“I Hate You Library Patrons!”
A librarian’s rant (which seems to originate from Craigslist) was posted to the NexGenLib group this week, and it sparked a lot of discussion. The rant provides almost limitless fodder for commentary, but I don’t have the energy this week to go into it, and it is my sincere hope that most libraryfolk who would read this would find it every bit as awful as I do.
But here is one part of the rant that I found particularly awful:
To my co-workers: Stop bitching because I have two desks and you have to share one with two other people. There are a couple of reasons for this. I don’t really have two desks; one of these so-called desks is the reference desk so I guess by that logic you have two desks too. One of them is the circulation desk. Enjoy your newfound space. Second, I’m a full time employee, so I am entitled to a private workspace (especially in light of the fact that you are never here at the same time as the people you share with). It’s in my contract, you can check. Third, I outrank you. I have a master’s degree to your GED. Yes, I’m 30 years younger than you are, but we all make choices in life. It wasn’t my choice to get knocked up in 1968 and then take a low paying job at the library that you have kept for the past 37 years. We all make choices and I guess you made yours. Also, I have way more work and way more responsibility than you. You might think that checking books in and out and getting them to the right place on the shelf is hard work, but guess what it’s not. If you want to do the budget sometime, or deal with the patrons who don’t want to pay their fines, then we can talk about a challenge. Until then, shut up and do your damn job!
Katherine Eastman, a frequent and excellent participant in the group’s discussions, had a lot of good comments about the rant, but added this as a separate post (and has kindly allowed me to post it here):
I was going to leave aside the paraprofessional objection (which is where I had to stop reading before my brain exploded) but I don’t think I can.
THIS IS WHY PEOPLE DO NOT VALUE LIBRARIANSHIP.
Paraprofessionals are a valuable resource for a new/young librarian. They know the ropes. They know what to do. Treating them badly doesn’t make your degree anymore useful than it is. They have experience. They know the library. You wouldn’t toss out a book because it was old and didn’t cost much, or wasn’t written by someone with a PhD. Our degree is about professionalism and standardization. It’s not a cudgel to beat people over the head with.
Kat rocks. I hope her attitudes are representative of newly-minted librarians.
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October 7th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Now I remember why I unsubscribed from nexgen. I hope that first person is not so bitter and obnoxious when serving patrons. As someone who has transitioned from para- to professional, paras are absolutely a valuable resource, and the library couldn’t get by without them. The “It wasn’t my choice to get knocked up in 1968 and then take a low paying job” bit is particularly offensive – does she want a party because her birth control didn’t fail? The lack of compassion and understanding in that statement makes me think the writer should not be helping patrons at all.
October 7th, 2006 at 11:42 am
A note to newly-minted librarians – You may think that you just discovered “the internets” and only those without hiring responsibility are on the nexgen list. You would be wrong. Never assume that your words are not being seen by the person who is making the first-round cuts on all those resumes that are coming in.
October 7th, 2006 at 11:46 am
Rachel is absolutely right. The first thing I do when we narrow our candidate list down for interviews is to start doing some web sleuthing. Most of the time what I find is fairly innocuous, but you never know what is going to pop up.
I really hope that this librarian is just venting and doesn’t mean 90% of what she wrote. However, the damage is done. She has pretty much slapped all of us who work with the public in the face and now we have to deal with the fall out from yet another bad publicity mishap.
October 7th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Nononono…let me clarify, Rachel. No member of NexGenLib SAID these things. One just posted the rant that someone else wrote for the group to discuss.
Since NexGenLib moved to Google Groups, the tone has been professional and very, very friendly. I’m really pleased to be a part of it and recommend it without hesitation or reservation.
October 7th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
David – glad to hear that. Perhaps I’ll check it out again. I was previously not interested in the level of vitriol I was seeing.
October 7th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
Rachel, that vitriol is GONE. The moderators have made clear that the only rule of the group is that discourse must be civil. There hasn’t been the slightest whiff of ugly behavior since the move.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:18 am
I can totally sympathize with this writer’s perceptions of and experiences with unruly and obnoxious library patron’s.
I don’t think “public librarian” should be a synonym for punching bag or doormat – and take umbrage with those who believe bad behavior should be rewarded.
Thanks
August 20th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Tommy, have you seen anyone suggest that bad behavior should be rewarded?
August 21st, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Actually, I have. One of my library school professors, author of the Reference Encounter (now out of print), seems to think the customer is always right.
Have a look at Hartford Public’s recent coverage -
http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6562745
August 21st, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Sit through a few of Dr. Radford’s workshops about achieving service excellence with difficult patrons:
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~mradford
/av-workshops.html