One of the other branches in my library system has a guy they call their "systems librarian" who covers shifts at the Reference Desk and maintains all the computers in the library. Apparently this guy's been pretty busy and he designed a new system for OPACs using these little micro-PCs that mount on the back of the monitors instead of using a full sized PC and he just created a kid's game machine to replace their AWE machine. He also built their web-server and maintains it. Is this going to become the new standard for the tech skills that librarians are expected to have?

Are you currently working as a Florida public school librarian?

If so, you are invited to participate in my dissertation research concerning how recent legislation in Florida may have shaped or affected your collection development practices.

This entire survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. You will be asked to answer basic questions about yourself, your knowledge of laws and legal doctrine, your perceptions of controversiality relative to children’s and young adult literature, your experience with formal and informal materials challenges, and your perceptions of support from your community, colleagues, and administration relative to your collection development practices. There are no direct risks or benefits to your participation in this research.

You have the right to not answer any questions you choose. The data collected here may be disseminated through scholarly publications and potentially through conference presentations.

After the survey, you will be asked to indicate your willingness to participate in a virtual interview. There will be no video used during this interview. If you choose to participate, you will be asked to provide your name and email address, so that I may contact you to make mutually convenient arrangements for a virtual interview. I will not share your email address or use it for any reason other than to contact you if you are selected to participate in an interview.

Your participation in any part of this study is entirely voluntary.

If you would like to participate, please click the link below:

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b2W8UoxKimaXnLg

This study has been approved by my Ph.D. Supervisory Committee and by the Florida State University Institutional Review Board. If you have any questions about this study or your rights as a research participant, you may contact me at the email address listed below, my major professor, Dr. Don Latham (dlatham@fsu.edu), or the Office for Human Subjects Protect at Florida State University at 850-644-9694.

Researcher:

Lauren Crabtree

Doctoral Candidate

Florida State University

lcrabtree@fsu.edu

Hey, I’m a library science graduate student and I need a bit help with an assignment. I saw on your blog you mentioned that you work in a library so I wanted to try my luck. I need someone who works in a library in leadership, management, or supervision to answer seven questions for me.

1. Please tell me about your management/leadership path (career trajectory). How did you become a leader?

2. What is a “typical” schedule for their workday/week? Can you describe what type of preparation for leadership/work activities you perform?

3. Do leadership/management activities go how you planned/imagined them going? What decisions did you need to make, or actions did you need to take during these activities? Are they the decisions/actions you imagined making or taking?

4. What will you have to do in the short- and/or long-term future to follow up on the

leadership/management activities you described?

5. In your role, what if any typical challenging issues arise? How did you handle them?

6. What activities/innovations are you most proud of? Your least favorite?

7. What is your advice for me as I consider and prepare for a career in librarianship that will include leadership and management responsibilities and opportunities?

On the day when I received my Library Page rejection letter from HR, stating that 'while we were impressed with your qualifications, we picked another candidate whose skills and experience better meet our needs at this time,' they reposted the exact same job again on the same day. Seem a little bit suspicious.... What could be the reasoning?

A large part of this is due to so many librarians being Boomers who are hitting retirement age but I'm also noticing a lot of younger staff leaving the profession because they're exhausted by extremely toxic and disrespectful behavior from patrons. The biggest problem appears to be the Libertarian incel types with their "First Amendment Audit" bullshit and ridiculously entitled attitudes.

We've all heard of libraries having trouble finding staff, but have you seen any branches in your area actually shut down due to staff shortages?

Hi everyone,

I'm considering starting a toy, game, and puzzle library in my community, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

Here's the basic idea:

Members of the library could borrow toys, games, and puzzles for a certain period (maybe a week or two) and then return them.

It would be a great way for families to try out different toys and games without having to buy them

. I'm thinking of including a wide range of toys and games for different age groups, from toddlers to teens and adults.

The library would host a variety of events on a given day and week.

Do you think this is a good idea? Any tips on how to get started? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey guys,

My heart aches whenever I see regular homeless people utilizing libraries. It goes to show how valuable libraries are, and it relieves me to know they have some fort of “shelter”.

I’m not Jeff Bezos rich but my heart really aches seeing homeless people go when I routinely go in. I try to buy snacks here and there if I can, but I feel like it’s not sustainable let alone my bills / expenses have to pay. (I don’t do it often, but I try too when I can to help).

I see young teens, and adults and it really hurts me to see that.

What’re your perspectives on this? How can community members help? What are libraries doing / how can libraries help?

I’ve been a multiple subject classroom teacher for 7 years now and the stress of the educational system (mostly admin and regional board) is pushing me right out the general ed classroom door. I am desperately seeking advice on whether or not it is worth it to pursue a masters degree in library science.

I have always wanted to be an elementary school librarian. What is it like out there for librarians in California? If I already have my masters in education is it worth it to pursue yet another degree? Is it better to get an all encompassing (but more expensive and extensive) MLS or do I stick to the teacher librarian path? Are there even any jobs out there?

I’m so lost, and the cost of it all looks daunting. Any advice would be helpful!

What do I do now? I left my book at work, I just got it from the library, and my manager said he brought it back to the library. I didn’t get it from any nearby library so I’m not sure where my manager took it to.

Anyways, it’s lost. What do I do now? Do I purchase a copy of the book and explain when returning it that I lost the original book to the librarian?

I’ve never lost a library book before. I don’t want to lose my library card.

UPDATE! Thanks for all the help library community. I reached out to my manager and they have not returned it yet, just was not in attendance today, and will be returning it to me tomorrow. thanks for the help. noted in the future if I lose another book not to buy a new one. Thanks again :)

update 2: sorry my post was a bit dramatic. what can i say, I love my library and my library card fee free status :) lol thanks again y’all. can’t lose that library card!

For decades, a man came into our library every Friday and borrowed five movies. Seems normal. Our patron account system allows for patrons to request up to 15 items at a time. This fella always had that list full. He would call every Monday night and have a list of titles to see if we had any of them. On Thursday he would call to see what had come in from his list and then he would add stuff to his request list. Seems fairly normal. Over the years, though, he added to this habit. He would watch the DVDs and write down the movies in the trailers and add them to his list. At one point he had an entire three-ring binder with movies in it, and each Monday night, he would call and go through the list, looking for movies we might have at any of our branches. This human had no computer, no cell phone, no credit card or debit card. He had nothing from the modern era, though he wasn't elderly or anything. He just didn't have any of those things. So he couldn't go onto our system and look for himself. At one point, he would request so many purchases of films that our DVD buyer wound up getting the policy officially changed so no one could request more than three purchases per half year. Also, most of the movies our friend wanted were absolutely crap. Finally, one of my colleagues taught this fella how to use our public computer system. So when he came on Fridays to get his five movies, he would go over, log on and access our "New This Month" feature, and add any to the request list. But then he started calling on Monday nights to ask about what number he was on each movie; i.e. what number he was in the queue for the popular movies. Over the years—I add this with due consideration for patron privacy—I got so good at knowing when to expect him to call (because I worked on Monday nights) and so was regularly accustomed to what he needed that I memorized his library card number. This went on for years. He knew all of us by name. Knew who was working when, and even had a sense of who was best to help him. He would offer to call back for new people "until you're trained how I like it". Then, about four months ago, out of nowhere, our man's sister (he did not drive, either, so she brought him always) called to say that he wouldn't be coming in for his movies and to take everything off hold. So we did.

For longer than ever, our friend hasn't come by. He hasn't been anywhere. Not at the mall (a familiar and favorite haunt), not at the library. Nowhere. He's completely vanished. He doesn't call. This is the longest he's ever been without anything in his request list. We have poured through obituaries and asked around people who might know him. Nothing. Anywhere. He's just gone.

This isn't unusual. We usually are pretty slow to realize people have stopped coming. One day, one of us goes, "Have you guys seen __________?" But in this case, our man was such a fixture, such a pronounced participant in the quotidian workings of our library that everyone knew him or about him.

Has this ever happened to you all?

I am a high school Librarian with a MLIS M.A. looking to jump to university libraries. The local uni has some vacancies with various departments but I'm curious a) has anyone made a similar jump and b) how does one break in at the University level?

It’s a public library. Glaring, staring, insulting, making threats, shouting, gossiping, and just generally mentally unstable. She is older so I’m unsure if it’s a mental or cognitive issue, or both.

Hello,

Is there a list available somewhere of only the "Broadest Terms" in the Library of Congress Subject Headings? I am thinking the major fields, i.e., Science, Religion, etc.

Thank you for your assistance.

...what the hell do they make those covers out of that makes them grime magnets? I just got a pile returned and half of them are coated in a film of dust and crud. Every week or so I go and sort through our Kinney shelf and there's always a few that need to be wiped down. None of our other matte cover items seem to have this issue. Is it high circulation? Are the kids in my area unusually grungy? Is this a symptom of some dark bargain Kinney made for his success? (In all seriousness though, super nice guy. He came by our library once before an event with gift bags for the children's staff and donated a bunch of books)

Hello everyone,

I’ve transitioned into a new role and get some say in my title. I work at an academic library, and it’s a branch library in a different city than the main campus/library. It’s just me and my manager, along with student workers, at our library.

I do a variety of things in this role, working at the desk, basic research help (although refer to subject specialist librarians for more advanced help)- it’s primarily access services and resource sharing though. Eventually I do hope to transition into a technical services or cataloging role, if that’s helpful to know. I was working on a cataloging special project at this library before I transitioned into this role, and still do a tiny bit of cataloging at the moment.

I’m looking for any advice/thoughts about which title to choose! The person who held this position before me was an “Access Services Coordinator”, and someone who holds a similar position at another branch library is a “Library Specialist”. Officially, we’re all library technicians.

My manager has suggested “Library Coordinator” over “Library Specialist”. But I have some sense that specialists are a step above coordinators, due to the more technical nature of a position?

Thanks for any insights!

So by happenstance, as of a couple weeks ago I’m currently the highest authority at my library. It’s a niche academic library at a fairly large public university, and our head librarian and my only other coworker resigned within a week of each other. I used to work here as a student worker for three years, then quiet because of Covid, and then a year ago I applied to be staff and got the job. I’m very familiar with the inner workings of this library and its idiosyncrasies, and because the staffing was so winnowed down by the time I became full-time staff here (there used to be 3 librarians when I started as a student worker in 2017…), everyone was doing everything in some capacity.

I do love library work, especially at an academic library. I love helping with research, even if it’s about a topic I don’t personally give a shit about—it just always feels like an exciting treasure hunt for me and I think I’m quite good at it. I don’t think I’d survive working at a public library, honestly; I have pretty limited people skills.

My now-former boss, the now-former head librarian, cautioned me against getting a library science degree, but in hindsight she was already planning on resigning by then.

I think it might be worth it, but I’m not sure. I might like to be a librarian someday, and I’d like to get paid more, but from what I’ve seen from the librarians at my workplace, it was overwhelming and thankless and unending work.

I’ve read several things and watched several videos saying the cost of digital books like libby is high for libraries. Should we stop using the resource? Does it hurt libraries when we take out books digitally? I care about the library a lot and want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.

Question from a user who can't post due to the automod restrictions on users with low karma.

Has anyone started a collection for local authors? I know there are some potential pitfalls but also some benefits to this kind of collection. I have looked at policies, procedures, and guidelines from other libraries but am curious if this group has and experience or thoughts on the subject.

Thanks!

Edit: Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and detailed responses! This is super helpful and it gives us a good starting point for our process updates!

——

I work in a university ILL department and we've been having conversations recently about how better to handle received interlibrary loans and the lender paperwork they come with.

Our process right now is to strap the books with a local barcode and tape the lender's paperwork to the inside of the strap. Our straps go around the front cover and aren't always as securely attached as we'd like, and most of the work is done by our student workers.

The straps are often removed by patrons, who don't see the "DO NOT REMOVE" message at the top of the strap. Getting unstrapped books back creates extra work that we don't want to do. But strapping books is also time intensive and can create opportunities for human error.

Do any of your ILL departments handle received interlibrary loans differently, i.e, without straps? How do you manage lender paperwork? If you do use straps, do you have an efficient process for printing and attaching them? Do you have any suggestions for reducing worker time on straps or making it less likely for patrons to lose their straps?

Thank you!

When do library budgets end and begin for the year? What are you having to cut from your budget?

hello everyone, i have a very extensive research paper on the impact of ai in libraries and one of the questions of the questions asked is "Should librarians and information professional be concerned with AI?" i have all the necessary points but i dont know how to structure in properly with 750 words can i get some guidance.

thanks in advance

I see a lot of you suggesting that i use ai to answer the very same question but unfortunately where i live which is university dorms the use of ai is completely blocked by schools wifi so yeah

I'm suddenly responsible for purchasing books for our branch. I've only been here for 2 months, but our non-fiction and bio section for kids is very outdated (books about West Germany etc). Luckily, we have a big budget left for book purchases so I'd like to update these areas. Can anybody recommend book series like the "Who is/was..." bio series, but with an emphasis on geography? I'm also very open to suggestions for all non-fiction kids books, as we really need an upgrade. Thanks in advance, and sorry if this is the wrong place to ask.

I’ve been thrown into a management position and I honestly feel like I was set up to fail from the beginning. My predecessor left quickly and while we were extremely short staffed. Management duties fell on me, and I did get promoted - but

My staff had gone above my head complaining about every move I make. I feel like even if I breathe a certain way they will find a way to manipulate that and complain about me. My boss had a sit down with me to tell me staff isn’t comfortable here because of me, which does not really make sense because when there are opportunities to transfer they don’t.

I have tried picking up shifts at the circulation desk, so now I have circ duty and management duty, and I try to form employee relations (I ask what they have planned for the weekend and such).

I do have an introverted personality and am aware I may come across as awkward sometimes, but I do so much work for this library (grants, landscaping, supply orders, budgeting, stats) so I just feel like this discussing with my boss was kind of a slap in the face since I’ve poured so much effort into this library.

Now I feel so uncomfortable coming into work. I am walking on eggshells. Furthermore it’s impacting my health. I feel I am thrown under the bus all the time.

I am trying to find a new position but it’s been hard. I’m trying to stick it out until I find a new position but not sure how much longer I can stay here.

I just finished my MLIS, but have not received my physical degree yet. Do I need to wait to have it before applying for the certificate?

How does everyone store their RFID book tags or stingray tags? I've checked Demco and TECH Logic, but I'm not finding a lot of options

What services does your library have, or do you know of, designed for the small business community? We are working with another County Department to create a small business center in my library. What services should we try to offer? We are beginning the process, but money is not a concern for this project, so big-money things are fine. I got a good book from ALA Libraries Do Business, which features 25 libraries and services to their communities, but as I get through it, I am looking for more. If you have a link to the service, I would love to have one, too. Thanks for your help.

Hi everyone, this honestly is mostly a rant post but if anyone has any advice/similar experiences I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

I have worked in the library sector for less than 2 years now, but 7 months ago I went from working as an entry level library assistant in a large university library to being the senior library assistant for a much smaller hospital library. We are a team of only 2 employees - the other employee is my boss, the head librarian. As well as her computer on the issue desk, she has her own office to work from, which she does a lot, so a lot of time I'm alone in the library. Our users are our staff and the students doing placements in the hospital, both midwifery students and medical students. I have no problems at all with the midwifery students, and the staff are rarely problematic, the biggest thorn in my side are our medical students who are on a 6 week obstetrics placement in the hospital.

They come from one specific college and this college is extremely elite. They are all registered for library membership automatically and most of them make use of our resources throughout their time here. There are a number of these 6 week placements that happen periodically from September to the end of May and since I started here last October, we have had to make a formal complaint to the college on 3 different occasions, each regarding a different obs rotation. The main issue is their refusal to adhere to our no talking rule. We are a very small library, we only have 24 study spaces, so if you talk at any volume above a whisper you're going to to disturb the people around you. I feel more like a kindergarten teacher than I do a library and information management professional. Some days I'm constantly getting up from my desk to ask students to stop talking. They chat to each other at full volume. One time they came in through the door talking but they were so loud it sounded like they were shouting. It's often repeat offenders, so they do know they're not allowed to chat in the library. As time goes on and it gets closer to their exam, they often become even more disrespectful by, for example, rolling their eyes when I tell them to stop talking, or outright laughing at me. I just absolutely cannot fathom how this is an issue, it's common for libraries to expect quiet, if not silence, from patrons. Even after we tell them, they continue.

Another issue is bringing food and disposable coffee cups into the library. We have our reasons for not allowing these things, which I am not going to go into. I made a (if I do say so myself) very eye catching sign to put on the outside of the door to the library that states these things are not allowed, yet they will still bring them in and claim they didn't know! These people are going to be doctors and they can't follow basic rules. They will also bring snacks in in their bags, eat them at a desk and leave the wrappers behind.

I'm at the end of my tether. I am sick sick SICK of having to play bouncer/cleaning lady/school teacher. My boss madd the third formal complaint since I started last October, and the students tutors all agreed to have a word with their groups about this behaviour. It's gotten better but today I'm noticing the behavior is starting again. Does anyone else find that patrons just won't adhere to library rules? How do you deal with it? A lot of these students come from abroad, so is it a culture difference I'm missing? Regardless,I just needed to get this off my chest lol