Monday, September 18, 2017

Misconceptions

I had my first day at New Library yesterday. One of the first things I did was do the branch's pull list to help familiarize myself with where things are in the collection. (For non-library readers, the pull list is the list of items that need to be collected from the shelves because a patron has asked for them.) One of the things on the list was a copy of 1984, which I couldn't find anywhere despite searching high and low. A little bit later I noticed that there was a copy in excellent condition sitting in our pile of donated books to be sorted, so I asked my manager if the library ever adds donated books to the collection. The answer was 'pretty much never,' just like it has been at most of the libraries where I have worked.

This bums me out a little bit, since I'm pretty sure that a big fraction of the patrons who donate books think that they are contributing to the library's collection, when instead they're contributing to its book sale (or, sometimes, its recycling dumpster). This made me think of other common misconceptions about the library that seem to cross the various public libraries where I have worked.

Librarian readers: Anything to add?
Non-librarian readers: If any of these are still a surprise to you, I apologize.

1. If you donate a book, it is added to the library's collection.
2. The librarians know where all the books are.
3. The library keeps track of what you have checked out.
4.  If you wanted, you could volunteer and staff the information desk.
5. Surely the ISBN is important somehow. (About a 50/50 split between people who give to me for item lookups and people who scan it thinking it's the library barcode)

11 comments:

  1. If you lose a library book, buy another copy and bring that one back--the librarians will love you!

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  2. Librarians know about books but they don't know about the web

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  4. all the librarians remember you from the time you came in two months ago to ask if a book was in, and they remember everything you said, so you can just walk up to the circ desk and ask "is that book here today?"

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  5. Whoever get's to the crossword puzzle first can try it!!

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  6. librarians will fill out forms for you

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    1. But 'they' said you would do it for me!

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    2. "they" sure say a lot of things

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  7. The people who lead our story time programs are all volunteers! Not library staff that spent multiple years in school to become early literacy experts.

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    1. Ouch! I've heard this one a few times, too. That's a good one.

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