Pros
PCLS is creative, and fast paced. There is a lot of opportunity for professional development and pet projects. They are also totally community driven...sometimes to a fault, but not a bad fault. I really like the new upper management, but I hear I'm a minority, so bear that in mind. If you are someone that is pretty independent and driven without babysitting you'll do well here. But if you need a more hands on management team go elsewhere. This is really different from a few years ago, so if you're coming back to PCLS know A LOT has changed. Especially in administration. I think for the better, but if you're not a neo-brarian things might be a little hard for you. That's not to say they are agest, not at all, they just want people that are comfortable with constant change. Also you must be a people person to work in most of the branches. If you're a more reserved person you >might< work at the smaller branches, but even those communities are getting more foot traffic. Shy, well, go work in an archive, not with the public. Passive personalities seem to get hired frequently, but they don't stay long, and a lot of those types don't even make their probation. They are really trying to get all the staff and system into this century with technology. They had a huge blow up in IT a few years ago which has worked out in their favor. You'll have pretty good tech support and people there to help you learn. BUT you MUST have a willingness to learn. I know management is being pretty strict about not hiring people that don't have basic tech skills. The Union is pretty good. I would peg them as mild from the unions I've been involved with over the years. A lot of the staff blames the union for bad staff. From what I've seen this is the case only with the lowest level, otherwise they don't have a whole lot of influence. I was training to be a union steward but decided not to because it wasn't a huge role and more just petting egos. Also being union active doesn't have a lot of political gain. So it's pretty balanced. Management overall is pretty pro-union, even if they are low keyed annoyed by it's hangups.
Cons
They have had some issues with staff happiness over the years. A lot of this is driven by branches where old timers clash with new style management. There's a lot of paras that over step their boundaries (irritatingly so) and a lot of newer librarians with really passive personality types (also very irritating). If you're a strong personality you won't get hired at a branch where old timers rule. This is changing as a lot of the old timers retire or are...suggested to retire, and the more passive types don't to well in the long term, as I said above. Internal politics RULE. I never minded it because I knew what I was getting into and just avoided it. However, know a lot of staffing and project decisions aren't made based on skill and rather who is friends with who. I spent a lot of time being passed over because I'd unknowingly been mentored in Grad school by someone everyone hated and felt the need to hang with them. I get along with most everyone so I never noticed. Finally someone took me aside and explained that everyone assumed I was the same type of person (IE difficult) as the individual I was sitting with. After I distanced myself from this person visually in a staff meeting miraculously I was hired for a MUCH better position after years of applying. So be very careful which group you make friends with. It's a little caty but it's just a fact of working with PCLS. Overall there is a lot of branch diversity, which I wasn't a super fan of because I think limits quality. Management has been trying to codify and standardized service but they have gotten A LOT of push back. I understand both sides because I've been both branch and admin. Branch wants to stay true to their individual community (which range drastically) and admin wants service and staff experience to be more consistent across the system. Honestly, I think admin will win this fight because the Pierce Co. demographic is changing rapidly, and the assumptions the branches have about their population is changing faster than they can keep up with.