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synthetik posted:Would you expand on this? I can’t find any type of write up or news about it. I have a fried. that works at Embry Riddle as the head (?) librarian and I haven’t been able to get in touch with him for a bit. Here. Ron the Con canceled the veto, at least for the FLVC, a day or two later, but I'm not in libraries anymore so I don't know what the fallout has been.
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Jul 11, 2020 13:23
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Thought the thread might like this https://twitter.com/harriscountypl/status/1285755874947076096?s=19
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Aug 4, 2020 07:41
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greazeball posted:Thought the thread might like this Very good
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Aug 10, 2020 05:37
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that is really just lovely. Truly lovely.
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Aug 10, 2020 05:42
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My experience with curbside pickup: super super convenient. Mom and I drive into town to get our meds (drive-through pickup) at the local drugstore, call the library and I walk the dog up and down the block while mom grabs the books and we head home, repeat every few days or weeks, toss in stopping by the grocery store as needed. My dog loves the roadtrips, and I love the books. Some wrinkles: - return books 3-4 days before the due date, as due to the book quarantine they will not get scanned in time. I had to call the library to get my account unblocked so I could put more holds on books - as I cannot browse at the library I must browse at home. Apparently I can put eleven items on hold at once - I'm tempted to find out what the limit is, but I do like to actually read things - I'm a giant moron who will get out of the car and walk up to the library and THEN realize I forgot my mask in the car. If you're the librarian who saw me do this last week: I'm sorry.
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Aug 10, 2020 06:05
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Curbside Larry is awesome, thanks greazeball!StrixNebulosa posted:Some wrinkles: Well that's unfortunate, and should be an easy fix for their IT dept. Back in the Before Times, we naturally had a one-day grace period before fines accrued if you used a bookdrop, because maybe you dropped it off when we were closed, or it slid behind the bins the chute dropped into, or the van that collected from remote drops broke down, etc. And if weather got insane (snowstorm, hurricane, etc), IT would get the go-ahead to put as long of a grace period as necessary. If they've got a 3-4 day quarantine wait, then you should have a 4 day grace period, at the very least. You drop it off today, the 10th, fines/penalties shouldn't start until the 14th, IMO. quote:- as I cannot browse at the library I must browse at home. Apparently I can put eleven items on hold at once - I'm tempted to find out what the limit is, but I do like to actually read things quote:- I'm a giant moron who will get out of the car and walk up to the library and THEN realize I forgot my mask in the car. If you're the librarian who saw me do this last week: I'm sorry. I either do this or the opposite --- frantically rummaging thru my backpack for a bandanna when I've still got one around my neck.
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Aug 10, 2020 21:29
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Curbside Larry is great. The only thing I dislike is that it’s Harris County Public Library and I work for Houston Public Library (Harris is the county houston is in) and we’ve had calls/chats asking if he works for us and I have to disappoint people.
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Aug 10, 2020 22:23
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Same, especially when I've got the Dewey system burned into my brain and just wanna head over to 641.5 to look at cookbooks or 199 to read about interesting religions, etc. Also since most libraries I've been to have a "New Books" section, so you can see what may have just come in and be pleasantly surprised with, say, "oh hey look at this new coffee table book on Dali" which I wouldn't have noticed unless I happened to be searching for books on Surrealist art. My library is in the ncls.org system so at this point I just think of a random word like "tarot" or "ants" and put it in and see what pops. It's nowhere near as satisfying as walking the shelves but I take what I can get. My primary library has like five employees total, no IT department, so it's usually easy to call 'em up and go "hey Dorothy? It's me, can you unblock my account?" and voila! They also have a lenient grace period for winters here - I am not braving a blizzard to return a book, and I appreciate them not fining me for that.
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Aug 11, 2020 02:11
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I never thought I'd say such a thing, but I wish the library next door was still shut down because the lights go on at 4 AM even though the place doesn't open until 10. And apparently they have funding for ten-squillion-watt bulbs. It's 4:45 am, that's how my goddamn day is going. UGH WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DETAILING THE BOOKS?!
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Aug 11, 2020 03:53
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:I never thought I'd say such a thing, but I wish the library next door was still shut down because the lights go on at 4 AM even though the place doesn't open until 10. And apparently they have funding for ten-squillion-watt bulbs. Probably discouraging 'vagrants'. 
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Aug 11, 2020 04:25
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:I never thought I'd say such a thing, but I wish the library next door was still shut down because the lights go on at 4 AM even though the place doesn't open until 10. And apparently they have funding for ten-squillion-watt bulbs.  That is really bizarre. Even in this bizarre coronapocalypse hellworld I can't think of any reason for a library to be working that early. Grasping at straws, but all I can imagine is some person with a deathly fear of working with the public who will only work when no one's there. As an anecdote, immediately after 9/11 and then the anthrax-in-the-mail scare, our book drop courier/mail room person went super-paranoid and wore a mask and gloves to handle everything. Because surely the evil Muslim terrorists might target a semi-rural library branch in Bumfuck, Virginia! I could see her doing something like that now, insisting she only work in the wee hours so those dastardly Asians (all, like, 3 of them in that zip code) don't get her with their bat-eating cooties. Captain Monkey posted:Probably discouraging 'vagrants'. Yeah, that too. But wouldn't they keep the lights on all night, then?
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Aug 11, 2020 04:46
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The lights are probably on some automated timer set by the city/county and someone hosed up the settings.
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Aug 11, 2020 04:56
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Forgot this thread existed or I would've posted earlier, but thought some of you might like to know that the OG extremely online library crazy person, Dan 'Dan Kleinman of safelibraries.org' Kleinman, has finally been banned from Twitter. https://mobile.twitter.com/SafeLibraries
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Aug 12, 2020 23:32
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I'm trying to figure out who this Crazy is. Seems like someone who thinks 'sexually explicit' stuff doesn't belong in the library because 'Won't Someone Think of the Children'?
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Aug 12, 2020 23:57
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SomeJazzyRat posted:I'm trying to figure out who this Crazy is. Seems like someone who thinks 'sexually explicit' stuff doesn't belong in the library because 'Won't Someone Think of the Children'? I tried to read that Angelfire-lookin', TimeCube-crazy website and my brain pulled one of these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ibBDB2OFr8 For a person sure concerned about libraries and the written word, you'd think they'd know that, well... to crib from Fleta McGurn: "Capital Letters Are a Thing". Anyways, what I could glean before my brain peaced-out: dude seems worried about the safety of kids reading "pornographic" material, and that's why kids are not safe in libraries. Not, like, the reality, which is parents dropping their kids off unattended for hours on end as if librarians are babysitters.  (edit: this being in the Before Times, of course)
JacquelineDempsey fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Aug 13, 2020 |
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Aug 13, 2020 00:13
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SomeJazzyRat posted:I'm trying to figure out who this Crazy is. Seems like someone who thinks 'sexually explicit' stuff doesn't belong in the library because 'Won't Someone Think of the Children'? I'll give you the Reader's Digest version: Over twenty years ago, a child checked out a book from their elementary school library that their father thought was inappropriate, and he devoted his life from that day forward to having extremely wrong opinions about the operations and governance of school and public libraries. He would scour the internet every day for mentions of 'library porn', offering to help every small-town wingnut who wanted Harry Potter or Pokemon removed from the shelves under the guise of 'local control'. A former patent attorney, he had just enough legal knowledge to impress laypeople, but routinely got destroyed by anyone with actual familiarity with libraries and the rules governing them. Despite getting endlessly dunked on, he never admitted defeat, never conceded a single point, never acknowledged that his opponents could possibly be acting in good faith. He would rather hit himself in the dick with a hammer than admit he was wrong about anything, ever. Eventually, his all-consuming crusade likely coupled with undiagnosed, untreated mental illness drove away his family and friends, save for other extremely online conspiracy theorists. By the time of his twitterban, his content was as much about George Soros, Pizzagate, and Qanon as the ALA. All in all, a sad, strange little man, and my all-time favorite Internet Crazy Person. More here for the masochistic: https://litwinbooks.com/rory-litwin-interviews-safelibraries-dan-kleinman/ https://catecinem.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/kleinman/
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Aug 13, 2020 01:28
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Mary Annette posted:I'll give you the Reader's Digest version: thank you for this
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Aug 13, 2020 04:58
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Mary Annette posted:I'll give you the Reader's Digest version: Hold on. His whole thing started because a book *mentioned* skinny-dipping? I mean that's what I'm getting from the first link (which honestly I couldn't get far in, I kept getting Internet Angry)
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Aug 13, 2020 12:37
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When I think of library porn I think of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
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Aug 13, 2020 14:04
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Proteus Jones posted:Hold on. His whole thing started because a book *mentioned* skinny-dipping? I mean that's what I'm getting from the first link (which honestly I couldn't get far in, I kept getting Internet Angry) Maybe. I actually did manage to read through all of the first link, and he just kept refusing to give a straight answer to what, specifically, he had an issue with in the book. Same with answering what he considered appropriate for children, and who he felt was to blame for kids having access to material he thought was inappropriate. He also kept insisting that he didn't make the principal of his kid's school pull the book from their library, she did that on her own after saying it was "two times worse than what <he> said".
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Aug 14, 2020 23:47
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tinytort posted:Maybe. I actually did manage to read through all of the first link, and he just kept refusing to give a straight answer to what, specifically, he had an issue with in the book. Same with answering what he considered appropriate for children, and who he felt was to blame for kids having access to material he thought was inappropriate. If you really go down the rabbit hole of his interactions with library professionals, you'll see a pattern of weasel words that is one of his defining and most infuriating characteristics, especially when it comes to LGBTQ content. Kleinman, personally, portrays himself as an ally, but frequently aligns himself with individuals trying to get queer-related material pulled from libraries for no other reason than they make him feel important. For all his claims of neutrality and just wanting 'citizens to have a voice', he'll enthusiastically help any bigot or bully who pretends his self-appointed title of 'the nation's leading expert on ALA control of public libraries' means something.
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Aug 16, 2020 16:53
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It's a book about a giantess who likes skinny dipping so it could be totally innocent or someone inserting their fetish into a nominally innocent context (like Kevin and Kell). I'm sure as hell not going to try and judge that though.
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Aug 16, 2020 18:04
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Scarodactyl posted:It's a book about a giantess who likes skinny dipping so it could be totally innocent or someone inserting their fetish into a nominally innocent context (like Kevin and Kell). I'm sure as hell not going to try and judge that though. Not the point, but OK
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Aug 16, 2020 22:50
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https://twitter.com/themaggiegosney/status/1295435928509571072?s=21
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Aug 18, 2020 15:09
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If you put a book in the microwave, I’ll put you in a microwave, Kickass style.
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Aug 19, 2020 20:33
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Re: makerspaces Is there a general consensus on whether or not library staff would be cool with someone learning to use them? A branch of my local library has one and I'd love to regularly make a bunch of lovely 3d prints at cost and take on the odd woodworking project. However, if they're generally regarded as a waste of space by the staff, maybe the more polite thing would be for me to stay away and let it die, instead of being a single, enthusiastic point in favor of keeping it: "Well, this one guy uses the place all the time. Last week, he made a cat tree and 3d printed some tabletop minis. Other than him, nothing." Hello Sailor fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Aug 20, 2020 |
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Aug 20, 2020 23:15
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I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about the whole makerspace thing but in general most library workers want people to use the library, I'd go for it so long as you're able to work a little independently. Also remember to check in if there are any specific rules regarding COVID-19 as that has changed operations a lot I'd say the dislike of makerspaces isn't any special prejudice against makerspaces, it's the constant jockeying for funding at the expense of other services, and that's gonna keep happening whether you show up or not
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Aug 20, 2020 23:37
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If there is already a makerspace I'm sure they'd be thrilled that some weirdo wants to use it all the time. That's what it's there for.
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Aug 20, 2020 23:39
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If you’re not a prick, I adore it every time someone uses literally any library service, even the ones that are difficult or frustrating for me. You don’t accept a library salary unless you like helping people.
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Aug 21, 2020 04:37
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We have a brand new library building that is not open to the public because of the pandemic. I wonder if they have a maker space.
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Aug 21, 2020 05:25
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Hello Sailor posted:Re: makerspaces this is such a sad question dude just go get yours. get in there. too polite to use the library, you're breaking my heart
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Aug 21, 2020 06:02
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Go in and use that mofo! That's why it's there! I love makerspaces, god drat.
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Aug 21, 2020 07:07
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I don't know how you're all managing but my library is getting very stressful during our long period of reduced service. Gone are all of the activities, special visitors, community outreach, reference and enquiries. It's just book in, book out. Same poo poo every single day with none of the stuff anyone enjoys. The staff are losing their minds with the tight restrictions and sheer tedium of each day. I've got the dubious pleasure of a recent promotion so now I manage the place and my paperwork is greater than ever, but I'm seriously struggling to keep coming up with anything fun or interesting for everyone else to do. I'm guessing some of you are in a similar position, can anyone share ideas of interesting projects to work on that don't run afoul of the necessary restrictions? Any good ideas for distractions? We had some relief in recording online events for the summer reading challenge but that's ending now.
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Aug 21, 2020 23:17
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I don't have a good answer for what to do. But the morale of my (now former) library system is rock bottom. Multiple rounds of layoffs, with staff getting sent to either different branches (with nothing to actually do at these branches) or getting sent to do coronavirus call center stuff. All programs in the county have to be approved by admin so librarians feel like they don't have any agency. Nobody feels like the upper management cares about anyone's health. When multiple staff members got sick at a branch and the remaining staff closed up because they were concerned, admin called them back and said they had to work the rest of the day. And now the county librarian announced her retirement at the end of September lol. I think she's worked for us less than 2 years.
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Aug 22, 2020 00:49
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DeadFatDuckFat posted:I don't have a good answer for what to do. But the morale of my (now former) library system is rock bottom. Multiple rounds of layoffs, with staff getting sent to either different branches (with nothing to actually do at these branches) or getting sent to do coronavirus call center stuff. All programs in the county have to be approved by admin so librarians feel like they don't have any agency. Nobody feels like the upper management cares about anyone's health. When multiple staff members got sick at a branch and the remaining staff closed up because they were concerned, admin called them back and said they had to work the rest of the day. And now the county librarian announced her retirement at the end of September lol. I think she's worked for us less than 2 years. That sucks pal, I'm in a similar situation except still employed (for now) and no one has gotten sick (yet), and people are either super overworked and stressed or have absolutely nothing to do. I'm also just starting my MLIS and feeling like I've made a huge mistake. No idea what else I can do except keep working and doing school and hoping I don't get sick or laid off. Maybe the job market for MLIS will be better in a few years???? lol fat chance EDIT: Post your backup plan ITT
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Aug 22, 2020 01:17
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Tippecanoe posted:That sucks pal, I'm in a similar situation except still employed (for now) and no one has gotten sick (yet), and people are either super overworked and stressed or have absolutely nothing to do. I'm also just starting my MLIS and feeling like I've made a huge mistake. No idea what else I can do except keep working and doing school and hoping I don't get sick or laid off. Maybe the job market for MLIS will be better in a few years???? lol fat chance Oh, I got laid off but then the county gave me priority with placing me elsewhere. I'm doing contact tracing, and even though I don't really like doing it that much, the benefits are much better and the pay is higher than my library job. Working from home is also nice. Its a project position though, so it only lasts a max of 2 years. I'll get first dibs if they bring back my old library job though.
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Aug 22, 2020 02:11
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Tippecanoe posted:That sucks pal, I'm in a similar situation except still employed (for now) and no one has gotten sick (yet), and people are either super overworked and stressed or have absolutely nothing to do. I'm also just starting my MLIS and feeling like I've made a huge mistake. No idea what else I can do except keep working and doing school and hoping I don't get sick or laid off. Maybe the job market for MLIS will be better in a few years???? lol fat chance Masters in Instructional Design. My library system is about the same as the others. Executive team has no clue and doesn’t care, middle management trying their best, actual staff either overworked or have nothing to do, and locations randomly getting shut down for cases (also they’re farming us out to cycle us through the various closed to the public locations because that makes sense).
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Aug 22, 2020 05:24
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Captain Mediocre posted:I don't know how you're all managing but my library is getting very stressful during our long period of reduced service. As a VERY frequent library patron (just returned ten books today and checked out two DVDs), thank you so so so so so much for keeping them up and running, they've been a life-saver.
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Aug 22, 2020 06:16
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Captain Mediocre posted:I don't know how you're all managing but my library is getting very stressful during our long period of reduced service. I just resigned my position as a middle manager in a fairly large library system that had moved from curbside to limited reopening on July 6 with self service highly encouraged. Even with being reopen the feelings of stress and nothing to do have not lifted. Administration is having to bend their knee to county officials with the threat of layoffs but refuses to admit this to staff which just has staff not trusting anything administration does. And all of their complaints aren't going where they could make a difference. At my branch my management team decided that this was probably the best chance we would have for getting everyone up to speed on training. Improving customer service, learning the 3d printer, becoming experts on the software and services we offer to the public. We have a checklist for each staff member. Staff can choose what they want to work on first. And we have other staff as trainers to help guide and also to empower staff in leading. And it was easier to get staff excited because they could self direct for the most part. (Some trainings might even have the added benefit of improving resumes.) And if someone feels particularly strong at training, maybe they can make videos for the public about using library services. And our two biggest projects are readers advisory and "outreach" which engage all staff and give them an easy way to feel like they're still making a difference in people's lives. Readers advisory is a no brainer since most library staff do enjoy books and if they can engage the few patrons we have on the phone or in person there's an immediate human connection over talking about a shared joy. And our outreach is about meeting people where they are if asynchronously. So staff prepared activity packets that our homebound service would deliver with books. Or we took some family oriented ones to the shelter next door. And we purchased the materials for a story walk to place along one of the public footpaths. To keep people reading as they socially distanced and exercised outside. We also had monthly article/training discussions (were weekly while we were closed to public) so that staff could read about how other libraries were handling the pandemic and social unrest. We talked about trauma and stress management and empathy and mindfulness. We tried to acknowledge all the difficulties we and our public is experiencing to hopefully help everyone feel heard and better prepared. Was/is any of this successful? I don't know. Maybe it was like so many management projects: well intentioned but hardly effective. But I am a firm believer that having goals, no matter how short a timeframe, can help at least some people. I hate that I had to leave my position and it probably only added to their stress by now being without a branch manager, but like so many other things in this pandemic I didn't have much control over it. I hope some of these ideas help you to think of ways to keep staff excited to come to work and get them thinking about the library's purpose more broadly and seeing their own ways to help the community. Because it is a frustrating time not being able to see your worth. Good luck! a friendly penguin fucked around with this message at 15:24 on Aug 22, 2020 |
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Aug 22, 2020 15:20
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Right now it's kind of relentless - we're at reduced open hours and partial furlough. There are no programs, no meetings, and no 1-on-1's. We have more staff on the floor for cleaning, plus a lot of stuff that was partially automated has to be done by hand now to prevent cross-contamination with quarantined materials. So everyone's just out working directly with the public all of the time and/or doing extra physical labor behind the scenes. I have a couple staff members with chronic health issues and their anxiety is understandably through the roof. I just try to relieve pressure where I can by doing some of the physical stuff myself and giving staff time for webinars and rotating the easy shifts, but there's not much room for it. As far as the job market goes, no idea what it will look like in the future but at least in my library system a lot of those librarians that were totally about to retire when I started my MLS in 2008 have finally been retiring the last couple years. Of course we're currently on a hiring freeze. In one sense I feel "lucky" about my timing - entered management last year and I've been getting loooooooots of experience the last couple months.
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