Editor's note: This is the fourth in a multi-part series on employment conditions for students at the College.
As far as campus jobs go, working at Baker-Berry Library is the employment equivalent of an all-expenses-paid vacation: cushy and much sought-after.
Ryan Abraham '04 chose to work at the library because it affords him ample study time and good pay.
"Who wouldn't want to get paid 20 bucks to sit for three hours and study? That's how I perceive my job," said Abraham, who works about eight hours a week at the library's information and circulation desks.
Michaella Frederick '04 considers her job at Baker-Berry a hands-down improvement from working into the early morning at Dartmouth Dining Services' now-defunct Midnite Express.
"I remember working the late shift at Midnite Express my freshman fall and getting off work at 3 a.m. and having to wake up for my 8:45 a.m. class, Frederick said.
Frederick, who has held jobs on campus for four years, called not having to work a luxury.
She said working has crowded out time that might have otherwise gone to studying.
Balancing extracurricular activities on top of work and academics left her little down time, she said.
Student workers at the library escape many of the stereotypes of other campus jobs, such as those associated with positions in DDS. Abraham said that DDS student-workers might face some degree of pity or condescension from other students because their jobs are "not fun and have long hours."
"Maybe people are like 'wow, this person needs to take a crappy job because he needs to work through college,'" Abraham said. "I feel sorry for them at some point, because I would hate to be working there all day, or making sandwiches for six hours."
The library, in contrast, has a reputation among student workers for being a quiet place to get paid for studying.
"Most students ask me how they might go about getting a job like mine at the library -- it is a low-stress job that pays," Frederick said.
But Frederick noted what she observed to be a callous indifference on the part of students who do not need to work to pay their tuition bills.
"There is a lack of appreciation coming from students who are not working," she said. "Not all students have their parents pay. There are some students who actually work their way through college."
Magdalena Panz '05, a student from Poland who works at the library's circulation and information desks, holds a part time job on campus because of financial disparities between her home country and the United States. A poor exchange rate makes her afraid of taking out student loans, she said, in case she returns to Poland and has to pay back loans with a weak Polish currency.
Other students called their library jobs less of a necessity and more a way to earn extra cash or embellish their resumes.
"I work to cover additional expenses," Gillian Morshedi '04 said.
Abraham chose a library job over working at Kresge Fitness Center because he felt that the library a better balance between opportunity for social chatting and getting one's school work done.
"I don't think there's any negative perception of student workers," Abraham said. "I think if anything students shake their head to think that the College pays someone to sit and study."
"You learn a lot about the College this way. I utilize the services of the College a lot better now," Frederick added.
