An English public library assistant writes affectionately about her job

May 30, 2019 7:47 AM

I am happier knowing that she is out there. You might be too. It is particularly striking is that she is working with such high morale in a library system that is being systematically starved to death by the English government.
posted by ckridge (16 comments total)

Love this.

Signed,
A Librarian
posted by Riverine at 8:11 AM on May 30, 2019 [3 favorites]

3. A disturbing number of young people don't actually know how book-lending at the library works. They assume it costs money! Teach your children about libraries!

This this this this this.

I feel like I would be so much less of a train-wreck now if I knew about and had access to libraries as a child. My world is so tiny, and while I read, it's so hard to expand your horizons when you're working all the time and taking care of a child and sick family and ...

Teach your children about libraries! They won't have the time later in life! Let them grow while they still have the space!
posted by ragtag at 9:37 AM on May 30, 2019 [8 favorites]

I was an addlepated child, and so would take out too many books, keep them out too long, and then be too guilt-stricken to visit the library for a long time. I would walk to the next city to read in the library there, and was always afraid that the librarians there knew and thought badly of me.

If I had a child like me, the first thing I would let them know is that e-books return themselves. You can't fuck it up, no matter how addled you get.
posted by ckridge at 10:03 AM on May 30, 2019 [7 favorites]

Librarians are my heroes.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 10:22 AM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

I was an addlepated child, and so would take out too many books, keep them out too long, and then be too guilt-stricken to visit the library for a long time. I would walk to the next city to read in the library there, and was always afraid that the librarians there knew and thought badly of me.

I was this child. I also visited my college library once during my first week, borrowed a book, lost it, and then was so guilt-ridden that I basically avoided the place for four years. I swear I imagined sirens would go off and then the librarians would handcuff me. It's a good thing most of the resources I needed were on the internet, or I would never have been able to complete my classes. Of course, it was all for naught in the end because they wouldn't let me graduate without paying my fines which by then had grown to an embarrassing several hundred dollar amount (this was in India, so this was an even more mind-boggling sum over there). Teach your children not to be me!
posted by peacheater at 10:37 AM on May 30, 2019 [4 favorites]

I love my town library, and am delighted that I found a small way to serve them.

If I wanted to do something not-huge for them, what's a good gesture? Snacks? Coffee pods or good beans for the break room? Offer brand new materials for the collection (if they are interested in that title)?

Something else??
posted by wenestvedt at 12:25 PM on May 30, 2019

Also, my suburban town's high school librarian is retiring this month, leaving the town's entire school system (one high school, two middle schools, and five grade schools) with no trained librarians.

The school libraries are now unmanaged "media spaces" where teachers can bring in kids -- but no one teaches them about research, media literacy, online resources, or the million other lessons that librarians are capable of using to improve people's lives. Thankfully the town's SUPER-AMAZING LIBRARY continues to soar above any reasonable expectations, and we're lucky to have them -- but it means making a special trip to get there.

It's really fucking depressing and angering, but that nearly-two-million-dollars has to be cut from somewhere in the school budget.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:29 PM on May 30, 2019 [5 favorites]

Snacks are great but what's better is money, supplies, or time.

Do you have scratch paper that kids could draw on? We constantly need scratch paper. Anything that doesn't have personal information on it and has at least one blank side.

We also need pens, golf pencils, crayons, staples, tape. Copier paper. Construction paper. People who like kids and want to hang out and help them with homework. People who can volunteer to do the easy stuff, which will vary depending on where you are. You should probably ask them how you can help. (Please don't be offended if they say "money.")
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:34 PM on May 30, 2019 [2 favorites]

Also in addition to the "can't read face clocks" thing, a sizeable chunk of people under 30 can't read cursive. It varies regionally, because different places stopped teaching cursive at different times.
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:37 PM on May 30, 2019

English public library assistant? Fucksake, read the article.

Cursive is for olds. I'm days away from 50 and I never learned that crap.

Original thread, free of clickbait: Things I have learned about the general public whilst working at the library
posted by scruss at 2:07 PM on May 30, 2019 [3 favorites]

Interesting, their system will tell you if you've checked something out already?
posted by unknowncommand at 2:13 PM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

English public library assistant?

Yeah, I saw that as soon as I posted, thought of repudiating it in the first post, and decided to take the abuse I deserve instead. Scotland is not England.
posted by ckridge at 2:45 PM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

Cursive is totally for the olds, except when we have to write notes to our younger colleagues.

Some library systems will let you keep your checkout history, but it's usually opt-in and poorly publicized. I keep mine because I find it useful, and if the Feds come a-knockin' with a national security letter, I want them to have to go to that much extra work to sort out the results. Serve them right.
posted by blnkfrnk at 3:32 PM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

Also in addition to the "can't read face clocks" thing, a sizeable chunk of people under 30 can't read cursive

In the UK, you benefit in the SATS exams from writing in good cursive, so to "win" in the tests there's a massive emphasis on cursive from a young age. At the very start of school, 4/5 years old, the letter forms they learn are cursive with leading/trailing lines.

I wish it was like the US because it seems like a huge waste to spend all this effort teaching what is basically an obsolete skill.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:21 PM on May 30, 2019

ckridge: Yeah, I saw that as soon as I posted, thought of repudiating it in the first post, and decided to take the abuse I deserve instead. Scotland is not England.

Yaknow, a quick call to your local librarian could have helped you avoid that embarrassment. Just saying.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:54 AM on May 31, 2019 [1 favorite]

→ In the UK, you benefit in the SATS exams from writing in good cursive

In England you may benefit in the SATS exams, but Scotland has a completely different educational system.
posted by scruss at 5:30 PM on May 31, 2019