Athens Regional Library System Reviews

Do yourself a favor and avoid working here. The library director during my tenure, Valerie Bell, was extremely unprofessional. If she did not like you - beware - she would stop at nothing to turn your coworkers against you and attempt to humiliate you in meetings. Bell's perennially agitated nature, which included raising her voice in attempts to intimidate me, seemed to set a precedent for bully culture from the top down. Whatever Bell says, goes, even if it fosters a hostile and toxic work environment. HR, under Bell's yoke, does what they can to help you, but ultimately Bell's attitude will continue to drive away valuable, highly educated workers. Employment here will result in you being overworked to an extreme, but if you don't stay after hours you will be judged by colleagues - it is a dog-eat-dog race to the bottom. The library itself is chronically understaffed and I was subject to abject hostility from many of my colleagues, all of which appears to be tolerated by management. Pay is low, the work is stressful, and the work environment is unhealthy. Avoid at all costs.

The salaries are the worst!