Working 9-5 Archives - Awful Library Books

Find a Job

May 3, 2023 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 7 comments

How to Find A Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other Social Networks
Schepp and Schepp
2010

Career books are always going to be my trigger in collection management. Social media leads for jobs isn’t outdated, per se, but this book is now over 10 years old and that already makes the information questionable. The platforms themselves have been changed several times since this was published.

“The pandemic is now becoming a mile marker for collection development. There will be items throughout the range of topics that will render many items obsolete. The large shifts in how the world works has dramatically changed the entire employment landscape from both the employer and employee perspective. “The pandemic is now becoming a mile marker for collection development. There will be items throughout the range of topics that will render many items obsolete. The large shifts in how the world works has dramatically changed the entire employment landscape from both the employer and employee perspective.

Lady Problems at the Office

July 14, 2022 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 19 comments

Sexual Harassment on the Job
How to avoid the working woman’s nightmare
Backhouse and Cohen
1980 (originally published in Canada in 1978)

This was still in active circulation as of this writing.

When this was published, there wasn’t much talk on sexual harassment. It was mostly treated as a joke. I remember several dudes back in the 1980s constantly saying “we need more sexual harassment around here”. (Hilarious) There weren’t a lot of protections or policies in place. It’s still a decade before Anita Hill’s testimony.

The advice is lukewarm. Since there is no mechanism to report or enforce policies, anyone that complains is probably fired or harassed until they quit. This book does talk about the range of behaviors, but without the legal definitions, laws or policies, women didn’t have a lot of options. The general advice amounts to saying you have a boyfriend/husband, avoid being alone, and ignoring the overtures.

Workbook for Womans Guide to Business cover

Women Do Business

June 28, 2022 Holly Working 9-5 23 comments

Workbook for a Woman’s Guide to Business and Social Success: A Personal Analysis Record
1983

Submitter: We found this workbook still sitting on the shelf, long after the actual textbook was weeded, 15 years ago! The work book is filled with the classic tropes of the era. Ladies need to be thin, pretty and submissive to make it in the working world. An ‘interesting’ glimpse into the past.

Holly: This. Is. Awful. Sections like “My Cosmetics and How I Will Apply Them,” “My Hair Care and Coiffure Arrangement Analysis,” and “Developing and Attractive Voice” make me want to vomit.

Babysitting Basics

January 17, 2022 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 12 comments

Babysitting
Dayee
1990

I’m going to have to award this book “most boring cover art.” Seriously, this book design looks like they had some bad wallpaper laying around and someone said, “Hey, put that on a book, the teens will love it.”

Cover “art” not withstanding, the content isn’t too bad. The book is written in scenarios, followed by a brief discussion. There is also a business-like theme so kids think about this professionally, including interviewing. The general advice is okay, but the technology available these days (cell phones, nanny cams, etc.) definitely needs to be discussed for 21st century babysitters.

Millionaire Real Estate Stripper Gospel

January 7, 2022 Holly Working 9-5 15 comments

The Art of Becoming a Multimillionaire Real Estate Investor
Cherwenka
2018

Submitter: This book came from my public library. (In fact, it was purchased as a memorial book.) I came across this gem in my business section. I think the back cover speaks for itself: body builder to stripper to real estate agent who then marries his “African American Wife.” There’s a lot going on here. I’m also confused as to whether this is a book about real estate investing, a biography, or a gospel. Take your pick! In fact here’s more.

Holly: Is Magic Mike doing a bicep pose, or punching her in the breast? The link submitter shared is a 15-page short version of his story, in which he refers to himself (presumably in his stripper days) as a “lost sinner” – but he doesn’t seem too ashamed, given his choice of photo for the back cover of the book! I mean, real estate looks like a great career choice I guess…

Be a Working Woman!

November 9, 2021 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 10 comments

Working Woman
Barbara and Jim Dale
1985

For a hot minute, I thought this Jim Dale was the actor who read the Harry Potter series on audio books. I was wrong. This Jim Dale partnered with his then wife Barbara Dale and made a few of these humor/cartoon books about working, marriage, and parenting, etc. They also started a cartoon strip in the 1990s that tried to capitalize on the parenting, marriage, family thing. It didn’t really go anywhere and was probably a bit too edgy for the newspaper. The Dales were also involved with creating greeting cards. The Dales divorced and Barbara bought Jim out of the greeting card business. These cartoons are dated, but they are also on point and probably a bit edgy for the time.

Best Way in the World for a Woman to make money

Women’s Work

August 3, 2020 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 21 comments

The Best Way in the World for a Woman to Make Money
King
1979

This is one of those relics from the 1970s giving women some career advice. This time it is for a sales career. The book’s general premise is that a sales career can give women a serious leg up financially, and that women do better than their male counterparts. He asserts that women are more talented and intelligent that then men competing for the same jobs. Basically, the author believes that women are an untapped and overlooked resource. Women are supposedly more sociable, nurturing, and better suited to a people oriented career.

There is advice about presenting a more masculine resume. Supposedly, if you have a hobby like woodworking, it shows that you can comfortably deal with a man’s world. Typical of career books for women, there is advice about office decorum, dress, business lunch, etc.

Retro Nursing

January 8, 2020 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 16 comments

What It’s Like to Be a Nurse
Shay
1972

This book looks familiar. I think we featured it, but I can’t find it in our archives. It is a career book that is way past its prime. The narrative follows three nursing students through their program to graduation.

As a youth career book, this isn’t going to help anyone learn about modern nursing. Uniforms and caps turned into scrubs. I didn’t see a single pair of gloves on any of the staff. Technology and other changes make this book interesting, but obsolete. Keep it in archive, not in a current collection.