Vantaggi
Culture is dependent on which branch you're hired for. Some neighborhoods are supportive of their branch. There is disproportionate funding across the branches, so you may have a more positive experience with ones that are well funded.
Svantaggi
Many branches have a toxic work environment where employees are openly hostile to other staff. Employees have been stalked, groped, and sexually harassed by visitors. Bans are not issued to the offending patrons and security guards have been cut from the budget. Some managers make racist, ableist, anti-LGBTQ+, and other discriminatory comments about other staff, their direct employees, and children who visit the library. The library has no HR department (an "interim" has been in the HR manager role for over a year) so there is no recourse. Librarians with Masters degrees are eligible for subsidized housing due to low pay. System is the worst paying library system in the area, with some of the latest hours in the area. The City of Alexandria has said for multiple years that they'll direct more funding to employees but it never materializes. Top performers can expect to receive pay raises of $100-$200 extra to your salary per year, or around $0.40 to your rate if you're hourly. There is high turnover because so many people leave for better paying jobs. This has led to staffing issues. Some people cannot take annual or sick leave because due to regulations about how many staff need to be in the building at a time. There is no oversight or system wide policies for management to follow.