) receive compensatory time-off with pay for
hours worked between 37 ½ and 40 hours for the
week and time and one-half their regular hourly
rate for time worked after 40 hours for the
week. All staff members who work on Sundays are
paid at double their regular hourly rates of
pay.
Direct Deposit – The Library offers staff
members the option of direct deposit of their
payroll checks.
Credit Union – All staff members are
eligible for membership in the Stamford Credit
Union. The Library facilitates using the credit
union by deducting designated sums from a staff
member’s pay and forwarding the amounts deducted
to his or her account in the credit union.
Purchase of Books and Other Circulating
Materials – All staff members are eligible
to purchase, for their own use and the use of
their family members, books and other
circulating materials purchased by the Library
at available discount rates.
Position Openings
As a result of budget constraints, the Library
is currently not hiring for any regular full or
part-time positions. Of course, from
time-to-time, staff members resign or retire
unexpectedly. When that occurs, and when the
Library decides to fill the position, we
generally advertise in professional list serves
or in the local press in Stamford and Greenwich,
as well as on our website.
Applying for a Position
All applications for employment at the Ferguson
Library must be submitted in writing to the
Human Resources Department. You may obtain and
fill-out an application by visiting the
receptionist on the 4th Floor of the Main
Library in downtown Stamford. You can also
complete the application
online
or you can download the form, fill it out and
mail it to Director of Human Resources & General
Counsel, The Ferguson Library, One Public
Library Plaza, Stamford, CT 06904.
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