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i wanna work at a library....
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Apr 26, 2023 01:15
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| # ? May 9, 2024 09:59 |
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what's stopping your dreams from becoming reality, besides the basics like needing money for housing and food
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Apr 26, 2023 04:30
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Apple Pie Hubbub posted:
Cross-posting from the political cartoons thread
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Apr 26, 2023 13:25
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the new main library in my old hometown owns. it's right in the heart of the city centre by the waterfront next to the opera house, only a minute from the central train station/hub, and is modern in a way that's actually good even if the architecture is a bit odd at first there's spots for reading/enjoying the view all along the hanging lip here with a great view over the fjord (to the right out of frame, the pond in front is just a water mirror)  the interior is pretty modern in a good way, lots of open and secluded places to read, work or just hang out. I can't take home books from there anymore since I'm no longer a resident of the city itself, but I sit there just to read books or grade student works any chance I get since I commute through oslo central anyway 
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Apr 27, 2023 15:09
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Protect and defend libraries. 🫡
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Apr 27, 2023 16:20
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Florida sucks right now but Orange County Library System (OCLS) fuckin rules. I go once or twice a month with the kids to let them get a ton of picture/board books (you can have 100 checkouts at a time but I usually stick to like 15). My toddler even got her own card and she's so proud to give it to the clerk when we checkout. I remember going to the main Downtown branch in Kindergarten and getting a card. The Downtown Library rules, easily the best looking building in Orlando:  Brutalist as hell and takes up a whole block. It used to be smaller and then they decided to just take over the whole block and built more. All unfinished concrete throughout the inside still (they have carpets and tiles on the floors). I guess there used to be balconies and stuff to hang out on but they're all closed off now  The building is right across from Lake Eola but the road it's on is pretty busy now so I'm not sure how relaxing it would really be anyway.It's the closest one to my house but there's no free parking. There's metered parking at least so it's only like $1.50 (I'm not there more than an hour and a half, $.25/quarter hour). The kids section is huge. The fiction section actually isn't that big but there's like a dozen branches so I think they figure you'll request whatever you want if you want something specific - and they can send it to whatever branch you want OR ship it to your house totally for free. The only downside is you have to bring it to a branch to return it. The other thing about the Downtown branch is there's a whole floor for their technology stuff, an airplane simulator cockpit, a racing sim setup, VR setup, big computer classroom, I think 3D printers now? You can't go into that part of the library without having signed up for an event so I've never been. BUT this thread is reminding me that I've been meaning to sign up for sewing classes. There's a whole sewing studio with machines and stuff. I'd love to be able to patch clothes and make Halloween costumes for my kids and stuff. Over all I love the library and going to branches we've never been to before is a great way to spend time with my kids and they love going somewhere new, even if the non-downtown branches kids sections are like 1/5 the size. They don't care (and probably don't need that many choices anyway). Only problem is I'm running out of branches that aren't half an hour away. I love the library so much I even got their new 100th Anniversary card even though mine was in great shape.
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Apr 27, 2023 23:01
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In my town we have a beautiful little Carnegie library building from 1906 that hasn't had a library in it for over 60 years. It's been the local history museum for like 40 years, nobody ever goes in there and it's a shame. I don't go to my local library any more because i like to read books and they don't have any
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May 7, 2023 09:43
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My hometown has a Carnegie library that I have always loved but it eventually got turned into a very overpriced used bookstore that I never, ever, ever saw a single customer in because nobody in my town reads books. The actual library got moved over near the school and mostly got turned into a computer lab. I went back to visit about a month ago and the old library building is being renovated into a small hotel
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May 7, 2023 14:43
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I used to work in a library that was still in its original Carnegie building. The building was gorgeous and it had a stained glass dome inside. But it sure had its obstacles. Maintenance was a constant problem and ADA compliance was... met but it took some real creative solutions. So much of the problem with Carnegie buildings is that they take a lot of money for upkeep, but since they were mainly built along the steel belt which became the rust belt, those communities don't always have the tax dollars to invest to maintain them. For those towns it's more financially responsible to sell them and then the private business sadly converts them.
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May 8, 2023 00:31
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My local library is kind of tiny but it's real nice lookin, and it's a branch of the state library system so I've never had a problem getting something from another branch pretty quickly. Building just had a bunch of improvements done a few years ago and it's a nice cozy place a short walk from my front door. 
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May 8, 2023 15:58
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my local library just eliminated late fees and they'll no longer send past due (for replacement books, etc.) accounts to collection agencies. huge wins all around, though both are at least two decades overdue they also finally limited renewals to 2 total, down from 5. the previous system let people take books for ~180 days which made for ludicrous wait times for less popular books local libraries stay winning
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May 8, 2023 18:41
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WarpDogs posted:my local library just eliminated late fees and they'll no longer send past due (for replacement books, etc.) accounts to collection agencies. huge wins all around, though both are at least two decades overdue Interesting to see what other libraries do. We don't have late fees anymore, if you take a book and never return it we will bill your account for it, but we only turn it over to collections if you accrue over $50 in debt. Also, even if it's turned over to collections we'll still remove the bill if you just bring the book back, but you do have to pay a small fee. ($5 or $10 I think). We'll even accept copies of the book if you just want to buy one cheaper off of the internet. As for renewals, our checkouts are 3 weeks, and it will auto renew up to 4 times, but if another patron places a hold on the book at any point you can't renew it any more. We send out texts/emails to let people know when their books renew, or if they need to bring them back.
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May 9, 2023 00:08
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Were late fees ever a source of income for the library? Or was it purely to motivate people to return their books?
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May 9, 2023 00:48
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Heath posted:Were late fees ever a source of income for the library? Or was it purely to motivate people to return their books? When I worked at a library, they said it made up like 1% of our annual budget.
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May 9, 2023 15:56
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Heath posted:Were late fees ever a source of income for the library? Or was it purely to motivate people to return their books? Some things found when my library did some research: - Late fees make up less than 1% of revenue - Fee revenue is actually trending downward due to digital loans - Collecting fees costs money in staff time, payment processing, etc.
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May 9, 2023 19:30
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IMO, the biggest plus of getting rid of late fees is that it's a tremendous quality of life improvement for our patrons and another barrier to entry we can knock down. So many of our patrons are parents, many of them are single parents, and removing any stress from their lives is a boon. Children can check out stacks of books without the parent being hesitant that forgetting or being a few days late is going to accumulate penalties, and it makes people more likely to bring back their books in general. If you're underprivileged and you think you owe the library some amount of fees, you're often likely to just never return, and that's no good for us or the children.
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May 9, 2023 19:52
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I will also mention that flat late fees on books can be very difficult for parents. Children books are short and they get devoured at a tremendous pace. Our children's reading program tracks milestones by the hundreds of books, and when you're checking out 30 books at a time, even five cents a day per book can add up very quckly. That's why it frustrates me when adults who check out one or two novels at a time think we should bring fees back. It just hurts parents and they need all the help they can get.
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May 9, 2023 19:56
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When my local library got rid of fees last year they updated their social media with the longest checked out items returned, and the winner was a CD for the Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack which had been checked out since like 2005 or something
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May 9, 2023 21:37
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I returned some books and got put on a "soft block" while they sent one book to some place for a special inspection (I guess?) I ended up getting a late fee for the book even though I returned it on time, and then they neglected to remove the soft block. I asked if they could take it off at my local branch when I paid the fee and they said no, central had to do it. I called central and they were very nice about it and removed it! The book was a very enjoyable one about cast iron building fronts and cornices. Overall A- service, with a bump to A for just being the library and deserving of it. I will absolutely patronize in the future. Thank you, library!
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May 9, 2023 22:39
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Yeah the only late fees I've ever dealt with were my due to my kids. Mostly because they'll go through a phase where they're ravenous for a specific kind of a book, so I'll grab like 20 of them and they'll read them every day and night for a month before they lose interest and those same books get lost under beds and couches
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May 10, 2023 01:53
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Today at the library I read to a room full of 2nd graders, and it was great. The kids were all so well behaved, you just want them to stay that way forever. It was Pete the Cat Checks Out the Library 
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May 19, 2023 15:52
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I love Pete the Cat! I should read to kids, that sounds fun. I like trading aloud to my own kids, why not expand my audience?
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May 19, 2023 16:07
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power is out in my neighborhood so i grabbed my laptop and am hanging out at the library. libraries ftw
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Jun 27, 2023 18:58
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Got way into libraries again when I lived in a shoebox apartment in an urban core and bookshelf space was limited. Thanks to interlibrary loans I wound up saving hundreds in book purchases that would’ve gone in Bezo’s pocket. Now I’m a stay at home dad and I love them even more. Great place for my daughter to draw or play with legos or participate in Storytime in a place that isn’t home.
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Jun 29, 2023 03:25
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Heath posted:Were late fees ever a source of income for the library? Or was it purely to motivate people to return their books? As far as I've ever heard from management: no, not really. The revenue they brought in was pretty much offset by the labor costs of administering the fines in the first place and it discouraged the people who could stand to benefit from using the library the most from using it.
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Jul 4, 2023 14:59
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It's been a very relaxing habit for me lately to peruse the "new books" shelves in my local library. They also usually have stuff that's been highlighted in the major book review magazines, so it's nice to get a look at it for free there.
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Jul 4, 2023 20:37
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When I was in grad school I volunteered as a virtual reference librarian and also a library page. It was fun!
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Jul 6, 2023 16:29
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| # ? May 9, 2024 09:59 |
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Sir Mat of Dickie posted:It's been a very relaxing habit for me lately to peruse the "new books" shelves in my local library. They also usually have stuff that's been highlighted in the major book review magazines, so it's nice to get a look at it for free there. I love looking at the new books shelf too. Snagged a few books that had been hyped in the sff thread over the last few months that way, including Spear Cuts Through Water.
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Jul 7, 2023 00:49
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