Things I've bought for Walnut Bluff

Now that I'm a branch manager, I've finally relaxed my rule of not buying things for the library with my own money. Here's what my library has needed since I started:
-Two bags of peppermint candies for a guessing jar 
-20 flyers printed in color from a local print shop
-A light-duty staple gun 
-A string of flags from around the world
-Lunch for everyone on staff from a local fast food place
-Two massive cases of Lysol wipes

She helps herself

We have two shelves for customer requests at my library--the books are out on the public floor and are self-service, but the media is behind the front desk because our media is in locking cases, and patrons used to come pick up their requests, check them out at the self-service checkout, leave without getting them unlocked, and then get mad when they got home and couldn't open them. Recently the staff decided that all book holds for a particular old lady had to be kept behind the counter with the media because she kept grabbing them off the self-service shelf and leaving without checking them out.

I asked one of the old-timers if she was maybe just confused about how holds worked, and the old-timer scowled darkly and said "Oh, believe me, she knows."

Not a service dog

I was working on next month's work schedule in my office when one of the staff members on the desk came to get me and said "I'm sorry to bother you, but a woman has tied her dog up inside the library and I don't know what to do."

Sure enough, I went out to the public floor and saw that there was a large golden retriever tied to a newspaper rack in the little vestibule between our lobby and the actual outside. I looked around and didn't see anyone who was obviously the dog's owner, so I went over to the dog, hoping that whoever was with the dog would notice and come and talk to me. As I was approaching the vestibule, another patron came up to the library doors from the outside, looked nervously at this 75-pound dog, and hesitated. As I was trying to figure out if I could maybe stand between the nervous patron and this dog so that the patron could come in, a woman about my age bustled up to me from inside the library and huffed irritably, as though she was incredibly put-upon: "Don't worry about it! I am taking him outside right now!" She unclipped his leash while giving a massive eye roll and stormed out with her golden retriever, turning to whine over her shoulder, "I was just going to print something really quick!"

Not fine fines

Reasons patrons have given me for why I should waive their fines (note that at my library system, we only charge overdue fines if someone else has requested the item--if there are no requests for an item that is late the fines are automatically waived):

"It wasn't me who checked out this book! It was my sister!"

"I didn't get the courtesy reminder that they were due!"

"I am a teacher and I left the book in my classroom over winter break."

 "That season of TV was missing disc 1 when I checked it out."

"I forgot to unlock the case, so I never got to watch it."

"Your automated reminder emails are too long, so I don't read them."

Honesty not the most effective policy

Patron: I want to make a complaint! She [points at staff member] was extremely rude to me on the phone! I told her that I wanted blah blah blah...then she said blah blah blah...then I screamed at her...
Me: Sorry, what? Did you just say you screamed at her?
Patron: Well, yes, I screamed at her. She upset me!
Me: Sir, you can't talk to the library staff like that. I'm afraid you need to leave the library for today. You can come back tomorrow after you have had a chance to calm down.

Earning my keep

Today I submitted 3 different incident reports to library administration, talked to 3 different police officers, evicted 5 people from the library, and talked to 2 different patrons who insisted on speaking to the manager.

When finally the building power went out around 5:00 p.m., I really felt it was a sign we should all be allowed to close up shop early.

Thoughts and worries of a new manager

How did I not predict that the most powerful indicator of which staff would be hard to manage would be having his or her 'personal' book cart?

Is it okay for your staff to hug you if they asked permission first and you said yes? Now are they going to be hurt that you never ask permission to hug them? (I mean, not that you hug them without asking permission, but that you neither hug them nor ask to.)

Is it worse if you accidentally startle your staff member when she thinks she is alone in the building and she goes "Wow, you scared the shit out of me!" or is it worse if your staff member accidentally startles you and you say the same thing? Hypothetically, what if both those things happen in your first six weeks?

What is my power level as far as tamping down on rampant Christmasness? How many years do I have to stay here before I can address it without being 'the mean new manager who hates it when we have fun'?

Should I cover up the political bumper stickers on my very-easy-to-identify car? Is it some kind of discrimination if I don't?

Library administration has reminded us at management meetings multiple times that our Employee Assistance Programs is for managers too, not just staff. Is there something I don't know about that I should be more worried about?

Is it a faux pas not to be a 'friend' of the library, in the Facebook sense and/or nonprofit Friends of the Library sense?