Full Moon?

Full Moon?

04.08.04 (4:51 pm)   [edit]
What is it about Thursdays here?

It's been a crazy Thursday again at the library. We had Energy Assistance causing problems - the signup was filled by 5 minutes after opening, causing a parade of angry people past my desk all afternoon. :(

There were lots of kids running around unattended while parents were waiting in the meeting room for their turn. One little urchin climbed up the front of a freestanding signboard, causing it to fall on him and injuring him - not seriously, thank goodness.

His mother was irate however and called the library administration to complain that this happened and that no one from the staff even bothered to inquire as to his status - an out-and-out lie. :evil:

Besides, isn't it her job to watch the little brat and preserve him from harm? I think she was really pissed at him and at herself, and the staff here were convenient targets for her wrath. The administration of the library however took her complaint seriously, reaming out the librarian in charge and directing him to remove this dangerous, crippling, and totally threatening signage - regardless of the fact that this sign (and countless others throughout the library system) have been in use for decades without causing bodily harm to the patrons :roll:

This incident reminds me of the latest flack over libraries in this region not telling parents what materials their kids have checked out. Parents don't want to take responsibility for their kids behavior. Here's an excerpt from one of the letters to the editor of the local paper on the subject:

[b]Parents expect better from public librarians[/b]
[i]The March 27 article describing library checkout policies for children highlighted the disconnect between public librarians and the people they serve ("Many libraries don't restrict what children check out").

The ability of children to check out restricted materials without their parents' knowledge or permission is intolerable. Public librarians fail to note that children are minors, and, thus, parental supervisory responsibility supersedes the privacy rights of children regarding their access to restricted materials.

Free speech and open access are suitable and laudable for adults, but where clearly defined national standards are present - such as video ratings - the libraries should not consider themselves above responsibility. For other items, blurred age recommendations should be discussed and consensus guidelines chosen.

Librarians, with their knowledge and ability to educate, should be leaders in this process instead of allowing fear or laziness to define an open-access free-for-all.

Access to restricted materials should be determined by a positive decision by parents, not a hidden open-access policy that parents must discover and then "opt out." Often, children are escorted to the library during school hours when their parents are not present.

The librarians' unwillingness to take responsibility for what the children under their care are viewing demonstrates their detachment from the community they serve.[/i]

Letters like this one always drive me nuts because no one working for a public library will reply back to one of these uninformed rants for fear of reprisals from their bosses and from the public. We're a bunch of cowards, myself included. :(

I mean really, come on, the children aren't in "our care." We aren't their parents. If they don't want to take responsibility for their children, why should we have to? Free speech and the free flow of information is the backbone of the library's purpose for being. Why should we restrict it for some people and not others, whether they're minors or not? I don't think that standing up for free speech or the free flow of information is caused by fear or laziness. It's a principle that defines librarians as well as the libraries.

As for implying that we're equivalent to teachers, if so then I want the same tax and educational benefits that teachers get. My sister-in-law who teaches has had much of her student loan debt erased through government programs which exclude other educators like librarians. :evil:

Okay, got off on a ranting tangent there but still . . .

Also included in today's fun was a woman who locked herself out of her car with the engine running. She tied up the other librarian's phone for nearly an hour (leaving me to handle all the phone in reference questions) trying to get someone in either the police or fire departments to come out and get her into her car. As I told the other librarian when he explained about the patron's problem, she needed to call a locksmith - which she eventually ended up doing. When I used to work retail a few years back, the cops and fire departments gave up on doing that kind of thing for people due to liability issues from damaging the cars and because they didn't want to be competing with local locksmith businesses. :roll:

At least tomorrow I have off for Good Friday before I'm back for Saturday.

One last note: Saw Hellboy last night. It was one of the best comic book adaptations I've seen yet. 4 stars out of 5. :D