Another Skeptical Librarian

This is a true story and a commentary of sorts on the state of our nation, educational system and awareness in the world. Several weeks ago a friend was making a doctor’s appointment. As she was perusing her calendar, looking for open dates, she commented to the 20-something receptionist that this is a leap year. The receptionist looked at her quizzically and said, “What is a leap year?” My friend told the receptionist what a leap year is, but no “light bulb” went on for her. Just a dark, blank look - as if she thought my friend was pulling her leg. She had never heard the term ”leap year” before and she had no idea there was such a phenomenon. So, if you think things are bad now, just you wait. We may not have hit bottom yet.

Last week I received a letter from my library stating that I had returned a book with liquid damage/stains. “What?” I said to myself. I am not in the habit of damaging books and if by some freak accident I did damage a library book I would fess up when I returned it and pay for the damage. Hello? I’m a librarian. I practiced removing my ego from the situation, breathing deeply and centering myself before I realized that the library has no way of knowing that I am a responsible borrower - they are just trying to recover for damages.

So, when I went to the library to return my next stack of books I stopped into the Customer Service office to meet Linda, the person who sent me the letter. By this time I had let the whole thing go and I knew it was not personal, but I did want to state for the record that I wasn’t the culprit in this particular instance. I introduced myself and extended my hand to shake hers. Linda averted her gaze and reluctantly took my hand by her fingertips to get the handshake part over. Oops, I could tell she was in defensive mode before I even walked in. She either just finished with an irate customer or she is like this all day - stiff and tense - waiting to battle the next customer who walks in. For her sake I hope this is a temporary state of being.

There was no having a calm chit-chat with Linda. She clearly doesn’t like customers or her job. Her main schtick is defending library policies to evil patrons - and I fell into the evil patron category. I tried to empathize with her situation by sharing with her that I am a librarian but she only snapped back, “If you are a librarian, you know that most patrons don’t pay for damage to library materials” as if to imply that witch-hunting them is the only way to recover costs.

This is a brand new “forward thinking” library. It is highlighted in a recent book as one of our best. How can one of our best libraries have a customer services philosophy that says the customer is always wrong? A library can have a cool place for teens to hang out, great programs for people of all ages, a solid collection and stellar building but if customers are the enemy at the top none of that will make a difference. If your library looks like it is trying to be a destination your library must also act like it.

Libraries have a long way to go to measure up to Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble. These places bend over backwards for the customer and we want to return. Frankly, I’d rather spend a few bucks for a book than to face the wrath of Linda again.

I love this. Don Borchert, author of Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library, says librarians “tend not to be overly ambitious people. Not extroverts. It’s a way for some people to hide”. Borchert, a library assistant who was in New York recently to promote his book, says that “91% of the time the library can be the dullest place in the world”. The USA Today article covering him on his visit to New York to promote his book indicates that we can find more stories like this on their Web site by clicking on “Shhhh”. Good for Borchert for writing a quirky memoir about the unlikely dramas found in public libraries. This was a book waiting to be written! Too bad the stereotype of libraries and librarians is reinforced here … but maybe there is a reason for this.

According to an article in Sunday’s NYT Magazine Jimmy Wales, Internet entrepreneur and founder of Wikipedia, collects books, and get this ! - he puts “little labels on the spines with Library of Congress numbers” and “arranges them in Library of Congress order“. You mean Jimmy Wales doesn’t want his personal library to be like a Barnes & Noble? Maybe he actually wants to find things! Listen up, librarians. There may just be something to these archaic classification systems after all. Think twice before you ditch Dewey.

I’m writing a piece for librarians and I spend a bunch of time on how one of the most important things librarians do is to organize information for easy access. Yesterday I spent LOTS of time on the ALA web site looking for resources. I’ve never experienced any web site this slow! Easy access to information - I don’t think so! If I didn’t really need this information I wouldn’t have stuck around while the pages were coming up. (Yes, I do have a broadband connection. Yes, this happened repeatedly throughout the site.) I don’t know if this is a server problem or an information architecture problem but some of those urls are 2 lines long! Guess we’ve got organizing books under control, but organizing electronic information is still a challenge. What does this say about our position as leaders in the information field if our national organization is not up to organizing information on their web site for easy access? Hmmmm …

In a Nov 14 article in LJ, Bernard Margolis, the departing President of the Boston Public Library, points out that library schools don’t teach us any skills that equip us to deal with politics in big city governments - or anywhere else. What else aren’t library schools teaching us? Since the statutes don’t require that the President of the Boston Public Library is a librarian, it may be that they will hire a successor for Margolis who is from another profession - one that provides an understanding about working in politically charged environments. What other powerful librarian or library director positions don’t require an MLS? Do state librarians need an MLS? How about presidential library directors?

Signs posted on the stacks at the Sandia Technical Library in Albuquerque, NM shout NO CHECKING OUT!! BOOK COLLECTION CLOSED!! Complete with red NO symbols yet. Yikes! An October 22 article in the Albuquerque Journal reported that they’re re-engineering the library for the “electronic age” and to save $1.1 million Sandia is cutting off access to “hard copy content”. A consultant’s study indicated that library users were increasingly doing research from their desks … so that means print materials are worthless, right? Uh huh. Researchers grumbled, responses were triggered in editorials and letters to the editor, both ALA and SLA sent letters oppposing the proposed closing … Stay tuned.

According to this article in the NYT, Timothy Ferris, motivational guru and author of the best selling The 4-Hour Workweek, hires personal assistants in India and the Philippines to sort through and respond to most of his emails, and ignores the rest. In the last two months he has traveled to Scotland, Sardinia, Vienna and Bratislava, as well as Japan, all while technically “running” a modest sports nutrition company that he claims brings in a high five-figure personal income every month. And I decided to pay attention to information and become a librarian. Duh!

I just saw this article in the NYT about how Borders is adding TV watching to its bookstores’ entertainment. George L. Jones, CEO of the Borders Group, says that the TVs (to be in over 300 stores by February) will create content and bring knowledge and entertainment to the stores. Since libraries are busy trying to be more like book stores with cafes, category arrangement instead of Dewey, entertainment and gaming to attract users … I want to know when my public library going to install a TV? I could use a place to go watch Dancing with the Stars on Monday nights. Come on, libraries, get with the program! What are you waiting for?