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People in Need Are Filling and Taxing Libraries
I must say when I saw the wording of your post it made me laugh, but I think this is totally true. I worked in libraries for many years and the most stressful moments came when our students were calling in sick during finals week and we had to shelve all the books ourselves. True, they were university libraries, but I have always spent lots of time in public libraries and they definitely are different. The place is packed with teenagers using the computers for MySpace, kids who don't follow the rules and talk loudly and use cell phones inside. I hear people asking for help with tax forms or how to use the computers, people who can barely explain what they need let alone understand the answer. But I think this is a good thing: it means that libraries are helping those who really need them. My parent don't need libraries, they have screaming computers and buy the tons of books they read. They don't even bother to sell them back because they don't need the money and it's too much work.
My kids, however, don't have computers because I can't afford more than my one parent's hand-me-down. Because I take care of kids who need constant supervision, I can't work a regular job and make very little money. I do buy them books because I think it's important for them to own books but I get most of mine from the library and they definitely get many of theirs.
It's also a social outlet. My daughter meets friends at the library and frankly, I like that idea better than the lessons of consumerism they're getting at the mall.
This is really interesting. I guess I can see a little of this in the librarians' eyes, esp. in relation to computer use. We only have about ten computers at our small library and they always seem to be in use. I think getting people on the computers take our librarians more time than any other service. Plus hours were cut recently, etc. so you have one of those situations, from what I can tell, in which the need for a service is increasing at the same time the service is decreasing.But the library still calms me down. I'll be there tonight. I'll see how it feels.
since jackie is gone and i am hoping this particular comment flies past her (it won't, she will see it) but here is my thought on this:at our library a majority of the people that work there act like patrons (that is what they call us common folk) are a royal pain in the rear and that anything they do for us is a huge favor. they seem disgusted by some of the people who come in and ignore many others. everything is done with a smirk. as if it were a private country club party that some bumpkins crashed. not all are like this as there are some EXCELLENT high caliber people there (like my daughter who is the best librarian ever) who really care about people (especially in the children department). i go to the library about 2-3 times a week and mostly behave. i volunteer there as a reader and am santa claus at the library party every year (Ho Ho Ho) as well as a card carrying Friend Of The Library and i still think some of them are snobs to me. maybe because i only check out books on WWF and pipe bomb building
Some librarians ARE like that, Kevin, but they tend to be old school style. I´m sorry your library is like that. Smiling at them might help...The branch I worked at right before getting bumped up was full of the most helpful people you could ever hope to meet.
dangit. i knew you would see this before it got buried :)i agree that there are many who are NOT like that. seems like the older ones are the grumpier. and i am the smiley-est guy that i know !
Jackie has been known to kick patrons in the shins if they misbehave. And she wears pointy-toe shoes. You are warned.
Randomanthony wrote: "Jackie has been known to kick patrons in the shins if they misbehave. And she wears pointy-toe shoes. You are warned."Do NOT! You are making stuff up, RA! I almost never wear pointy-toe shoes.
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There's a couple of regular townie bumkins hanging about, but the library is so full, especially this time of year, with college students doing their college student freak-out studies.
The public libraries, however, do seem to be extra bustling in the middle of the day, much more so than 2002-3, the last time I made heavy use of the city library system.
are those shoes made of foil? they look like the leftovers from a chinese restaurant when they wrap them up like a goose
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And I never wear those shoes out of the house, anyways...
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In Florida we have community parters who house computers for people who want to apply for welfare, the library is one such place. Electronic filing for welfare benefits is the norm and not the exception. I can understand if you have a disconnect with peoples hardships and have never seen pain up close it is tough for a librarian to deal with such raw emotions. Social workers like me can handle most people but a librarian and a social worker are very different careers.
BunWat - yeah i am trying to win those librarians over by giving giggling teens a huge SHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!! and then i look over at the grumpy ones and give them a "there" look. i think it gets them all flustered
Our downtown library is a great place. The librarians are pretty much always friendly and helpful. They have a lot to put up with, too, with all of the folks who camp out there during the day. Of course there are always more when it's very cold or very hot outside.The last few months there has been a police officer on premises all the time, in response to some of the difficulties thay had been having with people just looking for a place to hang out, and causing problems while they do it.
One librarian (a very nice one, by the way) told me a story about getting a book thrown in her face by an angry patron.
I very seldom spend more time there than is required to either return or select books. It's just a bit too noisy for my taste is reading spots.
There's a chair in the corner where I can read, and the library has a "quiet room" with full spectrum lights, too. Or the lobby outside the children's area.I noticed our library rearranges things a lot, though. I bet the optimal use of space in libraries is an interesting topic.
(Did you tell that librarian she should have ducked, Larry?)
I don't think there was time to duck. And I don't think she really expected to have a book aimed at her (lovely) face.
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I assume anything can be thrown at my face at any time. I'm quick like a fox.
HahahaHAHA I love the way Jackie popped up almost immediately in this thread, all the way from Argentina!
She can feel the vibrations in The Force.
I assume a book thrown in my face is a sign I'm making sense and pissing someone off who knows they're wrong.I want those foil shoes.
You have to check them out with a library card
I am such a need that my library card is in the DL slot of my wallet
You don't have it memorized?? Oh wait, not all libraries have self-checkout. Okay, that makes sense. :)
I have my library card number memorized! I learned it ordering books for pickup online:)
we don't have self check-out and i do use it to reserve books online but i am not good at remembering numbers. also, since my daughter has been working at the library for about 10 years everyone knows me there and they just do my stuff on the computer without a card or anything. just a few pain in the butts there that insist on my card even though they know me and i am in there a couple times a week. just showing me who is boss i guess.
I wish my daughter worked at the library.
yeah i get a pass on fines usually AND first dibs on new stuff. (she is the one who opens the boxes first when they arrive)
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Me too.
I forgot what I came to this thread for.
But now that I'm here, the quality of staff depends on whether you're in the main downtown library (the enormous one) or one of the branch libraries (I can only speak of my own branch). Staff at the main library are good quality, well trained, helpful. Most of them have MLS degrees, I'm sure. At my branch library there are probably 2 MLS-degreed staff, the rest are non-MLS and vary in quality. There's one who is super dumb and I double check everything he does because he's the guy who didn't actually check in a movie I returned and it got routed to another library as it accumulated $2/day fees while I sat at home thinking all was well. When they told me I owed $10 (at that time that was the max over due fine on a movie, now it's $20), naturally I was outraged. I talked it down to $5 but I was still outraged. Anyway, lower quality workers at the branch library. They seem to lose focus and forget what they're doing as they're checking you out. I always make sure I get a return receipt now.
Our library system is all branch libraries, no main library. There is an administration center for central issues but that's it.I've had that same problem with something not getting checked in until it got to the right branch. But it was a mistake.
Our little library is so small it is called a 'twig' as a twig on a branch. It is one room and has 2 computers but only one gets internet. It is open 3 days for 18 hours a week. We have one paid librarian whose name is 'Cookie' and we love her. Cookie is 66 years old, 7th generation in the area and the daughter of our last librarian. You don't need your library card and can pay hold fees and late fines later. It is the only place to meet people in town 'cept the bar.
BunWat wrote: " Act like they are running a book shrine and we all have dirty hands. ..."AHAHA man, I love me some Bun.
Also I am non-MLS and vary in quality, depending on the day.
People need to file their taxes in libraries.
Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "yeah i get a pass on fines usually AND first dibs on new stuff. (she is the one who opens the boxes first when they arrive)"AHA! Favoritism at the library! I always suspected such shenanigans were going on - now confirmed by the notorious El Liso Grande, skipper in line for the new books.
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- Walter Cronkite
You have to pay a fee to be a member of my Library.
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::narrows eyes at Felarryix::Yes a public library that charges a fee.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/us/...