Some frustrations

A patron wants the contact information for "Adjacent County's Chamber of Commerce" and will not accept the fact, no matter how I rephrase it, that the various cities in Adjacent County have their own chambers of commerce but that there is not a county-wide one. She just keeps saying, "And I do NOT want the black chamber. I already tried to call them and no one answered!" After about 5 minutes, I finally give up and pick the biggest city in the county and give her their phone number.

A nonverbal adult brings me a newspaper and a pile of miscellaneous flyers from our flyer rack. Then he shows me his Autozone discount card. Sorry, sir, do you want to check these out? Do you have a question about one of these flyers? Do you just...want to show me how you're in with Autozone? Sorry, I don't know what I can to do help you.

I am covering storytime this week. We use egg shakers for a few of the songs, and I make the mistake of asking everyone who is ready to sing with me to shake their shaker to show me they are ready. It takes literally minutes for the most excited toddler to stop shaking wildly. My "storytime assistant" rolls her eyes as if to say--"What an amateur! [Children's Librarian] never would have done that!"

 Two staff members get into a heated debate about whether or not to weed our ancient juvenile nonfiction books about each country. It's eventually settled by one of them pulling out a book on Sudan that predates South Sudan's existence as a separate country.

Two different approaches

Me: ....So, since we're going to be having this big event here, the director and some other people from library administration will be here that day, so just a heads up. 
Staff member #1: So you're saying, clean up the library and all the trash in the parking lot that morning right before they get here?
Me: Well, actually, maybe if they see the library how it normally is they will understand why we keep telling them we need more custodial service...
Staff member #2: So you're saying, keep all the trash I normally pick up in the parking lot, and dump it all out the morning before they get here?
Me: Um, well...
Staff member #1: Nooooooo!

Patrons lately

Patrons lately:


Patron:Can I talk to someone who speaks better Spanish than you?
Me (out loud): Yes, ma'am, one moment.
Me (in my head): Yes, but she's still going to tell you the same rules I just told you.


Patron: Can I sign up for a library card? I need some kind of ID to prove to T-Mobile that I'm me.
Me: I'd be happy to sign you up for a library card, but I don't think the phone company will accept it as ID. It just looks like this [shows her a new library card] and you can sign the back.
Patron: Couldn't you just, like, print out a picture of me and tape it to the card?
Me: It doesn't work like that, sorry.


Patron: Who do I report a building problem to?
Me: I'm the branch manager. I'd be happy to hear about your issue. If I can't fix it, I can pass it on to the facilities team and they can.
Patron: One of your bushes outside is dead. You should get that fixed right away!

Patron: Do you have, like, a copy machine, but instead of making, you know, a copy, it makes a copy on the computer?
Me: Yes! It's called a scanner, let me show you how it works.
Patron: Oh, wow! That's great! How much does it cost to make a computer copy?


Patron who I had to ban last week for repeatedly coming into the library drunk: *tries to come in the building when I open the doors at 9:00 a.m. sharp*
Me: Mr. Gomez, you can't come back to the library until November! Remember, the police came last week and talked to you? I was there?
Patron: *stares at me with a total lack of recognition for a few seconds and then shuffles away in resignation*
Me: Have a nice day, sir!


Patron: I'm looking for a list of Chicano authors active in the 1970s. Is there a way I can do that better than just searching the library catalog?
Me: Oooh, let me tell you about the internet!
 

Reinventing the wheel(ed rules)

Here's an interesting manager issue I had lately:

We have a lot of people who are homeless who use our library and some of them take their stuff around the neighborhood in stolen shopping carts. We have a problem with people leaving their carts right by the front door so that they are in line of sight from inside the building. I get why people want to do that, but it blocks the front doors, and there's a risk of them running into the parking lot RIGHT by where our book drop is and colliding with someone's car. For this story, it's also important to note that our library has a handful of bike locks that we lend to patrons so they can lock their bikes to our bike rack outside if they don't have their own lock.

Me in a staff meeting yesterday: Anyone noticing any patterns of issues with the building?
Same coworker who wanted to know if I wanted to see 'something related to the building which will make you feel stressed and discouraged': I've noticed a lot of people leaving shopping carts by the front door lately.
Me: Yeah, that's a problem. Please keep moving them out of the way.
Coworker: But where should we put them?
Me: I guess by the bike rack? Since that's where we have people put bikes and scooters and anything else with wheels?
Coworker: People don't like putting their bikes there because they can't see it from inside. I bet the same think will happen with the shopping carts...if someone asks me for a bike lock to lock their shopping cart to the bike rack, what should I say?
Me: Give it to them.
Coworker: But those carts are technically stolen, right? That's illegal!
Me: [Coworker], pick your battles.