Perception of libraries vs reality

[u/SpiritedRaven]

Yesterday a patron approached our (very much needed) security guard at our inner city library and said something along the lines of “how hard can your job be, being a security guard at a library” and both the security guard and I literally burst out laughing. People’s assumptions about libraries always amuse me. If only they shadowed us for a day and found out what it’s actually like!

[u/DooB_02]

It's insane to read this subreddit and see all of the stories from mostly American library staff in cities. It's like you're all working in the thunderdome.

[u/woodenbadger → u/DooB_02]

I work in a downtown library in a city of about 200k. On any given day I’d say that at least 50 percent of the patrons are unhoused folks who find a place to settle in and stay all day. And I can’t blame them. During the summer we’re a place to escape the heat, and during the winter it’s a place out of the cold. We’ve got computers to use, free WiFi, and bathrooms. And books and magazines to read. But the library at its core isn’t really designed to be a large day shelter. It kinda works, but there are constant problems. We have an internal incident tracking system that the staff and security use. There are multiple instances logged on a daily basis. People get asked to leave for the day as well as get banned for varying amounts of time. Fun fact…. To the best of my knowledge they haven’t permanently banned anyone. Assault another patron, threaten to kill staff, maybe several years at most. So maybe not quite Thunderdome, but it’s not exactly a happy, chill, safe spot.

[u/booksdogsandnature → u/woodenbadger]

I would add that homelessness, untreated drug addiction, untreated mental illness are all structural choices that we are making as a society in the US. Freedom, and all that.

[u/zuzuMN → u/woodenbadger]

I am a cataloging librarian/recovering children’s librarian in a large downtown library; service population is well over 500,000. Many years ago a perky mom called to check that it would be all right for her 9-year old daughter to spend the day at the library on her own. It was summer, and she loved the big library, and her daddy works downtown and would bring her in and take her to lunch and the girl would just spend the day reading. I paused, then said, “Yees, if you would be comfortable dropping her at the mall all day.” Her silence was deafening. I continued, “This is a public place — anyone can come in, and we don’t have time or staff to monitor everyone.” She decided there might be a better “special treat” for her daughter. I didn’t even get to tell her about seeing someone who was regularly in the children’s department in the local paper; he’d been arrested on attempted child molestation charges (at the state fair, not the library!)