Abuse Your Local Librarian

[kathrynne]

Drive-in theaters, eh? And this is a Reverend of some sort?

Brings back some sordid memories I can't imagine any religious leader wanting to share with kids.

[housewife2k]

My step-dad's ex-wife (if you're still following) is a librarian. When she first started working, she called me to ask if "She really went to school to be treated this way."  Currently she lives in Massatchusetts, working for a small private-type library.She said the entitled are out in droves, because it's a library paid for with their contributions. She almost lost her job when she pointed out that Big Public Library down the street was also paid for by their ontributions...it's called taxes, and they can go be entitled there.

[Clara Bow]

Dear Auntie Venom,

I feel your pain.  My Library is not a public one but the requests we get makes my head spin.

There was the guy who E-mailed us with the request to, 'Photocopy everything you've got on (fill in the blank) and send it to me.  I'll pay you a dime a copy for whatever I can use'.

 

For the record, what he wanted, in a language he could read, would have been at least 1000 pages.  I think we're not going to do that on spec.

There was the Dad who called us on a Friday afternoon.  His  12 year-old daughter needed a paper on mummies and nothing whatsoever could be found in the public libraries where they lived.   Of course we'd write it for her free of charge, add interesting illustrations and fax it to him within the hour.  The paper, after all, was due on Monday morning.

The man told me he lived in a particular city that I knew had a wonderful public library system.  Any branch library there would have the information needed for a 12 year-old's paper.  However, he felt that only a paper written in the most comprehensive Egyptological library in the Western Hemisphere was good enough for his kid.  It didn't seem to matter that the child would learn nothing.  It also didn't seem to matter that     Need I say that, despite the pleadings, "Aw c'mon Lady!  She's a litle girl"  did not soften our steely hearts. 

Then there was a teacher in a weekend school associated with a local house of worship.  S/he ordered up a slide show on 'Animals in the Bible' in exactly the same way most of us would order up a tuna salad on rye from a local sandwich shop (hold the cheese).  We were to put together a nice slide show of animal- themed objects in the museum's collection with a script relating each creature to specific mentions in the Bible.  The slides and the commentary would become the property of the teacher.  Need I say we were expected to do this at no cost to the teacher or the house of worship.  We'd also have it available for pick-up within a week's time.  Need I also say that what the Librarian who was ordered to do this had to say to the teacher would not be suitable for a family-friendly board such as this one.

Finally, there was the Mom who decided that our Library would be the perfect place for her little Buford to spend his after-school hours.  His school was within easy walking distance of the Museum and he loved the subject so.  In her mind it was an easy thing.  Every afternoon, young Buford would have a place at our Library.  He'd come here after school to do his homework and study.  Mom would pick him up as soon after we closed as she could. 

Without regrets, we had to turn down Mom's great idea.  We weren't child-sitters, we had limited seating space and a standing appointment for a 10 year old would mean that more mature scholars would be denied a place.  Buford was a nice kid but we weren't going to be responsible for him until Mom saw fit to pick him up. 

It's sad because the children of these pushy, entitled parents or teachers are usually the kind of children we like to see.  The kids are polite, intelligent and eager to learn.  It's a crying shame that their parents won't let them learn at their own pace.   
             

Do you by chance work at the University of Chicago?? I have a friend who would give one of whatever she has two of to work in the Egyptology library there....

[Yarnspinner]

Apparently they can be, since you keep running into them.

And here I was thinking that a librarian might be such a nice career path... (One of the school librarians suggested it.)

Chive, don't you DARE give up on the idea of being a librarian.  It isn't ALL nutsy koo-koos, you know.

As a sample of postive reinforcement, allow me to relate today's top story from my little corner of the world--

My tall, skinny patron, Mr. D., is kind of shy and quiet.  I got the impression that there was some trouble in his past--he speaks about prison now and then, but doesn't elaborate.  He is also  a lover of horror flicks, ghost stories and mystery novels on tape.  When he got his library card a couple years ago, he asked the staff member who gave it to him what she could tell  him about our horror movies.  She pointed at me.  I have been his advisor ever since and we often dish on how much we miss the old black and white William Castle cheese fests.   

 He's seen just about every scary movie we have and I'm going to other branches to find him more.  Today he said "I always enjoy coming to talk to you!  You know all the good movies, you remember all the good television shows and you know exactly what I like to see and not see.  AND" (and this was my favorite part, actually) "You're always so cheerful, friendly and polite even when the kids are treating you bad.  I really like you!"

I almost burst into tears, I was so touched.  (I admit that other days I am afraid he is an elderly Norman Bates, but mostly, I appreciate his compliment.)

See, this can be you:  fearless, friendly, cheerful, taking on the world and enlightening it with your quick wit, your smile and your kindness.  Some days, all the other crap just fades away and you remember the good stuff. 

Keep thinking about it, Chive.  We need intelligent youth in this business 'cause there aren't as many like you as I like to think. 

Lily

[merkay]

Apparently they can be, since you keep running into them.

And here I was thinking that a librarian might be such a nice career path... (One of the school librarians suggested it.)

Chive, don't you DARE give up on the idea of being a librarian.  It isn't ALL nutsy koo-koos, you know.


See, this can be you:  fearless, friendly, cheerful, taking on the world and enlightening it with your quick wit, your smile and your kindness.  Some days, all the other crap just fades away and you remember the good stuff. 

Keep thinking about it, Chive.  We need intelligent youth in this business 'cause there aren't as many like you as I like to think. 

Lily

I'm going to strenuously agree with Lily.  This is the most amazing career ever.

My positive library story for the day:   I have a regular patron, a 7 year old girl, who comes into the library after school most days with her older sister.  She's a very chatty girl and a bit clingy.  She attached herself to me right away.  Turns out her mother died when she was a baby and she lives with her father, father's girlfriend, sister, girlfriend's son, and father and girlfriend's new baby.  She has a happy home life, but still misses her mom   

Now, every time she comes to the library, she heads right for my desk.  She sits at the desk with me and we work on her homework.  When a patron comes to the desk, she says "Hi, my name is J*** and I work here.  How can I help you?"  We also have long talks about her mom, her friends, her new baby sister, and everything else that may be bothering her.  Sometimes, we read the Olivia books to each other.  I really feel like a positive influence in her life and that's a great feeling that you don't find at most jobs.

[Slartibartfast]

Ooh, my turn :-)

I have a homeschooling mom with three wonderful kids she brings about once a week.  She lives clear on the other side of the county, but she comes to my library because it's usually pretty quiet during the day, and it's small enough she can let her kids explore and not have to jump up and chase them to keep them in sight.  She actually uses the library as a bribe - if all three kids do their homework, they can come here for an hour or two sometimes and check out one book for each perfect score they got on their week's assignments   Her oldest two run for my computers and immerse themselves in "Math Blaster" (a WONDERFUL computer game, by the way - aliens attack earth and abduct everyone who is good with math, so you have to use your math skills to save the planet . . . feels like a video game but integrates basic math very well).  Her youngest "practices" reading all week so she can come in and if I'm not busy, read a book to me    The middle child was two grade levels behind in reading when they started coming here this fall, and is up to her proper grade level already - all it took was finding out what topic she liked, then getting her some books that were on her favorite topic (princesses/fantasy) that were the right reading level.  Apparently she is working extra-hard because she saw the movie of Harry Potter and wants to read the books herself 

[Thipu1]

Actually chivewarrior, library work is a good career path.  Because Librarian jobs can be found in any field you might find interesting you just have to choose carefully. 

Sure, any librarian will have war stories.  It doesn't matter if we work with Middle School kids, curators or partners in law firms.  There will always be people who are pains in the patoot but, for most of us, the good outweighs the bad.   

[Mrs. Eclipse]

Sure, any librarian will have war stories.  It doesn't matter if we work with Middle School kids, curators or partners in law firms.  There will always be people who are pains in the patoot but, for most of us, the good outweighs the bad.   

Any job you could possibly pick will have it's share of yuck.  I say, if you're going to have yuck, you might as well have yuck in the best place possible!