Amazing cultural institution trying to evolve, mostly successfully
Pros
NYPL is an acclaimed cultural institution with an important legacy and extensive ties into the community. The world of libraries is changing and NYPL is trying to adapt to these changes. There are really exciting initiatives and leadership decisions being implemented in technology (from apps development to our digital collections to our website), customer service, education and, more generally, the profession of librarianship. That means there are opportunities to get involved in new projects or working groups and potentially drive the direction of the organization. This attracts a wide range of employees that are passionate about their work and about the mission of the Library. You get to work with and partner with awesome people on a day to day basis. You also get to work for an organization where you can actually believe in and see the impact of your work every day. The Library offers good benefits, great work-life balance (people in the office leave by 6 every day!), fun colleagues, interesting work, and positions at all levels from entry level student help to senior level management.
Cons
The changing strategic focus and changes in operating procedures sometimes results in too many projects or pilots being rolled out simultaneously and overwhelm the front line public service staff. There has also been a lot of turnover in senior management over the past few years (a big change from when we had the same senior leaders for decades), so the transition hasn’t always been smooth. The leadership team is working on being more open and transparent about their plans and where the Library is going, but there’s still some work to do. As a non-profit and historic institution, we also employees that stay here for a long time in one role and are not interested in growing with the company. Most people are wonderful and open to new challenges, but there are some holdouts waiting for a new regime to “return things to the way they were.” These staff often complain about their work situation and a lack of opportunity for growth and expect administration to create a promotional path for them (aka. automatically promote them step by step without consideration for their qualifications), but are unwilling to take ownership of their own career. This group is not the majority, however, and with time the organization is often able to help people find their place in the changing structure.
