I hope this is okay to ask! I am in Sydney Australia btw and I have honestly noticed the lack of Library based positions around here. I am currently studying my Masters in Teacher Librarianship; however, I did realise too late teaching may not be it for me but I have a teaching undergrad that I don't want to go to waste. I am still continuing with the degree since it'll still give me a chance to apply for TL positions as well as local libraries etc. Even so, a lot of positions would rather you have the full qualification and even Library assistant positions are hard to come by which I was trying to apply for experience in the library (I have applied for 2 and sadly rejected). I also see Library Technician generally requires a cert at minimum. Wondering if anyone has any advice for me? I was genuinely thinking about dropping my Masters in TL and doing a Masters in Information Studies rather than Teacher Librarianship (to make my knowledge broader since I fear TL may narrow my opportunities in local libraries), even a cert in Library and Information services. I know obviously this is my own decision to make 😂. But I thought it would be best to ask a group of experts for opinions as well since I'm sure everyone works in different roles and has different experiences. Your insights would be much appreciated! Sorry for the long post as well.

Thank you for your thoughts.

Update: Thank you all so much. This is exactly what I came for and helpful in the same way that I've come to rely on librarians for. I found my county's employee handbook and it sets a limit at $75 with a few other caveats. Although I'm a baker and make some killer bagels, I'm going to take the advice to buy something packaged and labeled. I will raid the chocolate and candy section at Aldi's and organize/label the sections "Children’s, Young Adult, Adult, Reference" or some other corny thing. I will include the receipt if they need it for reporting. I'm going to write something nice for the staff and forward some version of it to my County Executive. Thank you all for doing what you do. Keep fighting the good fight, we need you more than ever.

I'm not sure if I'm in the right sub, but I figure some library enthusiast might be able to help.

I really enjoy those slim, sometimes illustrated "Introducing..." nonfiction books. They're sort of like "For Dummies" books, but usually about an academic topic. There are a few other similar series like this out there, for example "A Complete Guide To...". While sometimes I have intro level questions about a specific subject, in truth, I enjoy these types of books and would like the ability to browse a whole list in these series versus perusing the stacks hoping to run across one.

They're also perfect for my most common use of library books, books I can read easily while watching my kid on the playground that happens to be next door to the library, and which I can finish quickly and return promptly.

Because most libraries shelve adult nonfiction according to either Dewey Decimal System or Library Of Congress systems, it's hard to browse just one publisher's series of nonfiction books, or just one "format" of books in this context. But my local library system has a fairly robust online catalog, so maybe there's a quirky way to search for just this type of book?

This type of shelving -- collecting a lot of books across one format or which are similar in scope but not in subject -- is the one thing bookstores do better than libraries IMO.

Library enthusiasts, how would you go about searching the online catalog for something like this?

Either physical or digital also how many. books are there in total?

https://youtu.be/DWs7zTF12J0

It never ceases to amaze me how gobsmacked some people are at the idea that they need to sign up for a library card to use the computers, print, check out books or download ebooks. I’ve had customers just straight up walk out in frustration upon dropping the bomb that a library card is required. My guy it’s free and takes 5 minutes to fill this form out, chill.

Are any of you archivist or librarians for pro sports organizations. I imagine they need someone to organize stats, keep track and store trophies and awards, etc? Is this usually done on a league level and not a team by team basis? How did you get into it?

Who else has had enough and plans to move forward in 2025? 🤚 🤚 🤚

I have an upcoming job interview at the public library where I currently work. The new role is the same as my current job, but instead of permanent/casual, it would be permanent/part-time. This would give me more set hours and I wouldn’t have to worry about picking up shifts.

How should I prepare for this interview? I have some interview questions and answers that I have been practicing, but since I already work there it feels weird. I am trying to focus on wanting more set hours and to take on more responsibilities in the workplace. If anyone has any advice for topics I should focus on, please let me know!

Hi!

I'm a student worker at an academic library. I've noticed some quirks of our collections from being a student and a worker and I wonder how other academic libraries are tackling this. I am sure people have talked about this so if there is research out there on this topic I'd like to see!

So the university has an e-preference policy, they will always buy e-book/online journal if available and not a print copy. I'm sure many other institutions have the same policy.

However, it now means the print collections are becoming outdated fast. I work at a library mostly for education students studying to be teachers. The books rarely get touched nowadays due to this, no student wants to read a 20+ year old book on dyslexia or teaching techniques for example. New print books are bought when there is no e-book available, but this is eclipsed by the amount of e-books and e-resources that make the print books redundant.

Also, different users get different access to e-resources. An alumni member came in the other day, looking for resources on a particular mental health condition for their work. However they couldn't access the more up to date e-resources so the only other books we had on the mental health condition were about 20 years old...

I also have felt the negatives of this policy as a student. I had an assignment for a book review of a recently published book. I'd much prefer to read a whole book in print as i find it hard to concentrate on texts on screens for long, but it was only available as an e-book which was frustrating...I ended up printing pretty much the whole book (free with my staff card, but not ideal!).

Thoughts? I have a feeling this must be common but not sure to what extent.

Why? Why?! Whyyy?!?! Whyyyyy do patrons put books back on the shelves backwards?!

I have encountered this so many times. Can they not see the book is facing pages out, while the rest of the books are spine out? Like whaaaaat. I don't understand.

It is one of the few things (along with the slamming of our bookdrop) that drive me up the wall. When I see it, I wonder how some people remember to breathe.

Thank you for attending my TED Talk.

Edit: it's random books in random sections at random times on random days. Some may be targeted, but it's definitely mostly people just not knowing how to shelve.

I'm working at a pretty bog standard public library, I'm wondering what working at some niche or otherwise interesting location is like?

Whenever I'm at the library, I always take a bunch of books from the shelves and bring them with me to the table. I then read through the books. However, very rarely do I actually go back and put every single book back in its original spot. I usually leave them on the table or just put the stack of books on a random shelf.

Is that bad library etiquette?

I don't have a good internet connection at home and I want to watch arcane season 2. Would it be weird if I watch it at the uni library?

Sorry, this isn't really a vent or a question. But I don't know how to describe this issue.

My local library branch lets you request books for up to five months. They also dropped library late fees. It seems this has caused a problem with certain more popular (or rare) books that are low on stock.

I requested a book months ago and it had a wait list of 10+ people. So, I just waited and assumed I'd be able to obtain a copy eventually... it turns out the 5 months passed and my request was dropped. I had to request it again, and now I'm 13+ in line again.

I've heard of some libraries with a wait list of dozens. I think there was a viral post about a library where one book had a request wait of over a year. I assume these libraries don't automatically expire requests after a while, like my local ones do.

Have you guys ever experienced this sort of issue in libraries, either as a worker or a patron?

EDIT: Sorry to all of you. I tried to do a nice thing and when I got home, I started second guessing myself, especially after my confusion and frustration around the second incident. Next time, I'll just leave the novels and graphic novels in whatever section I found them and ask a librarian or email them about said confusion. I always try to help when I can but I have learned I shouldn't do that in a library, so I'm sorry and thank you all for responding. Now that I know better, I can do better.

OG Post: I know that librarians aren't particularly fond of patrons putting books on shelves or rearranging them, but I had a question.

I was recently in my local library looking for a certain book in a rather long series. I checked online and saw that the book was at the branch I planned to visit, and again once I got there. I spent maybe 5 minutes looking for it in the grouping of about 12ish books from the series on the shelf but not the one I needed.

This series also has a manga adaptation, so I decided to look over there, and luckily I was able to find it quickly, alongside another novel from the same series placed in the graphic novel section. I took the other novel and put it in the novel section (and then arranged the series in order lmao). I want to believe that this was an okay thing to do, and that it helped someone else find the book in the right spot.

The next time I went, I was looking for a manga series. Again, I checked the app and it said the series was there. This time I scoured the shelves for almost half an hour, trying to find the manga in the graphic novel section. I found a different series that I wanted to read, and was excited since I hadn't realized there was manga of those books, but when I opened them, they were just the books. I put them back where I found them. I finally just checked the novel section and found the manga series there, alongside two other manga that were in the novel section.

In this second scenario, I thought about mentioning it to the librarians but they looked busy and I had spent so much time searching, I had to run after self-checkout. Should I have informed the librarian? I didn't want to move a series like I did the single book, even if I could have found the right spot. What should I do next time?

Thank you in advance for your wisdom.

I'm actually so hyped right now, they just called me 20 days after applications closed and I thought I had no hope, but then they gave me an interview next week!

My question is, what should I expect from the interview, what sort of questions and such might they be asking? And also, what would you wear to this thing?

Perspectives from Australians would be especially appreciated.

Edit: Y’all, I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m returning the book. This person essentially never does public appearances and lives across the globe from me. I’m not returning a 1995 paperback that has a $9 fee and is not even super popular. And I didn’t take it to a book event, it was a random encounter!! I had it in my purse incidentally. Also, this is a metropolitan area with one some of the largest, well funded libraries in the world. They can get another copy.

This is probably such a stupid question, but I’m curious. I borrowed a book from my local library and sort of accidentally got it signed by somebody who was in a screen adaptation of it. It was a surprise that I didn’t know would happen, and I probably will never encounter that person ever again, so I unfortunately will not be returning the book. But I am absolutely going to pay the replacement fee.

I happen to know for whatever reason my library only had a singular copy of the book. When you pay the replacement fee, do they actually replace that book? Or just have it as money for anything the library may need? I feel a bit bad that I may have taken the only copy of it out of circulation and that other people may not be able to access a library copy of it it now.

I declined the temporary job because I had a gut feeling that it was not the right fit for me and right after declining the Manager emailed me telling me what the schedule would be. She said it would be two shorter shifts and two regular shifts a week. So I would have been working 4 days minimum a week, plus more to cover vacations and sick days (with no say over this). They also expected me to be on call (but apparently I wouldn’t be obligated to take the shifts).

I respectfully declined the role after discussing it with my friends and partner and posting here. I just said that the temporary nature of the job, the fact that I could be let go at any minute (no fixed contract), and the amount of days required to work for only 24 hours a week is too much. It has been two days and they just didn’t respond. Is this normal? I feel like it’s rude after all the trouble I went through to try and make this job work, even asking my current employer if a schedule change is possible. They were also quite rude when I started asking simple questions about the role, so I feel like the workplace may not be the best.

I also feel like I dodged a bullet with this job. Right after I decline I applied to two permanent part-time jobs at public libraries and a supply role with a school board. Hopefully I’ll be hired somewhere soon! I graduate in a month so I’m keeping my options open. Did I do the right thing in this situation? Should I even bother reapplying to this library again if they post better opportunities?

I posted here about a month ago for some advice on how to deal with poorly behaved kids during storytime (https://www.reddit.com/r/Libraries/comments/1gfrn8z/help\_dealing\_with\_badly\_behaved\_kids\_during/). I wanted to thank everyone who gave me advice and and provide an update because...well, some things improved and some did not.

I decided to have the kids sit in chairs at a table instead of on the floor. I labeled each seat. I put the two troublemakers on opposite sides of the table so that they were not next to each other. After talking with my supervisor, we decided not to provide snacks or bottled water, and we decided to cut storytime down to 30 minutes.

I had three kids (the 2 troublemakers and a girl). I got everyone to their assigned seats. One kid (one of the troublemakers; I'm gonna call him "Billy") asked about snacks, and I said that the snacks had been too distracting last time so we couldn't have them anymore. Another kid (the other troublemaker; I'm gonna call him "Timmy") asked why we had to sit at a table and I explained that some of the kids had started crawling around on the floor last time. They seemed disappointed, but sat in their seats.

I got book club started and was immediately interrupted by Billy. Billy said, "I like books!" A perfectly fine thing to say, so I agreed with him and said something like, "well, I hope you like these ones." Then Billy said, "I like boobies!" And at first I thought I misheard him, so I asked him to repeat himself, and he said it again.

I just want to point out that I did not raise my voice. I did, however, put on my stern voice and said, "That is inappropriate, and we do not talk that way at the library."

"I'm allowed to say it at home!"

"You aren't at home. You're at the library. We have certain rules here. You are not allowed to say things that are inappropriate."

This shut down all silliness for at least fifteen minutes, and I was able to read to the kids. Billy and Timmy did their usual giggly interrupting, but the conversation remained G-rated. They had these metal water bottles that they were playing with (thumping against the table, slurping loudly, blowing bubbles, etc). I told them repeatedly to stop interrupting, but didn't lecture. I just said, "I'd like to finish this book. Could you stop making noise?" And at one point Timmy started loudly complaining that he was bored, so I told him that he was free to leave if he wanted to (he did not).

After book club, I talked briefly with Billy's mom. I introduced myself, and then I asked Billy if he wanted to tell her what he had said during book club or if I should. Billy admitted that he had said "boobies." His mother immediately defended him and said, "He's talking about the bird! You know, the blue-footed booby! He has a stuffy at home." I did not believe her for one instant, but I did not say so. I just said, "Certain things are not appropriate for book club" (or something to that effect). (I also want to point out that Billy never once mentioned birds when I told him that his behavior was inappropriate.)

I told my supervisor everything. She said that she would have reacted the same way. Billy's mother sent her an email apologizing and explaining that Billy had been talking about the bird. She sent another email about an hour later saying that Billy wouldn't be attending book club anymore. I feel a little bad about that; I think he was just testing boundaries. On the other hand (and I feel bad admitting this), Billy and Timmy are very annoying (I know they're just kids, but I work two jobs and am pretty drained by the time I arrive at this particular library; I'm also discovering that my tolerance for shenanigans is not as high as it used to be).

Overall, I think it went slightly better than last time. My supervisor was supportive and felt that my reaction to Billy was appropriate. She also didn't seem upset that I spoke with Billy's mother, which is good.