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Inceltown posted:Not exactly library related but also insanely likely to be this threads jam. I got an album that documents the laying of submarine cables in the late 19th century, which is both cool and boring. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110067291/album-documenting-the-laying-of-numerous-submarine-cables
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Jan 21, 2021 09:57
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In a month we're closing for six weeks to rebuild our entire entrance area and rerouting visitors to a whole other building in that period. My approach to keep our patrons up to date: okay let's put up a big sign in the building and a notice on the website... like, today, actually, but let's make it the 1st, then once it properly starts change the sign and the notice for one that has a map to the new entrance, replicate that on all the entrance doors to the building, and visibly mark the new entrance too. If we can put up poo poo like arrows on the way there, let's do that. And let's plan right now for shooting a quick video when it's all done to show off our awesome new features. My bosses' approach: hang up a sign the week before that'll do lol
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Jan 25, 2021 18:09
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Well, if you consider that no one will see any of that marketing/signage despite the fact that it's right in front of them and staff will still get a hundred questions a day, the sign a week before will probably be just as effective. Serious answer: you should absolutely give as much warning and help as possible. Then staff can at least say all the ways you tried to help those people before they got frustrated that you changed everything.
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Jan 25, 2021 19:28
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I got a set of "not very accurate" nesting weights https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co57976/nest-of-bronze-cup-weights-of-ratisbon-gold-ducat-weight-1500-1699-cup-weight  A blurry photo of a Romanov prince sledding https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8685362/the-anitchkoff-palace-sliding-down-the-hill-photograph-silver-gelatin-print  And a "uterine douche" https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co137384/uterine-douche-uterine-douches  I love this. I'm going to look at every unlooked thing.
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Jan 25, 2021 19:37
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I've gotten a ton of cool things. Maybe we could start a thread for unseen discoveries?
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Jan 26, 2021 20:37
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Yeah probably. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co107701/stone-amulet-square-tablet-carvings-on-top-face-amulet Stone amulet. It's time cube.
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Jan 26, 2021 21:38
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How have ubiquitous cell phones changed libraries? My spouse is a social worker and their participants will be unhoused and still have a smartphone. I'm contrasting that with back in 2010 when I was unemployed looking for jobs in a Bronx Library. You wanted to get there early because Hentai dude showed up every day at 11. He'd watch japanese cartoon pornography on his computer and masturbate. They'd sometimes ask him to leave. Sometimes he would but usually he wouldn't. Instead he'd just sit there whacking off for around two hours (really impressive stamina), then he'd finish and leave. While he was on the extreme end, that kind of person was always a mainstay in libraries growing up. I don't see them in libraries as much anymore and I figure it's because everyone has a smart phone now so they can whack off at home. But maybe not? Maybe the world has changed in other ways?
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Jan 29, 2021 09:14
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Huh. I got a replica of the robot suit from the movie Metropolis. https://collection.sciencemuseumgro...t-label-replica
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Jan 29, 2021 10:40
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VinylonUnderground posted:How have ubiquitous cell phones changed libraries? My spouse is a social worker and their participants will be unhoused and still have a smartphone. I'm contrasting that with back in 2010 when I was unemployed looking for jobs in a Bronx Library. You wanted to get there early because Hentai dude showed up every day at 11. He'd watch japanese cartoon pornography on his computer and masturbate. They'd sometimes ask him to leave. Sometimes he would but usually he wouldn't. Instead he'd just sit there whacking off for around two hours (really impressive stamina), then he'd finish and leave. While he was on the extreme end, that kind of person was always a mainstay in libraries growing up. I don't see them in libraries as much anymore and I figure it's because everyone has a smart phone now so they can whack off at home. But maybe not? Maybe the world has changed in other ways? When I worked at a public library, we still had a few guys who'd whack off at the computers, they just didn't make regular appointments to do it. I was working circulation desk at one point and saw a guy *sprinting* out the front door, followed by our security officer who caught him trying to jack it. This was around 2016, so I have to assume it still happens today. People would use their cell phones inside, but we had lots of signage telling people to either go into private/conference rooms to use their phone, or take their calls outside. Most people respected this. One guy insisted on loudly using his telephone at a computer, so I had to tell him that he was welcome to use an unbooked conference room instead. He went into the room and took his call. When he was finished, he came back out to my desk, got in my face, and said, "You know, you really embarrassed me out there." 
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Jan 29, 2021 16:46
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Coheed and Camembert posted:When I worked at a public library, we still had a few guys who'd whack off at the computers, they just didn't make regular appointments to do it. I was working circulation desk at one point and saw a guy *sprinting* out the front door, followed by our security officer who caught him trying to jack it. This was around 2016, so I have to assume it still happens today. Did he sprint out with his tackle swinging free, or did he find time to put it away first?
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Jan 29, 2021 17:10
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Just as long as the pencil cup is filled with someone's jizz. I'm not a librarian so I don't claim to understand it, but my experience shows that it is an essential component of a functioning library.
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Jan 29, 2021 19:52
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Somewhat appropriately, I was given a section of rail from the Cromford & High Peak Railway. Funny that I managed to draw THAT on the first try considering that I work for a railroad.
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Jan 29, 2021 22:26
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VinylonUnderground posted:Just as long as the pencil cup is filled with someone's jizz. I'm not a librarian so I don't claim to understand it, but my experience shows that it is an essential component of a functioning library. It keeps the pencils supple and youthful.
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Jan 30, 2021 15:43
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VinylonUnderground posted:Just as long as the pencil cup is filled with someone's jizz. I'm not a librarian so I don't claim to understand it, but my experience shows that it is an essential component of a functioning library.  Please tell me you're referencing my tale of woe, and that this isn't ubiquitous.
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Jan 30, 2021 21:38
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I'm not involved with the library industry at all, but you're not the only one who has experienced it. I once visited the Flagstaff library and went to grab a pencil, only to find that it wouldn't write but just smeared something all over the scrap paper. The patron next to me heard me say "what the gently caress" and looked over, saw what was going on and just said something about "not that guy again" and she walked off to grab a staff member before I even fully processed what the hell it was.
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Jan 30, 2021 23:38
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JacquelineDempsey posted:
Any library in an underserved urban environment is going to be jizz central. At least in the Bronx. Funnily enough, Libraries in California have less poop and semen than the outside and are much nicer environments. But share your story, that sounds fun.
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Jan 31, 2021 01:47
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At all the libraries I've been to they keep the pencils behind the desk, you gotta ask for em
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Jan 31, 2021 01:51
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In the Discworld books, all libraries on the multiverse are connected through a construction known as L-space It is possible then that all libraries share the same pencil cup full of jizz, and this may be key
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Jan 31, 2021 02:27
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Reading this thread from start to finish was a very sad rollercoaster. Starting off with "libraries are great, awesome public spaces where you can do all sorts of things and attend all sorts of classes and try things that would be otherwise unavailable to you" and fizzling off into "yeah we're down to pickup only, and half our staff is getting laid off by higher-ups who don't know what to do and don't really care". At least it made me realize how much I appreciate the existence of libraries as a concept.  Once this is all said and done and everyone's got vaccines in their arms, one of the first places I'm going is a library.
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Jan 31, 2021 04:03
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Our local library (three blocks away) is open. Masks are compulsory, there's an occupancy limit, and the protocol if you're browsing and look at a book is if you don't take it, yout put it in a box for resanitisaton. It's working pretty well!
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Jan 31, 2021 07:04
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Irukandji Syndrome posted:Reading this thread from start to finish was a very sad rollercoaster. Starting off with "libraries are great, awesome public spaces where you can do all sorts of things and attend all sorts of classes and try things that would be otherwise unavailable to you" and fizzling off into "yeah we're down to pickup only, and half our staff is getting laid off by higher-ups who don't know what to do and don't really care". As much as I loved the mission of working in libraries, and the good parts about working in one, I've been counting my lucky stars for a year now that I slipped out and into an administrative office job.
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Jan 31, 2021 15:00
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VinylonUnderground posted:Any library in an underserved urban environment is going to be jizz central. At least in the Bronx. Funnily enough, Libraries in California have less poop and semen than the outside and are much nicer environments. It's in the OP, the story of The Shooter! And fwiw, we were neither underserved (we had $Texas funding; even our tiniest conference rooms had LCD projectors and SMARTboards) and we were in a small, affluent town 45 minutes from anything you'd call an urban area. Guess The Shooter strikes everywhere! Tex Avery posted:I'm not involved with the library industry at all, but you're not the only one who has experienced it. I once visited the Flagstaff library and went to grab a pencil, only to find that it wouldn't write but just smeared something all over the scrap paper. The patron next to me heard me say "what the gently caress" and looked over, saw what was going on and just said something about "not that guy again" and she walked off to grab a staff member before I even fully processed what the hell it was.  I'm so sorry, friend.
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Jan 31, 2021 15:38
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Lead out in cuffs posted:box for resanitisaton We're getting RFID and the company we outsourced tagging all our books to made us reintroduce the whole three day quarantine protocol because one of their workers read An Article, but at least we managed to keep it a little more low-key this time. Seriously though what if someone is looking for a particular short story/recipe/centerfold and they have to dig through the whole shelf of anthologies, cookbooks or Playboys, does it all go in the bin?
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Feb 1, 2021 09:31
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Huh. Looks like I'm about six months out of date on that one? I guess the last few books I took out were online holds or something? Anyway, library open, masks compulsory, staff seem pretty relaxed (and still employed).
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Feb 1, 2021 10:13
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So even though I've been on the SA forums for some time now, I just came across this thread. I've worked at my local library for over 20 years, first as a page, then as a circulation clerk. My library is in a affluent neighborhood in upstate NY, and our budget is tied to the school district which no one wants to touch so we're fairly well funded. We've been riding out COVID pretty well, mainly doing curbside pickup. We did have a limited opening in the late summer / early fall (30 people at a time, had to wear masks, could only stay for 30 minutes, browsing and checkouts only) however an up-spike in COVID numbers in our area in November caused us to revert back to curbside only. As a side effect of the COVID, people have been clearing out old books and trying to "donate" them to the library, To be fair, most people call ahead to see if we want their books, but some just drop them in our book drops. To give you an idea, here's a photo from 2017. Note that a lot of these books were outdated, and all of them were moldy.  A more recent donation from 2020.  Just what the library is looking for, encyclopedias that are over 20 years old. The_Other fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Feb 18, 2021 |
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Feb 18, 2021 18:44
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hahaha amazing. I would have tipped that entire cart straight into the garbage. Or, I dunno, kept it for trainees. When they ask "how do I know what's okay for weeding" you can just point to the cart and go "the closer it matches that..." 
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Feb 18, 2021 18:54
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Oooh, PC DOS 2nd Edition! I wonder what the updates are from the 1st edition. gently caress MS-DOS, PC DOS for Liiiiiife, amirite? lol@DR-DOS
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Feb 18, 2021 18:55
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I don't work in a library anymore, but I recently got a call from a man who wants to donate his late father's books. The collection seems desirable, but unfortunately our whole university library system isn't accepting donations due to COVID. Sucks.
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Feb 18, 2021 19:15
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I just finished my MLIS in December and am working fervently to become a library weirdo. Picked a hell of a time to try and find a job.
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Feb 18, 2021 21:25
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The_Other posted:Just what the library is looking for, encyclopedias that are over 20 years old. A couple of years back, a few coworkers and I spent an entire day cleaning out a guy's house. He was moving into a retirement home and couldn't take his floor-to-ceiling stacks of books, so he wanted to donate them. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his moldy paperbacks were getting thrown right into the trash. Occasionally, we'd also get people trying to donate their old collections of National Geographics (never the full set, just a couple of full years), and it broke their heart to hear that through no fault of their own, their set was functionally worthless and we didn't need them. My Lovely Horse posted:hahaha amazing. I would have tipped that entire cart straight into the garbage. Or, I dunno, kept it for trainees. When they ask "how do I know what's okay for weeding" you can just point to the cart and go "the closer it matches that..." I genuinely think weeding is a great skill to learn, and big useless donations like those are a great way to start. Learning when, how, and why to weed was one of the most useful things I took from graduate school, and it's stuck with me.
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Feb 18, 2021 22:09
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hydroceramics posted:I just finished my MLIS in December and am working fervently to become a library weirdo. Picked a hell of a time to try and find a job. OCLC seems more open to remote hiring these days fwiw.
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Feb 18, 2021 22:30
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Cloks posted:OCLC seems more open to remote hiring these days fwiw. Thanks! I'll add it into my rotation.
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Feb 18, 2021 23:38
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Coheed and Camembert posted:...never the full set, just a couple of full years... What exactly would a full set be? Over a decades worth with no missing issues?
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Feb 19, 2021 01:14
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Communist Zombie posted:What exactly would a full set be? Over a decades worth with no missing issues? NatGeo's been going for over a century.
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Feb 19, 2021 05:06
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In my city, the library branches set some space aside for donated books and sell them for super cheap, maybe fifty cents apiece, as a fundraiser. This only really works if you have the space though.
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Feb 19, 2021 08:59
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Our library has a couple of tree trunks they cut shelves into. The shelves all have plastic flaps. You can take and leave books as you like. Most aren't interesting to me (or in Catalán, which I'm not at all fluent in) but I got a few dictionaries from there.
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Feb 19, 2021 11:54
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Parahexavoctal posted:NatGeo's been going for over a century. So my library (public) actually had a full set. Hard bound. They took up a ton of room an no one ever looked at them. They were the coolest thing to sit down and look at but never once did anyone need them or ask for them. I kept trying to figure out something to use them for or promote them. Their covers were green so we did use them to build a book tree every Christmas. Then we migrated ILS systems and they mysteriously didn't transfer correctly. So we were allowed to get rid of them then.
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Feb 19, 2021 11:58
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We're doing a full rebuild of our reception/circulation area, luckily we're able to relocate the entrance and circulation to another building for six weeks. I made a bunch of signs that lay out what's happening, taped them to every entrance door, along with detailed maps how to get to the temporary entrance from that specific door, I'm putting the map on our website front and center, where an announcement has been for the past three weeks, and I'm giving it no more than one hour from opening on the first day of the rebuild until the first student waltzes in and asks the construction crew if they can drop off their books with them.
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Feb 20, 2021 19:02
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:Our library has a couple of tree trunks they cut shelves into. The shelves all have plastic flaps. You can take and leave books as you like. Most aren't interesting to me (or in Catalán, which I'm not at all fluent in) but I got a few dictionaries from there. I demand pictures of tree trunk Lil' Free Libraries. That sounds cool as heck, and our city just cut down a big rear end tree right around the corner from me. One of the perks of working at my former library was grabbing old donated science texts/encyclopedias that our Friends of the Library volunteers sorted/weeded. I make collage art using that sort of thing, and a Friend knew that. She'd come up to my desk with "JD, someone gave me the complete 1905 Popular Mechanics, do you want it?" and I'd be all "HELL YEAH". I'm also not ashamed to say that I'd go dumpster diving for them. Obviously as a library employee I know they can't keep everything and some have to go in the trash, but ooof, the treasures that got tossed sometimes slayed me. I almost tackled someone trying to put the complete Ring Cycle by Wagner on vinyl --- sealed, still in the cello wrap --- into the dumpster.
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Feb 21, 2021 00:50
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I'm way too cool to go diving for 'popular mechanics'. Now 'indie mechanics' on the other hand...
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Feb 21, 2021 01:49
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