Comments on: Riddle Me This

By: turkeyjerky

turkeyjerky — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:09:41 +0000

@bella: We also usually only encounter the serious issues at the branch that is in the middle of the city, the ones closer the the neighborhoods rarely have problems.

The Librarians where I work are cool as hell (I think it’s a requirement). The Librarians are doing actual Librarian work, and those positions that don’t really require a degree aren’t being filled with Librarians (thus not devaluing the degree). It works much better IMO than bunch of reference desks filled with people who are earning less in a year than they paid for their degrees. We also have a lot of Non-Librarians working in the administration and managerial positions. No one here has any visions of grandeur regarding the SI degree.

I have a masters degree, work two jobs at libraries- a full and part time- and I’m making no where near what my degree costs. of course, the humanities actually attempt to fully fund their students, unlike many SI programs, so i don’t have the load of debt my coworkers have. Admittedly, it is fun to bring down an SI student with “oh that’s neat, i already have my MA and turns out i have almost no debt from it” when they get a little too entitled/uppity about their education. it makes me lol.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:05:39 +0000

Have you tried to the traditional ‘shssh’ with the finger on the lips? Alot of people don’t realize they are bothering others, isn’t this kindof the same as talkers in a theater.. and are nice people who just have different standards that most of us. I’ve oft been surprised how friendly and willing people who I THOUGHT were inconsiderate monsters were when I just communicated a little with them. Worth a try, or might backfire, who knows.

By: bellacoker

bellacoker — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:46:20 +0000

turkeyjerky:
I’m sorry that your library was set-up like that, that was really unfair for you.

By: Ocean_breeze

Ocean_breeze — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:10:03 +0000

Call me a pervert but that’s stuck in my head now. Men pull out their penises in PUBLIC places like a library? Do they get asked to leave or do they get arrested for exposure?

By: turkeyjerky

turkeyjerky — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:53:13 +0000

“It does create a difficult situation for librarians practically speaking, however, because the homeless statistically are more likely to suffer from mental illness, and thus are more likely to be disruptive or worse.”

Librarians (note the capital L) very rarely deal with the more difficult patrons. In my years of experience working as a non-librarian library employee, it’s the general reference lackies like myself who get the harassment and have to ask patrons to stop masturbating at computers. good times.

That said, I witness just as many female patrons (percentage-wise) hanging out, clearing their throats, sucking teeth, hocking loogies, etc. Libraries are not religious sanctuaries. It’s a public space with free access to information funded by tax dollars. If you don’t want to be around the general public because they’re too unsavory, you should probably stay home.

In short: if they’re aren’t pulling out their penises and going to town, it’s not that big of a deal.

By: Daantaat

Daantaat — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:45:44 +0000

Good lord you should be here in South Korea! Or maybe not. The spitting (by men AND women), the horking up lugies, the grunting, teeth sucking, constant cell phone chatting in public, pushing, bad breath, bad driving and just constant rudeness is overwhelming. Although I’m here to work, and I love my job, it is such a big change and so hard to get used to a whole new culture. I keep telling myself to respect this culture; it’s not mine, after all, but some days are more difficult than others. It appears that rudeness is rampant no matter what part of the world you live in.

By: Tiki

Tiki — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:36:26 +0000

Wouldn’t the glare of doom be largely ignored in such a bodily vocal group as your fellow table sitters? Perhaps a more vocal response is needed although I have to agree that people in libraries is a damn good thing and should be encouraged, even the noisy ones.

Surely one sure-fire solution is to arrive early and using scary looking reference books, stake out the entirety of your table surface forcing them to sniffle off elsewhere.

By: baraqiel

baraqiel — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:19:42 +0000

I’m with Becky — glare of doom early and often. After all, they won’t know that you glare often, right? For strangers, every glare is the first glare.

But then again, I can’t work without music, so, as with LaurJ, headphones it is for me. This does not mean I glare significantly less. It just increases my glare threshold slightly.

By: bellacoker

bellacoker — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:24:55 +0000

I agree, ratinski, it’s not a ball that libraries can drop unless there is someone else there ready and willing to catch it.

By: LaurJ

LaurJ — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:45:55 +0000

For me to concentrate I need headphones. I wrote my dissertation in Panera with my Discman firmly fastened to my ears. Now my ipod is my best work friend at library, coffee shop, home and office. Not only does it block out a lot of the distracting noise, it also serves the symbolic function of reminding me that when I put on those headphones, it’s time to buckle down to work.