Pros
Coworkers at the branches are generally amazing, though you still have the occasional straggler who should have retired 15 years ago trying to keep everyone else miserable. There's some amazing branch managers/ABMs, too. I made some of the best lifelong friends at this job, and they were a large part of the reason I stayed as long as I did. God knows it wasn't because of the pay or the opportunities for advancement. I had a few good years of being able to do most of the programming I wanted, but not without roadblocks from HQ along the way. Customers were generally great to work with, and I made some wonderful lasting connections with people and families as well. It can vary from branch to branch, but my managers were always extremely understanding and accommodating of peoples scheduling needs and time off requests. For most of the day-to-day stuff, I had a lot of fun at my job.
Cons
The director is one of the most milquetoast, ineffectual people I have ever encountered in a leadership position. Upper administration is painfully out of touch. It was a joke among coworkers that MCPL is "the Wal-Mart of libraries," because it feels more and more like a generic, soulless corporation every year. HQ has too many sacred cows to be truly innovative or effective. Cleaning out Youth Services was a good start, but how many years did that take? How drastically awful did it have to get before she finally "retired"? So many departments at HQ are a joke. They should act as support for branch staff to help them achieve their goals, not as arbiters of what can and cannot be done. They should not be there to keep taking meaningful work away. If you have an MLIS degree, working at MCPL is an insult. They'll help you pay for you to get your degree, but won't allocate funds to create professional positions at the branch level where they can be utilized and compensated more appropriately? Make it make sense. You can do better almost anywhere else in the area.