A perspective on the library issues...

My friend Caitlin, who also happens to be a librarian in my area (though not my city), left this comment on one of the library posts, and I wanted to put it in a post so all of you involved in the original discussion would see it:

"As a librarian and a manager of circulation staff, this is exactly the sort of thing I would want to know about. If he did just take the book from you for no good reason, I would want to discuss this with him. It's entirely possible that he didn't realize that patrons could keep books longer than the renewal limit, in which case other patrons will suffer as well. I had a similar situation occur with one of my staff members, and it was only because I was at the desk at the same time as the transaction occurred that I was able to correct her and discuss it with her. I'm always upset when a patron doesn't receive good service, but even more so when I don't find out about it for a long time. If you don't mention this sort of thing to the managers, then things won't ever improve at this library.

Also, as far as the "no adults allowed" policy, it is generally in place to protect kids and teens from predators and cover the library in case they have to ask someone to leave. If there's no policy to point to and no signs posted, the library can get in serious trouble. Generally speaking, as long as you are looking at the books and not at children (even if you are browsing and not looking for anything in particular), no one will say anything to you. And if they do, I would ask to speak to the director. You do pay taxes that support this library, and you have the same rights as other taxpayers to access all of the materials."

Thanks, Caitlin! You make very good points. I don't know the name of the circulation worker in question, but if it happens again, I will figure it out and contact someone in management. And you're completely right about the children's section policy, and of course protecting children should be the priority. In most libraries, I wouldn't really worry about it because I'm sure it's always clear that I'm looking for books, but I tend to get stressed out (and probably overreact) about any interaction with the staff at this library because of several unpleasant conversations in the past. My general strategy is to smile and be super-polite and convince them to like me eventually. :)

Oh, my library...

Yes, as you've all noticed, my library has some Issues. About that children's/YA policy, here's the official line:

"Adults unaccompanied by a child who do not require immediate materials from the Children's area shall be asked to relocate to other areas of the library."

There are signs up that have it worded a little differently - I forget exactly how, but they're where I got the "Looking for a specific book is okay but browsing is not" idea. And they're posted in the YA area as well, so I assume that's included. I assume the basic idea is to protect children from predators. They've never challenged me - it probably helps that I'm female and young-looking - but I'm always ready with an "I was looking for xyz book" answer just in case.

And yes, I do know this library is "backwards" (as a commenter put it) in many ways. As someone who trained as a librarian (though I don't currently work in a library), it drives me completely crazy. Making it worse: I am in the second-largest city in the state. Not that tiny towns don't need good libraries too, of course, but for some reason I expect this sort of thing less in cities. But here, actually, I've lived in two nearby much-smaller towns that had great libraries - and were part of a system, so it was actually easier to get specific materials than in this plays-well-with-no-one city library - and the city's is much much worse. Sigh.

I did just get an email that they're holding Saving Francesca for me again finally, so I'll go retrieve that over the weekend. Still working on Imaginary Girls - the writing is good but I really dislike pretty much all of the characters so far so I'm having a hard time.

Clarification

A few of you asked about the renewal issue, so: The library has no published policy of a renewal limit. They do have a limit of two renewals online, but usually, if you bring the book into the library they just check that you haven't destroyed it or anything and go ahead and renew it. (As long as no one has it on hold, of course.) This time, the guy* said "No, that has to come back," so I just assumed someone had put it on hold. But when I got home and went to the online catalog to put myself back on the list for it, the status was - and still is - "Shelving Cart" rather than "On hold for someone," which is what it has always otherwise said when a book is, you know, on hold for someone. So . . . maybe there was something else going on I couldn't see from the patron view of the catalog? Maybe he just decided I had too many books out and he would take that one back? No idea.

I'm not going to make an issue of it with management, for two reasons: 1) The librarians** at this library are known, both in my own experience and in general reputation, for being unfriendly and unhelpful, and 2) I try to keep a low profile there, because this library does have a policy against adults browsing the YA or children's sections, and I semi-blatantly ignore that. (I do always have a title in mind I can tell them I'm looking for if they challenge me.) So I don't want to complain about this incident if it will result in that guy and/or other library staff looking for an excuse to bar me from YA and children's. Because I love those sections!

* Not sure if he's a professional librarian or not.
** Here I do mean professional librarians; the teens who work circulation are delightful.

Miscalculation

I am enjoying Saving Francesca but didn't finish it, planning to renew it at the library today - but they wouldn't let me. I assumed that meant someone else had requested it, but no, I just checked the catalog and it isn't on hold. They were just being mean, apparently. Sigh. (Some of the people who work at this library are mean to everyone, all the time. It makes me sad.) So I've requested it again, and in the meantime I will continue with Imaginary Girls and start the Steve Jobs biography, which is due on Monday. I'm going to have to make a point of carving out reading time for the next month, because the Oscar nominations were announced today, so I am embarking on my mad struggle to see as many of the nominated movies as humanly possible. So we'll see how that goes.

Library Report: Again...

This is going to sound familiar: I got Liberty's Exiles out of the library again today, because I really like it, I swear! Maybe I'll even be able to finish it this time. I also picked up two things from the new YA display: Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison, because I love retellings, and The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle, because - not to get too personal - I'm in the middle of some tough family stuff and this looked like it had a family situation a million times worse and therefore might be . . . comforting? Or instructional? Or an excuse to wallow? I'm not sure. We'll see!

Reading update: I did finish Dash and Lily last night, so I'll have a review of that for you soon. Now it's Tessa Dare time so I can get that holiday books post done this week.

Library Report: Why did I get this, again?

(This will be another ongoing feature - I will report on what I get from the library so you can yell at me/point and laugh if I don't actually read it. I have a very bad habit of borrowing more books than I possibly have time for and returning them unread. Must get better about that.)

I went to the library after work today because I had two holds come in. The first was Marie Lu's Legend, which I've heard awesome things about and am quite excited to read. The second was Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table, which . . . huh? Why do I have this? I know Ondaatje is quite popular and critically acclaimed, but the only one of his I've read is The English Patient, and I didn't particularly like this. And yet, I must have read something about this new one that made me put myself on the library's hold list for it, and now that it's here, I can't remember what. I thought maybe it was on the Booker longlist, but I just checked, and no. It's a mystery. ANYWAY. I guess I will give it a try!

I also wandered the YA section a bit, as I am wont to do, and picked up Rachel Hawkins's Demonglass, since I liked Hex Hall, and also Paula Jolin's In the Name of God, because it looked interesting and I like borrowing books I've never heard of sometimes, to break me out of my little bubble of authors I know/authors they know/etc.

Actual reading: Haven't had much time, but I'm plugging away at Liberty's Exiles. I shouldn't say "plugging away" because it's fascinating! Just a little slower than many of the books I read. Also, I keep accidentally ordering books this week, but I will report on THOSE when they arrive.