oopsimblogging:
overheardinthelibrary:
kaylapocalypse:
hidingunderchairs:
tikkunolamorgtfo:
stupidjewishwhiteboy:
thefingerfuckingfemalefury:
drfitzmonster:
thefingerfuckingfemalefury:
flukeoftheuniverse:
cygnaut:
kimbureh:
fadagaski:
ooksaidthelibrarian:
kaylapocalypse:
aymielia:
nuriem2:
kaylapocalypse:
I think a lot of people forget that a library is a giant room filled with free awesome shit that you can take home and play with, no questions asked. just as long as you tell them you’re gonna, and remind them if you want to spend more time with the stuff.
I think the US library system should have a once a year advertising spree where they just have the phrase
“Libraries. Don’t forget: Things are free in here.”
Posted literally everywhere.
No. If ordinary people start going into libraries, libraries are going to get robbed. They’ll spend tons of money trying to replace missing books and they’ll be loud as hell. This is a terrible idea.
@nuriem2. are you for real?!
First: there’s no such thing as “ordinary”. People from all walks of life have always used libraries. The system I work for has ALWAYS had missing lists, and always will. It’s human nature: a certain percentage of items are always going to go missing. Most libraries take that into consideration when ordering materials.
We use strategies to curb things from walking off, of course: put video games and DVDs in locked cases, for example. But you’d be surprised how many people dont even know how that we have video games! Also, we have a SUPER EXTENSIVE digital collection, accessed for free with a library card. You dont even need the physical items! We also have a toy collection. That’s right, TOYS. For free with a library card. And they ALWAYS come back. We have access to makerspaces, audiovisual recording studios, and much more, all for free with a library card.
Still, we get patrons who walk off with things, improperly check things out (which adds to the missing list), and guess what we do? We constantly try to help patrons regain access to being able to check things out. We do a lot of fine forgiveness so that patrons can continue to take things home. We know a lot of people might not be able to pay their fines at the moment. So we try to work with them because life happens. We don’t judge or try to limit patrons. We try to help them to clear their cards.
Fuck outta here with that “going to get robbed” mindset. Libraries are free, and always will be. They stock way more things than youd ever imagine. Try walking in one some time. I bet it’s changed a lot since youve last been there.
^^^
Also, fuck the idea that libraries have to be quiet. In half an hour, I’ll be teaching kids how to make their own intruments from vardboard and a MakeyMakey set and they will play piano, bongos and a synthesizer that does fart sounds (they’re 8-10 years old…) and we’ll be doing it right in the library. The children’s library is never quiet.
There ARE quiet corner and there always will be, for people who want to work here. But on the whole, I prefer a library where people are not talking in hushed tones and walk around on tiptoes. I want them to feel at home and that bring a certain amount of noise with it.
Also, what is ordinary in your mind? What are these ordinary people you are talking about because I don’t think I have seen such a person in my life.
Seems to me that SOMEONE is well off enough to not need to use the services of a library, and not coincidentally, they believe poor people don’t deserve access to those same resources that, in owning them, SOMEONE feels superior.
I have an infinite love for libraries and it took some time to realize they offer so much more than “just” a huge treasure of books even though I visited libraries daily for years.
I didn’t expect them to offer other stuff like guided tours, public talks and discussions, workshops, help with research and computer software, etc, so I didn’t really see it at first. But libraries have a very important social role for people of ANY background! I can’t even be mad at library fees because I see them as a donation to a wonderful service that is otherwise free or almost completely free!
Libraries are for everyone
We also have AC in the summer and heat in the winter and comfortable places to sit. We have tables to work at and (sometimes) outlets to plug things into. We have a lawn and sometimes we put lawn games out on it. We have literacy services and free wifi and programs where you can play with LEGO or see a medieval weapons demonstration (we had a trebuchet on our lawn once - we launched water balloons with it) or learn about local history or geology or wine or dozens of other topics. We run video game nights and board game afternoons and computer classes and storytimes and we just started running trivia nights at a local pub. We have a display space local artists can apply to exhibit their work in and we host art shows from the local high schools once a year. And that’s just where I work. Some libraries can offer more, some can offer less, but we all do what we can.
Why do we do it all? Because EVERYONE DESERVES ACCESS. Every single ordinary person out there? They have the right to access information. Libraries aren’t for the elite. They’re for anyone who wants to use them. Hell, we have tons of material available online now. Stream it for free! Movies, shows, music, audio books, text, databases, newspapers. You don’t even have to physically come in the building again once you get a library card and you STILL get access to all of that. That’s why we fucking exist. For ordinary people and extraordinary people. For the people who can get it elsewhere and the people who can’t. We offer it free. Because you deserve it.
^ THIS
LIBRARIES ARE FOR ALL PEOPLE TO USE
this is why i love libraries and love working for one
and yes sometimes people steal things, but the vast majority of them do not
and even when people do steal things, we replace them and move on
because we are dedicated to providing access to all people
I would LOVE to work in a library…but I would probably get distracted by all the books! <3_<3
I do work in a library, and I do get distracted by all the books (and DVDs). My “to-read” lists are insane.
“If ordinary people start going into libraries…”
EXCUSE ME BUT WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK LIBRARIES ARE FOR????
Signed,
A Librarian
I have spent over thirty years working in libraries. They are the most radical and anarchist of institutions because we are so completely focused on making sure YOU find what you need – or even stuff you didn’t know you needed.
We figure out what there is a demand for and do our best to meet it. Good example: I love that when it became obvious that people were going to need to charge their phones, libraries put in charging stations and/or started to loan cables.
We are out there fighting against things like the PATRIOT act and DRM and things that threaten how information and media is used.
We are refuge for children who have nowhere else to go after school.
We help people learn basic skills and find jobs
We provide access to computers and the internet for those who do not have their own.
We enrich people’s lives EVERY SINGLE DAY because even when the doors aren’t open, the online resources are there.
And yes, @thefingerfuckingfemalefury there are many days when I have been distracted by the books but you know what I do? I stack them in a little pile and at the end of the day I check them out and take them home. If I don’t read them, I’ve lost nothing but the energy it took to carry them home.
^^^^
As a librarian I would like to add a quite from Andrew Carnegie on libraries, “This is not charity, this is not philanthropy, it is the people themselves helping themselves by taking themselves.”
I cannot tell you how many hundreds (if not thousands, to be honest) people I have had the absolute joy of working with in my time in public library service.
I have helped so many kids get excited about books and imagination and adventure and silliness and dealing with tough stuff.
I have definitely been the trustworthy and discrete adult who is NOT going to tell your parents/guidance counselor/Doctor that you’re interested in a book that actually talks about sexual health and safety.
I have had a woman completely break down in front of me because she just found out her teenage daughter was self-harming and she had no idea what to do, so she came to the library, and I spent about an hour listening to her and helping her find all kinds of ways to get her daughter support and find a safe space and how to deal with such a scary thing. She had to hug me before she left because it was the first time she felt hope since she had found out.
I’ve gotten to know persons experiencing homelessness by name (and hobby preference), and the calm smiles they give when they get greeted by name and welcomed inside remind me how valuable it is to have a space inside a community that you will ALWAYS be welcomed into.
I’ve helped people develop job skills, learn how to use a computer, learn how to read, learn new languages, learn new hobbies, learn a musical instrument, open businesses, explore career opportunities, write memoirs, travel the world, become artists, find their long lost family members, and on and on and on.
Any kind of human experience it is possible to share, exists in a book somewhere. Libraries will always be relevant so long as curiosity is a thing that humans experience.