Andrea, it must be nice to work in a library- it’s so nice and quiet, you probably get a lot of reading done!
…. uhm…
Working at a library can be very wonderful, just not in the way you’d expect. It’s a customer service job, so you are in the position of helping people enjoy their time at the library- within reason and company policy. The whiplash from the jarringly different patron interactions alone is not for the weak of heart.There’s a lot that library school can teach you, but there’s a lot that you can only learn through experience. Even so I’d like to share some of my memorable experiences working in a public library so hopefully you don’t feel like you’ve been bamboozled.
The Good:
There’s a lot of little wonderful interactions that really brighten up your day as a library worker. It’s the small things like seeing a toddler demand to “pay” for their library books using the “credit card”; or seeing how excited a tween gets when they finally have a library card of their own! There are so many instances of helping a patron and being thanked as if you have moved mountains when all you really did was look in the shelving area for the book they wanted to borrow.
One of my favorite patron interactions was with a young boy and his mom who would come in for our Sensory Friendly Storytime. He would come in with his favorite toy (a Daisy Duck plush) and stop by the front desk to ask me how I was. I would greet him, his mom, and Daisy of course, and we’d have a nice little chat before they headed to the storytime room. He was always so excited to come to the library and honestly, I think the whole library staff adored him.
A List of Things That Happen in a Public Library that Keep Me Sane (Shortened)
- Overhearing someone lament not finding the book they were looking for, finding it in the sorting area and bringing it out to them.
- Showing an elderly patron set up Libby on their phone so they can listen to audiobooks
- When a kid checks out a book that I used to love as a kid
- Seeing a child cry because they don’t want to leave the library- it sounds awful but it’s really sweet seeing how much little kids love the library.
- Seeing patrons put books they’ve decided not to take on a cart instead of randomly shoving it onto a shelf
- Having people of all ages tell me how much they love coming to the library
The Bad:
Like I said before, working in a public library is not very different from working a retail job. You’re interacting with customers day in and day out, sometimes you’re lucky enough to have wonderful interactions with patrons other times… Well, let’s say you’re unlucky. It is in these moments that having prior customer service experience really comes in handy- even though having patrons beckon you with a finger wag or a passive aggressive throat clearing does chip away at your nerves
Working in a public library, you are expected to take on a lot of roles to take care of your community. It can mean taking on janitorial, security, and social worker duties in addition to your regular library duties and that will get to you. I haven’t met a single librarian who is excited to kick out an irate patron, or have to tell someone that they have to leave the library due to poor hygiene. We do what we can to make the library a welcoming place for everyone, but that can mean having to deal with the public at their best and their worst.
Reasons Why I Don’t Want to Talk or Hangout with Anyone After My Shift
- Shelving the toddler books only to find sunflower seeds hidden behind the shelf, I didn’t look closely enough to see if they had been chewed up and spat out nor did I bother to count but it was at least a couple bags worth of seeds.
- Being told by a patron that they “pay my salary” so I should let them break library policy
- Parents not looking after their children and getting upset when a staff member asks their child not to climb onto a table.
- Being stopped by an irate patron who “cannot believe we are allowing a homeless encampment on library grounds” (homeless patrons into the library).
- Opening a DVD return and finding cat pee inside the case
- Listening to a patron insist that they didn’t return a book with water damage when not only was the book still wet when retrieved from the book drop, it was the only wet book in the book drop.
The Funny:
Funny ha-ha or funny weird? Both. It’s silly little things like a patron decisively handing me their credit card instead of their library card, or having someone ask if I’m Spanish (I’m Mexican-American) and if they can practice their “Gringo Spanish” with me. I suppose these interactions could fit in either the good or the bad categories, depending on extenuating circumstances but I’ve become used to them so I consider them common and negligible occurrences.
Interactions I Swap With My Coworkers (AKA how to pass time at the Circulation Desk)
- My coworker once saw a patron pull out a slice of pizza from his sweatpants pocket, take a bite, and put it back in his pocket. No, he didn’t have a napkin or food wrapper of any kind
- At closing, I was doing my rounds when I suddenly smelled chicken. There was no one besides myself in the area so I was very confused until I found our trashcan holding a rotisserie chicken bag full of chicken bones
- Having to remain neutral and professional when a patron whose head was wrapped in tinfoil came up to the Circulation Desk, asked a pretty reasonable library related question who then spent 20 minutes talking about how China is sending spies to live in apartments across the country to invade the U.S. I’m not entirely sure of the details since I zoned out after the first couple of minutes and would say “oh, oh really?” on autopilot, but it was a slow day and it did kill some time that I would’ve otherwise spent staring at the blank wall across from me.
- I had a patron come up to my desk because she couldn’t find her hold on the shelf. I pulled up her account and saw that it was not yet available. I let her know that it was currently checked out but she was first in line.
P: “But I put it on hold on Friday?”
M: Yes, but it was checked out on Wednesday
P: “If you don’t own it then why’d it let me place it on hold?”
M: We own 1 copy, but it’s currently checked out and you’re on the waitlist, so when it gets returned you can check it out.
P: “But you don’t have it. Why did it let me put it on hold?
M (eye twitching): … You know… I’m not sure. Must’ve been a glitch in the system. Do you want to keep the hold on the item or do you prefer I cancel it?
If I had a nickel every time “They don’t teach you this in library school” was said in my library, I’d have no problem paying off my student loans. It is a wonderful job and I love it; otherwise I wouldn’t have decided to pursue my MLIS degree, and while I have worked with many wonderful librarians there have been some who seemed to think they were misled. The truth is, the love of books and reading will only take you so far- you also have to love people and the community you serve to be a great librarian.
