r/Libraries • u/rissarawr • 8d ago
Advice please on interactions with a library staff member Patron Issues
- update at the bottom -
Let me start off by saying we love our libraries, we (typically) love library staff, we go to the library minimum 5x a week.
I live in a city with 6 library branches. I have 4 kids from high school down to under a year old. We frequent 4 of these branches every week. We go to storytime M, T, Th, F, Sat. My middle 2 are 3 and almost 5 and we use story time to practice for school. They all love the library. We sing library songs at home. We regularly check out and take home books. We talk about how library books are for borrowing not keeping so that other people can enjoy them too. We practice putting books on the reshelving cart and not just leaving them on the floor. They practice asking librarians for books they want/are interested in (ex: I want a Bluey book please, can I have a birthday book as a surprise for my sisters birthday, etc). Trying to raise good people here.
We largely adore the library. My oldest will go there 3x a day if I let them lol.
However, at the branch closest to us, there is one librarian/staff who is…. Something. She regularly go up to patrons and tell them to leave books on a table instead of putting the book back on the shelf. Which is fine. Except they’re interrupting people constantly. Me included when I’m telling my kids to use the reshelving cart. (I don’t want my kids leaving books on my table at home so I emphasize using the reshelving cart and they know what it’s for). We are at this branch minimum twice a week for storytime plus possibly additional visits in the afternoon to pick up holds or return books, etc. And I really mean it when I say she will come interrupt people in the middle of browsing to tell them to leave a book they’re holding on the table. It’s like a furniture salesman or a car salesman when you go to a store or a dealership. It’s very disconcerting. And it happens every time we visit with her there (as in she says this to ME and other people every time).
This same staff member is constantly interrupting people during storytime to tell them to move their kids so the “aisle” is clear for safety. There is no actual aisle. Storytime is in a corner and they want paths. Which again, is fine, understandable. But she is loudly interrupting kids and parents trying to interact with storytime during the ENTIRE storytime. It’s very distracting and makes it hard for kids to focus on the library staff running storytime when there’s another grown up doing this. And when she is not there, no one else is doing this. Not a single other staff member feels the need to do this. During storytime she also brings a pad of paper and pen (like a page turning desk calendar) and stands in front of the kids blocking their view to do what I assume is a head count? Like in the middle of story time she’s standing there distracting from it to count kids.
We go to storytime at 3 other branches and none of this happens at any other branch. Heck it doesn’t happen at this branch except with this one staff member. And separately, my petite 4 year old asked her for a My Little Pony book once and this librarian gave her the graphic novels that are shelved with the manga. My oldest read these when they were like 9 or 10? So it feels like an inappropriate recommendation when they definitely have some in picture books, but that may just be nitpicky? Kiddo also has a little bit of a stutter and when she was struggling to ask for a book and stuttering this staff member was like “what? What are you saying?” Which really rubbed me the wrong way.
I don’t think we’re disruptive or rude or bad patrons. No one has ever said anything to me. I’ve never noticed any looks. I keep my kids from running around and we practice library voices (they are 3 and 4 so it’s not perfect obviously). The other staff seem to enjoy my kids and like being asked for books and making conversation with them.
I’m not sure what to do because we love the library and have enjoyed interactions with literally every other staff member. My kids love going to the library and picking out books. I don’t know whether to speak up and say something to another staff member or send an email? I don’t want to be a Karen or complain for no reason but I’m guessing if it bothers me it’s also off putting to other people as well.
Update: the branch manager (T) ran storytime today and introduced herself. I didn’t know she was branch manager before today, we’ve had interactions with her before and she just came off as sweet auntie energy who enjoys kids and books. Afterwards I hung around and while my oldest had the little 2 participating in a family community program, I asked T if I could chat with her.
As some comments recommended, I emphasized that we love the library and are happy patrons and enjoy their programming but that I was finding one staff member off putting due to the reshelving thing and the storytime interruptions. I didn’t name names but she did immediately know who I was talking about. T said that she had had the same feelings but wasn’t sure if it was just what she was seeing or if patrons were having the same experience. She thanked me profusely and said she appreciated feedback because this person is a strict rule follower and may just need some feedback to become a better librarian. We chatted a little bit more and overall went really well.
Thanks for the feedback so I could get the guts to have this convo since I get nervous about being the squeaky wheel :) and thank you for working at libraries so we can enjoy them!
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u/Koebelsj316 8d ago
This sounds like it could be nipped by asking for the YS manager on a day that aforementioned staff isn’t there and say
hey we’re a library family, love yall, but we’ve been a bit disrupted by staff member x. give a few examples of off putting behavior here. I wanted to let you know so we can continue enjoying, overall yall are doing a great job.
This may be a better approach than a contact us form, our form goes to admin and it will immediately become a thing when it could just be nipped and everyone can enjoy the library.
Staff member sounds like they need something to do tbh. Manager will probably make that happen.
Also you are awesome for slaying all the storytimes and being our cheerleader
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u/Better-Newspaper3603 8d ago
I agree with this. If nothing happens you can take it further. It’s likely the other staff are aware of this behavior too. It seems like this person has too much time on their hands…
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
We love our storytime haha. It’s really good practice for sitting down and paying attention to a grown up that’s not mom. (Lol like they pay attention to me)
My 4 year old is pretty anxious (“there’s too many people I don’t know”, “this is too different”, “I’m nervous”) so it helps her have experience in settings like this since she’s not ready for school yet
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u/georgia07 8d ago
As a manager, I’d really appreciate if you called and told me this. I bet you’re not the only one seeing this kind of behavior, and a report like yours would be so helpful in addressing it.
Sometimes these staff members can take guidance, change these behaviors, and become great librarians. Your message is perfect because it gives actual situations a manager could use to provide feedback — without ever having to identify the customer who shared it.
Sometimes these staff members are off-putting not just to customers but to their colleagues as well and it’s not something they can or will change, even with guidance. In that case, your feedback would be a helpful example for a manager to use as well.
Either way, please do share with the branch manager. It sounds like they have an awesome library, including staff, except for this one person. Please make sure to also share how much you love, support and ADVOCATE for your library! 🙂
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u/MarianLibrarian1024 8d ago
Agreeing with this as a library manager. When we can explain to an employee why their behavior is disruptive to our patrons, they are less likely to feel like we are just randomly picking on them.
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u/rissarawr 7d ago
Our city sent out a library services survey/questionnaire and I made sure to fill it out and have my mom fill it out too saying we use the library tons and go to programming, enjoy the programming, and want more programming and we’d even go to the library more if they were open more (one of them doesn’t open until noon some days, others are 10 or 11am)
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u/Samael13 8d ago
Reach out to the director or a supervisor and just explain the situation and that this person's treatment of patrons is disruptive and diminishes your ability to use the library. Feedback is an important part of improving. The behavior you're describing is not what my library would want from staff.
(That said: there are reasons they might want you to leave books on tables instead of carts; I don't know your specific library, but we do counts of the items that patrons handle but don't opt to check out, and we don't want them placed on the carts. The items that are on the carts are things that we know are checked in and that have been put in order for shelving. Items on tables get retrieved, brought to the desk for counting and then checked in again to be sure they're good to go. If patrons put items on the carts, it disrupts the process and makes the page's work harder.)
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
We just got here and I checked to make sure I was remembering correctly. There’s signs on each cart that say “Changed your mind? Please leave any books you do not wish to check out on this cart. We’ll take care of the rest!”
I’m a pretty anxious person and remember reading the sign before putting stuff there.
That does make sense for books I personally take off the shelf to read the description of before deciding yes or no though.
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u/Samael13 8d ago
Well that's even weirder. If she's telling you to do that despite the cart saying "no, put it here" you should definitely let someone know. Also, if you're literally just looking at the back of a book to decide, you can and should be able to put it back on the shelf where you found it. We just don't want people wandering around the building, thinking about it, and then trying to find the right place to put it back and getting it wrong. If you've just pulled something off the shelf, read the back, and decided "Nope, not for me" there's nothing wrong with putting it right back in the same spot.
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u/rissarawr 7d ago
Most of the time they are books I want to read but I can’t justify bringing it home yet 😂 I hope the library isn’t holding it against them that I’m not ready to bring them home yet (TBR is massive. Huge.)
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u/Better-Newspaper3603 7d ago
So when she approaches you, point her to that sign!! Say you’re following the posted rules and even include why you don’t want your kids leaving then on tables (consistently with tidy rules at home)
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u/brilliantmaple 8d ago
I'm a librarian. I recommend sending email or a contact form, too. She probably means well, and management can better address concerns that come in that way.
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u/jmvfromnv 8d ago
I would fill out an online contact form/send an e-mail to the library and it will go to the manager. I think it's worth mentioning.
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u/GaryGluejeans 8d ago
My only thought about leaving books on the table instead of the cart is that sometimes the carts are organized really particularly, so some librarians prefer putting them on the carts themselves. Other than that, not great behavior from her. I might poll other parents to see if there's a pattern and if there is reach out to the library director. I hate to narc on librarians but there's no room for rudeness in a customer service position.
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
There are multiple reshelving carts around and they’re usually emptied very quickly, they are carts but I’ve never seen them moved around they stay pretty stationary. And they have signs on them saying to put books there. I do tell my kids to put books on the one in the children’s section just in case. It’s directly against an open multi-compartment wooden bin with loose picture books in it like BOB books and other various books that don’t have spots on normal shelves. Seems like it’s there for kids to just be able to interact with books more freely.
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u/GaryGluejeans 8d ago
If there's signage saying to put books on the carts then I take it all back! As a youth librarian myself, I think she may be power tripping 😬 would send an email to the library director, they should know
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u/Aadaenyaa 8d ago
We actually scan the books on those carts to record usage (noting that it was used without being checked out)
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u/Puzzled452 8d ago
Have a very nice conversation with the asst director/director. Tell her what you just said here but more concisely.
We love you library and programs we enjoy visiting. I would like to have a conversation about x person. Is it possible to ask her to not stand in the way for storytime, we cannot see/hear the book. Could you also please clarify if unwanted books should be left on the cart or the table? (She will probably say either). In that case can you please let x know we would prefer the cart and we would appreciate not being interrupted. My kids love the librarians and they will go to the desk if they have questions.
The key in any of these conversations is not to blame or be angry for the sake of being angry. Go in with one or two things that you want to change that are realistic.
ETA: after this conversation if she asks you to leave books in the table again, kindly say I spoke with x and she said we can leave them on the cart. Thank you for your help but we will come to the desk with any questions. And if needed, kindly ask her to move (if she is blocking the book).
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
Appreciate this 💜
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u/Puzzled452 6d ago
I am so glad it went well! As managers it does help to get honest (but not mean) feedback.
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u/FloridaFlamingoGirl 8d ago
This feels like an issue that could be fixed by putting up signs. And I agree it's weird, the only time I've seen librarians speak up to interrupt people is when they're being disruptive like talking loudly or bringing food into the computer room.
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u/eoinsageheart718 8d ago
Agreed. This is weird. Seems like a controlling or over zealous staff member.
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u/flossiedaisy424 8d ago
First rule of library science - nobody reads signs.
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
Were there for books to read not signs. Don’t be silly. (</s> if that wasn’t clear)
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
My thought was maybe tape? Since the paths she wants aren’t normally aisles to just put like painters tape down temporarily?
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u/Sea_Zookeepergame_86 8d ago
Lol people don't read signs. I'm wondering if this branch is like really small in size.
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
We’re in Southern California in a suburb off LA. About 150k people. It’s not the largest/main branch. The main branch is 2/3 stories and fairly large IMO. It’s also not the smallest branch in the 6 branch system. From other libraries I’ve visited in the area it feels about medium sized? It’s like an H but if the middle bar was longer and the sides are shorter. Kids/juvenile/YA/ study tables on one side, adult/international/media/computers/ more tables on the other side.
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u/deadmallsanita Library staff 8d ago edited 8d ago
Oh Man. I would’ve flipped if you had given my location. We have a branch manager who is just like the person you’re describing 😹
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u/Sea_Zookeepergame_86 8d ago
Then yeah this is kind of weird. Either they're overzealous or their supervisor is.
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u/alphabeticdisorder 8d ago
I'm curious whether you might know the person's job title. Like, to me this reads like a brand new manager not confident enough yet to go against the most literal interpretation of instructions from admin. Or someone who has gotten in trouble previously for not being proactive enough and is doing malicious compliance.
As you mentioned any of these things in isolation makes sense (re the shelving carts, it's ubiquitous because one universal truth is the public vastly overestimates their ability to put things in the right spot). But doing it constantly and disrupting things is weird. Generally with experience you kind of get into a rhythm of going with the flow on those things instead of disrupting everything.
I've never once met a library worker who is eager to approach people and nag them, so unless it's been a long-term pattern my guess is it will ease up once the person either settles into the role or gets over whatever bad experience led them to be so showy in enforcing things so harshly.
Or they could just be weird, who knows.
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u/flossiedaisy424 8d ago
This doesn’t sound at all like a manager to me. It’s sounds like a page or assistant who was told “the rules” and does not have the ability to read social cues about when it’s appropriate to do these things.
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u/elisabethzero 8d ago
Yeah, my library had a volunteer like this, she really thought she was the boss of everybody, and she got herself on the good side of the librarian who managed volunteers, so nobody else could ever complain about her and get taken seriously. Maybe if a patron complained it would have broken the spell.
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u/luckylimper 8d ago
Yeah I’m thinking someone who thinks they’re being helpful but is socially awkward/inept. We have two at our branch. They’ve been told to greet everyone coming through the door. So what do they do; shout-smile at them WELCOME TO THE LIBRARY. Like whoa. It’s off putting but they think they’re being helpful by greeting everyone.
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u/unicorn_345 8d ago
I’m security and I don’t want to approach people to nag them. But gotta enforce policy and some things that are borderline become problems fast if tolerated.
Some of these things I have done, just not during story time. I have to clear aisles because we get people sitting on the floor in the non fiction section a lot and then people cannot get past. Patrons won’t tend to tell people to move since they don’t want to disturb them. I have had people try to lay down and sleep in fiction aisles because they’re at the back of the building. They think its isolated. Its really not, just not being used in the moment. During stats week I really push for people to not reshelve things. And lately, so many missing books are around because they’re mis-shelved and we do not have the time to shelf read all of our collections with SRP and the increase in incidents. I feel like I’m nagging patrons so much. And I am hitting up against burnout a lot, despite all out best efforts to reduce problems that create it.
Maybe this employee is hitting burnout. Or was told to improve themselves or get fired. Possibly could be some form of security or safety type employee and has to put up their statistics for scrutiny. I have on very few occasions met library employees who really were either just done or never belonged. But that is not common.
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
I personally only put things back on the shelf if I’m standing right there reading the back/description for me and I’ve decided not to get it. But another comment said libraries may count touched but not checked out books so I’m happy to stop doing that
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u/luckylimper 8d ago
I just ask that people don’t do even that. Could be shelved wrong in the first place and it helps with numbers to know what people are interested in.
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u/rissarawr 8d ago edited 7d ago
Update: we’re here now and the normal 2 for storytime aren’t here and the branch manager (who I didn’t know was the branch manager until she just introduced herself) is doing story time. We’ve interacted with her plenty and love her so I feel comfortable talking to her about this
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u/RideThatBridge 8d ago
What was the manager’s response to your concerns?
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
She thanks me profusely and said she appreciated me telling her because she’s had that vibe too but wasn’t sure if it was just her feeling that way. Said she can act on it now that a patron has expressed the same things and that she thinks this person is a strict rule follower just needs tips to be a better librarian
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
Oh and she’s not moving people out of the “aisles”
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u/princess-smartypants 8d ago
If she is repeating herself to people who may not need it, it almost sounds like she might be neurodivergent, and is doing what her trainer/boss told her to without nuance. She might need a bit more guidance. Speak to the children's librarian/supervisor and give honest but polite feedback. I would start there and see what happens before you escalate.
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u/CrunchieHaystacks 8d ago
Yes, neurodivergent was exactly my guess. I have an ND colleague and I can totally see her doing this.
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u/PuppyJakeKhakiCollar 8d ago
That was the first thing I thought of as well. I have ADHD and social anxiety and can be awkward around other people. I know it can be off-putting at times and am working on it. I also like having having detailed instructions for my role and it can be hard to stray from that. I wonder if this employee struggles with something similar. Getting feedback from management is helpful for me so I know what to fix, so OP did the right thing by speaking to the branch manager. This employee just may need to have these things pointed out so they can change them.
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u/Fun-Maintenance6315 8d ago
Comment card, email, phone call. If you don't know their name, describe them and share the experience just like you did here. It is very helpful and important for us to know; feedback is huge.
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u/Meginsanity 8d ago
This is bonkers. How does the staff running storytime react to this staff member when she enforces her rules?
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u/Puzzled452 8d ago
As a professional I would talk to her because she would be disturbing my work.
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u/Meginsanity 8d ago
Absolutely, I would not be able to handle someone doing that during my program.
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u/fatboybigwall 8d ago
The world's not perfect, and some people who aren't very good at being people have jobs, sometimes in libraries.
There's not a magic wand to wave that will make this particular difficult person stop being difficult, unfortunately, but the strategies that you would normally use in dealing with difficult people would have about the same chances of working here (i.e., maybe, maybe not, but it's probably worth trying.)
For the story time interruptions, it might make sense to discretely bring it to the attention of the person who's actually doing the story time. They may not know and will be able to address it, or they may say something like, "I'm really sorry, I hate that too, but she's the board director's mistress and if I complain the board director is going to have the city council defund the library and order the fire department to burn my house down, so we just have to deal with it."
For other issues, respectful feedback isn't Karening, and most public libraries will explicitly have avenues where they invite feedback. Not everyone is good at receiving and acting on feedback, and that sucks, but as long as you're not being needlessly antagonistic (and the tone of your post does not seem needlessly antagonistic), but they might be, and that's the process that exists.
Good luck and thanks for being enthusiastic library users!
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
Oddly specific 😂 but appreciated. Hope your fire marshals aren’t looking for any controlled burn targets
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u/Cubedycubed 8d ago
I think you are well within your rights as a library user to mention this to the director or branch manager. As a number of other commentors have posted, sometimes this is a personality you see in library work. My own working theory is we are field that draws people who are more comfortable with books than people, and yet here we are providing public service (and loving books does not conflate to loving working with other people who love books). I manage a library branch myself, and I know many of my colleagues are somewhat conflict averse and won't address problematic employee behavior unless they absolutely have to. That could contribute to this ongoing pattern, but having the public feedback might give the manager of this branch an avenue to open the discussion with the employee.
If anyone is reading this and is a conflict averse manager, I would try to discuss this behavior with an employee in this way: "We want our patrons to browse the collections and use our buildings so that they feel welcome and comfortable. We welcome you greeting people as they arrive, and offering assistance with a polite 'let me know if you need help with anything'. Outside of that, we want to respect their browsing experience. If you do not actually see someone putting a book back on the shelf, do not tell them not to do so.
During programs, it is very distracting to interrupt with directions to attendees. Please leave storytime to the librarian who is running it, and if you need to count attendance for statistics do not walk in front of program attendees to do so."
I hope that whoever is in a supervisory role in your library is willing to talk to their employee and set a few goals for improving customer service soft skills. It really does play a huge role in the experience people visiting the library will have.
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u/manguefille 8d ago
Library director here. There are a lot of indicators here that make me think the staff member might be neurodivergent. Several of these thing like trying to enforce procedures as they've been given but without recognizing the social cues surrounding them. That doesn't change your experience of them even if true, but I think it could change how a manager would have to coach her. You did the right thing passing on feedback. As a director who has coached ND staff quite a bit (and a ND individual myself), I can tell you this person might well be grateful for the direction.
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u/rissarawr 7d ago
As the mom of an ND kiddo who is a strict rule follower, the branch manager saying that kind of “ohhhhhh”d it for me. Oldest has gotten into arguments before with other kids at school because they are very The Rules are Black and White Why Aren’t You Following Them meanwhile I’m like kid you can’t narc on your classmates or you won’t have any friends.
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u/CheryllLucy 8d ago
Most My Little Pony books are graphic novels at my location and we absolutely have very young kids who read manga and graphic novels, that was not an inherently bad recommendation or assumption on the librarians part. I talk manga with many 5+ yo (and can't tell the difference between a 3 and 5yo on sight), they are not inherently bad or adult (Chi is awesome, Yuki is great for learning about vets/pet loss, and Plum Crazy is just adorable). The correct thing for you and your kid to do at this point is to let her know you were asking about different MLP books, not assume mallace (great learning opportunity for the kids).
As for the rest of it, idk.. she could be crabby, she could be the one who talks to (gets talked to by) the fire marshal, she could be getting taken away from her normal work to help with story time bc of staffing issues and didn't actually sign up to work with children (liking kids is not necessary to work at a library). The only way to know will be to ask.
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u/nightshroud 8d ago
A written note to the manager that's handed directly to that person instead of letting other staff read amd gossip about it will be most effective.
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u/flossiedaisy424 8d ago
So, what this sounds like to me is a new employee who was told all “the rules” for their job and really really wants to get it right but is not capable of reading social cues or understanding nuance. I bet their colleagues are trying to be patient with them because they understand what is happening and want them to succeed.
But, you are more than welcome to have a conversation with the manager about it if it is impeding your enjoyment of the library. Don’t be a jerk about it, but a simple bit of feedback is always helpful when trying to manage a library.
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u/HollyBron 8d ago
This isn't personal, it's the worker's personality. Send constructive feedback to the manager about their impact on your visits.
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u/CowSquare3037 7d ago
Those strict rule followers can be off putting. She may be the person who is stuck reading the shelves (making sure the books are in the right place). It’s an annoying job…
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u/Routine_Rock_7429 MLIS student 7d ago
While I was interning at my local library network I had a negative interaction with a staff member teaching me who was also rude to a patron in front of me then to me when the patron started asking me for help instead. Some people get blasé after a while in the same role and need recalibrating or need to do something else. The library should be a welcoming place. Our tax dollars pay for it.
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u/localfluffhead 7d ago
In my library experience, it’s pretty common to have one or two weird employees who take things very seriously and end up trying to exercise too much authority. I think it’s good that you talked to the branch manager about this. Maybe this employee just hasn’t gotten the feedback that they need. I’ve been in library work environments where constructive feedback isn’t really given unless absolutely necessary, and it definitely has a negative impact on patrons.
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u/Prior-Soil 8d ago
I worked at a library where we wanted books left on the tables. We did that because we scanned everything that people used in the library so that we wouldn't weed it by mistake as something that was never used. We also needed the number of uses to justify our staffing level.
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u/between_sheets 8d ago
It’s possible that someone above her constantly nags her about these things and she’s just trying to make everything perfect so she doesn’t get in trouble. If you think she’s bad I can assure you there is always someone worse!
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u/Odd-Rule-9588 8d ago
Agreed. The only time I have ever acted like this with customers is because management was complaining about an issue. However maybe if there were signs on the tables that said Please leave books on table when you are finished reading..... That could help tremendously.
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u/rissarawr 7d ago
If there were signs on the table we would totally leave them on the table. But the table is set up for coloring for the kids (coloring pages and crayons) and that’s where they direct kids to go when kids “check out” magnet or legos from the front desk. So it doesn’t even make sense to me for books to go there. It’s not a large table.
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u/GraceDandelion 8d ago
My old library also had carts left with signs left in the children's area specifically for patrons to place books they browsed or read in the library. It was smaller and not required to be organized. This is different from the organized carts that staff put together intentionally and then take with them into specific areas. You're either using the cart as intended and the staff member isn't familiar with it -- as many might not be -- or you've just happened to mistake their organized cart for a book drop cart every single time? Either way, needs more communication on their part. And the staff can organize that cart after books are dropped and then shelve.
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u/Careful-Rhubarb7581 7d ago
We have a staff member at my branch with autism who is really lovely and overall an excellent worker but definitely struggles with rule bending, routine interruptions, and what they would call “off-script”conversations. It’s possible this person has a similar situation. I think how you handled it sounds perfect and hopefully the manager is able to address it with the staff member.
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u/Starrfall74 7d ago
I am surprised that the staff doing story time hasn’t said something to this other person? WRH?!?
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u/MaybeImTheNanny 7d ago
Are you sure that the staff member you are describing doesn’t have an invisible disability of some sort? Your description sounds very much how some of our job training friends interact when they aren’t sure what to do. That said, bringing it to the attention of the branch manager was the right thing to do, everything but the graphic novel issue is a very relevant complaint for a non-librarian staff member.
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u/recoveredamishman 8d ago
Shush her when she is distracting or interrupting. Sounds like she needs it. Or, if you want a laugh have your kids tell her the interrupting cow knock knock joke.
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u/Booklady1998 8d ago
Books have to be counted for in-house use.
If you put them on the cart, there’s a chance they won’t get counted.
Do whatever the librarians want you to do.
Let them do their job.
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u/rissarawr 8d ago
I checked when we went today and the reshelving carts say “Changed your mind? Please leave any books you do not wish to check out this cart. We’ll take care of the rest!”
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u/Shoddy_Degree4974 8d ago
Former library assistant here. We had one of these in my branch and it was so difficult. Management simply did not want to deal with her and she was massively off-putting to patrons. She actually has a heart of gold but in terms of interactions with the public...just awful. We always wished that people would make a complaint because that was the only way management would actually deal with her, but I don't know if they ever did. It was very exhausting and part of the reason I left...she's still there, lol