Library workers unite!

[Nightshade]

Ok so Im lazy and terrible at rember all the library workers ( although I do there are more than 5 of us around here so Ive started this thread to say I satretd the social group Yo! library works ( just like I said I would!)
Now I don't know what kind of library you work in but come join in, .

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/group.php?groupid=54
and just to get us started some good old sesame street moments:

Recognise this situation?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ZHPJT2Kp4

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u_KB8xpx50U

course generally as far as my experiance goes its the staff making all the noise and the customers frowning! :goof:
:D

[Chava]

Aww shucks, us bookstore people don't count? :(

[Nightshade]

ehhh, you dont come under the professional code of conduct and you dont deal with mad repetative customers ( who throw books at you and call you fat and other nonlitnet fiendly terms)-or do you?- but hey why not the more the merrier! :D come in come in and sit down
whats your funniest customer experiance? :D
Wait just rembered what a friend of mine who works in a local bookstore has to do , they were sent on a training course where they were told t stroke the books to get people to buy them ( in a my precious kind of way!) :lol:

[Chava]

you dont deal with mad repetative customers ( who throw books at you and call you fat and other nonlitnet fiendly terms)-or do you?

Sure do! On a regular basis. I'm not the one who gets the rap often though, i have a sweet colleague who just always seems to get the angry mad-hatters. I should stroke books more. hmm.

[Nightshade]

there is a special technique to it apparntly,
I like to juggle books ( well toss then up and catch the the right way round for shelving) when Im shelving them but the hurt arm is going to stop that this week :(

[Chava]

there is a special technique to it apparntly,
I like to juggle books ( well toss then up and catch the the right way round for shelving) when Im shelving them but the hurt arm is going to stop that this week :(

Haha, We just got a price change list today, for the entire travel section, to raise the price of each book by one kroner (this is nothing, it wouldn't buy you a half stick of bubblegum)... I had to take the tags off about 300 books, then add new ones... Phew.. what a day. I get so nervous if people toss books, in case they drop them and wreck the covers ;) My heart always skips a sympathetic beat when some customer does drop a book or two.

[Nightshade]

Which is the brilliant thing about librarys after a few hundered books have attacked you , you get a little skip of joy when the book is also hurt! :brows: plus my tossing them around does less damage than most people who just borrow the book once, we had a woman microwave a book once now that is a story worth telling, ut Im going to bed now so it will have to wait for another day :p

[sprinks]

I had to take the tags off about 300 books, then add new ones... Phew.. what a day.
Oh when I worked in a bookshop for work experience I had to do that :sick:. After I alphabetized and dusted all the shelves. And served customers. And it was unpaid work experience :p. They really get a good job out of the students!! :lol:

As for dropping books etc the main times that happens to me is when someone has stacked heaps and heaps and heaps of books into a shelf so when you pull one out, the whole shelf follows. Of course that always happens on quiet days so everyone hears! :p

[librarius_qui]

Aww shucks, us bookstore people don't count? :(

No, we DON'T.
Another profession. We might think of a group ... It is a good idea!


:crash:

[Dori]

Librarians scare me. :cold:

[librarius_qui]

Librarians scare me. :cold:

Bookmen scared me! That's why I became one! :)

Librarians bore me. (Well, no, but having been one did ... One of my best friends, though, was the guy I worked with. Nice guy. wonderful heart! Among the best! You'll never find such a pearl in bookstore ... We're mad(ly) crazy capitalists, who only think of making money out of tuns of paper! hahahahahahahhahahahhhaa!!!!)

Hm ... I hope people don't get that MUCH scared ... :bawling:

;)



:crash:

[Dori]

Bookmen scared me! That's why I became one! :)

Librarians bore me. (Well, no, but having been one did ... One of my best friends, though, was the guy I worked with. Nice guy. wonderful heart! Among the best! You'll never find such a pearl in bookstore ... We're mad(ly) crazy capitalists, who only think of making money out of tuns of paper! hahahahahahahhahahahhhaa!!!!)

Hm ... I hope people don't get that MUCH scared ... :bawling:

;)



:crash:

:lol: Haha, I find most "bookmen" as you call them to be rather nice. :) Never scary, though I've never met you so maybe I'm missing out...:p

But, no one scares me like the librarian at my school. She's a snob if there ever was one! She's in charge of the National Honor Society members at our school (I am one of those unfortunate souls :( ). I was late in handing in a permission slip for a field trip. So what does she do? She lectured the heck out of me! I couldn't get a word in edgewise! :(

[librarius_qui]

:lol: Haha, I find most "bookmen" as you call them to be rather nice. :) Never scary, though I've never met you so maybe I'm missing out...:p

But, no one scares me like the librarian at my school. She's a snob if there ever was one! She's in charge of the National Honor Society members at our school (I am one of those unfortunate souls :( ). I was late in handing in a permission slip for a field trip. So what does she do? She lectured the heck out of me! I couldn't get a word in edgewise! :(

A bookman is NEVER scary with a customer ...

*

Bookmen are proud among themselves, and gentle toward the public;
librarians are humble among themselves, and scary toward the public ...

[Lily Adams]

I'm going to be a library TA next year, yay.

Haha. In response to the Seasame Street stuff: I tell my librarian to shush all the time.

[Nightshade]

I'm going to be a library TA next year, yay.

Haha. In response to the Seasame Street stuff: I tell my librarian to shush all the time.

humm well people doing that to me will illecit the quoting of the framework for the future and various other library policies none which say I have to be quiet, in fact alot of them adocate cheerful staff ( and how can I be cheerful if im not allowed to laugh? Or if they decide to go with the terible uniform idea!)
Ha in the last few of years weve had to change the labels in all 15,000 books 3 times and come march we have to change them all again overnight because our local government ceases t exsit and a new one takesw over ( can we all so yuck?!!)

Dori I suggest you run! :lol:

[Chava]

Ha in the last few of years weve had to change the labels in all 15,000 books 3 times and come march we have to change them all again overnight

Haha, my deepest sympathies. My bookstore just changed owner, and as soon as we get the new uniform, all pricetags must be exchanged as they currently have the old stores logo on them.... (some one just kill me now!)

[sprinks]

:lol: Haha, I find most "bookmen" as you call them to be rather nice. :) Never scary, though I've never met you so maybe I'm missing out...:p

well when I was a "bookwoman" :p, I was very nice and friendly and helpful to customers and staff, it was the customers who were scary! One old lady yelled at and insulted me on the phone. I actually had to bite on my tongue to not retaliate! And I worked with some incredibly lovely staff when I was there.

As for librarians being scary, well I'm not :p. I thought I'd scare all the kids with my incredible sunburn and peeling face, but they still came up to me and asked for help :D. Which ended up in me fixing a computer so a little boy could play Lego games on the computer :p

[Nightshade]

It is a terrible thing isn't it , and Im sure the eaders don't care who's logo it is they are looking at do they?

[Joreads]

I love my local librarians and in fact all librarians. I was a volonteer at the library delivering books to house bound people so they know me really well and they even put books away for me that they think I will like. One of my really good friends is a librarian but at another council library (you can only join libraries in the same area that you live here) I am usually able to get the book that I want one way or another.

Be nice to your librarians and she/he will be nice to you

[librarius_qui]

well when I was a "bookwoman" :p, I was very nice and friendly and helpful to customers and staff, it was the customers who were scary! One old lady yelled at and insulted me on the phone. I actually had to bite on my tongue to not retaliate! And I worked with some incredibly lovely staff when I was there.

As for librarians being scary, well I'm not :p. I thought I'd scare all the kids with my incredible sunburn and peeling face, but they still came up to me and asked for help :D. Which ended up in me fixing a computer so a little boy could play Lego games on the computer :p

I wish Brasil had more librarians like you, Sprinksy ... Actually, as a matter of fact, Brasil needs many more libraries! :(

We don't have a culture of readers ... It has been changing, but there's a lot to change. This is the main reason I don't leave the country, 'cause, if I could ... choose (I can, staying here is my choice ...), I'd live in Europe. England, if possible, maybe Italy, or Portugal, where I lived once (as a boy).


Libri*

[Infinitefox]

I volunteer. do I count?

[Lily Adams]

humm well people doing that to me will illecit the quoting of the framework for the future and various other library policies none which say I have to be quiet, in fact alot of them adocate cheerful staff ( and how can I be cheerful if im not allowed to laugh? Or if they decide to go with the terible uniform idea!)
Ha in the last few of years weve had to change the labels in all 15,000 books 3 times and come march we have to change them all again overnight because our local government ceases t exsit and a new one takesw over ( can we all so yuck?!!)

Oh, it's just a joke. Get it? A student shushing the librarian instead of the other way around. Really now, he's my friend and always laughs when I shush him.

[Niamh]

Nothing wrong with us booksellers. we get heaps of stick from customers.

[1n50mn14]

Our local library won't hire me, as I have both piercings and funny hair. :flare: Apparently, it doesn't look professional enough, and gives the impression that the library hires illiterates. Whaaaa? The girls who help me at our library never know where I can find anything, like, the Picture of Dorian Gray, or reference books about the Vietnam War. I'm not even looking for anything obscure!!! I know my way around better than they do, even if they've got conventional hair and sweet faces.

[Niamh]

complain to the authority in charge of the library and make this a point in your argument. It is against your right as an individual.

[Nightshade]

Oh, it's just a joke. Get it? A student shushing the librarian instead of the other way around. Really now, he's my friend and always laughs when I shush him.

No joke we had a guy yell at us once for not being quiet and keep the library quiet ...e xcuse me but how are you supposed to keep 20 under 5 year olds quite during the sing along sessions the gooverment insissts we host, not that we object of course we all love getting the gutar the tamberine s teh maaraks and crazy crow out. I think we dilberatly say row row your boat ( the extended dont for get to scream version) after that just to spite the guy. Do not piss off the library staff!

Our local library won't hire me, as I have both piercings and funny hair. :flare: Apparently, it doesn't look professional enough, and gives the impression that the library hires illiterates. Whaaaa? The girls who help me at our library never know where I can find anything, like, the Picture of Dorian Gray, or reference books about the Vietnam War. I'm not even looking for anything obscure!!! I know my way around better than they do, even if they've got conventional hair and sweet faces.
OMG! what happened tpo equal oppertunies, sure we arent allowed to wear jeans ( though I noticed the new boss man was today) or leggings, but they cant actually do nthat becca, wait where do you live? Ill dig out the relvant laws for you ( ask papaya Im good at that) now thats just made me MAD!!
:mad: How dare they indulge in snobbishness its a pubvlic service and that reflects badly on all fo us who are librarinas* storms off muttering*

[1n50mn14]

I live in the freaking land of democacy- Canada.
I know that they can't do that, yet, they do anyway.
Over riding it would be useless- why would I want to work with people like that? >.<
Lol. But I'll rant in my journal about it.

[Nightshade]

I live in the freaking land of democacy- Canada.
I know that they can't do that, yet, they do anyway.
Over riding it would be useless- why would I want to work with people like that? >.<
Lol. But I'll rant in my journal about it.
That is not the point Becca the point is it is indictive of levels of prejudice on litrecy that is counterproductive tlo their primary objective, and seing as they being canda would have originally shared the same primary 1850 public libraries law as the uk it is horrifing and needs exposing so they straighten up! before they become resopnsible for the predicted demise of public libraries FOREVER Re:The 2020 debate! :bawling:

[wessexgirl]

Librarians scare me. :cold:

:lol: Aaahhhh, don't be scared of us Dori, we don't bite, (well not unless we have to ;)). I'm a pussy cat with my students, WHEN THEY DO AS I SAY!!!!!
It's a different matter if they p*** me off though.....:flare:.

I'm a former Public Libraries Librarian Nightshade, so can recognise some of the things you've said. I'm now a Secondary School Librarian, dealing with hundreds of teenagers :eek: I don't know which is worse, the Great British Public, with their often overly demanding expectations, or a school full of hormonal Catherine Tate lookalikes, and their male equivalents :lol:. No actually I do. Give me the teenagers any time. There are some s**** of course, who sometimes make me forgot I don't believe in hitting children, but most of them are fine and it's quite sweet how they come and talk to me about anything and everything. I hear all sorts :eek2: which can make me laugh out loud, but also feel like crying. On the whole I prefer it, what with school holidays, and NO WEEKEND WORKING........WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! :D.

[Nightshade]

Call me Night! or if you really must copy the masses and call me nightie or nighty :rolleyes:
Ive thought about school libraries especially now Im seriously looking for a permenat professional job so I can start clocking hours towards my CILIP certification, but I love my old ladies, and my crazy saterday mornings when the dads who obviously dont often have the kids end up at their wits end and bring in the kids. I just LOVE public libraries espiclaly my one, though I could have done without the stalker and the rest of my wierdos :rolleyes:.
Did I mention I love it when people come out with things like ' I dont know what I would do with out you kind people' ( tthis was a housbound lady who we deliver books to and almost always sends us a little thankyou card back with her books! And I love the christmas pressents people bring in, and I love talking about the books, and rembering someone weeks later and going oh yes I saw the sequel to the book you borroewd and dnagged it for you TA-DA!!
I love my job and I goning to have to quit, to move onto something that will actually give me enough money to live off :bawling:

[Niamh]

poor nightie!http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q268/niamhking/smilies/ththerethere.gif

[wessexgirl]

Call me Night! or if you really must copy the masses and call me nightie or nighty :rolleyes:
Ive thought about school libraries especially now Im seriously looking for a permenat professional job so I can start clocking hours towards my CILIP certification, but I love my old ladies, and my crazy saterday mornings when the dads who obviously dont often have the kids end up at their wits end and bring in the kids. I just LOVE public libraries espiclaly my one, though I could have done without the stalker and the rest of my wierdos :rolleyes:.
Did I mention I love it when people come out with things like ' I dont know what I would do with out you kind people' ( tthis was a housbound lady who we deliver books to and almost always sends us a little thankyou card back with her books! And I love the christmas pressents people bring in, and I love talking about the books, and rembering someone weeks later and going oh yes I saw the sequel to the book you borroewd and dnagged it for you TA-DA!!
I love my job and I goning to have to quit, to move onto something that will actually give me enough money to live off :bawling:

Ahh, Night! You bring back many happy memories for me. I suppose I do miss a lot of things about Public Libraries. There were some lovely times and lovely people.

But there were some not-so-lovely too, in fact downright rude, abrasive, or even scary people. I feel for you, as you have to be all things to all people in libraries. You're not just concerned with books, but you're a sort of quasi- social worker/playgroup leader/teacher/computer expert/childminder/counsellor/councillor/security guard/artist/community worker.......etc.etc.etc. I can't say there wasn't variety!

However, as I mentioned, the bonus in school libraries is the holidays and no weekend or late night working, and after years of that, with all sorts of security issues which that entailed, I felt that a school was a better option. I've lost count of the times I've had to deal with safety issues, such as drunks, aggressive or mentally ill people behaving in a scary way, plus having to be responsible for the buildings security, the banking etc. etc. There are caretakers in school, so I don't have the responsibility of locking the building up, (apart from my library), or having to deal with security issues. If I get a lairy or gobby teenager, who can be very intimidating, as they mostly tower over me, I send for senior staff to deal with them. I suppose it's like sending for the security guards in public libraries, but they can be on their way from miles away, which wasn't very helpful for us.

I think that working in a school means I have more to do with actual books, as I don't have to do all the other things I did in a public library, but I still do craft and activity sessions etc. So I suppose it depends on whether you like all of the variety of your current job, or would like to concentrate more on being in the Library doing library work, rather than being out and about. I used to go to nurseries, schools, a homeless centre, a community centre etc, etc. I am very much based in one place here. I have to say I don't have time to get bored though, as there's so much to do, and so many classes to work with that you would probably love that as much as you do with your job now. Obviously you don't have the staff you have now, so it can get a bit lonely, but I'm lucky in that I've got a part-time assistant, but a lot of school libraries don't have that, so that's why you have so much to do. It's worth thinking about though. Good luck with finding somewhere else :).

[librarius_qui]

Obviously you don't have the staff you have now, so it can get a bit lonely, but I'm lucky in that I've got a part-time assistant, but a lot of school libraries don't have that, so that's why you have so much to do. It's worth thinking about though. Good luck with finding somewhere else :).

This makes me remember of a story I began writing, lo-o-ong ago ... About a librarian and his apprentice, out of time.

I should go back to that story, maybe ... Only, my understanding of eternity kind of changed, so I let the idea aside.

(There were some ideas I let aside, when I changed gods ...)

[Nightshade]

Well I dont actualaly have staff being the lowest of the low a casual and saterday Library assistant ( athough I have been known to work +500 hours in a month!)And our library doesnt have security although we are within shouting distance of the firestation and several of the staff are or were married to firemen ( one of ourr exstaff left to join the fire service) so they are usally there to help.
Id have thought it would get boring in a school, but obviously Im wrong! good to know :D:D

[wessexgirl]

Well I dont actualaly have staff being the lowest of the low a casual and saterday Library assistant ( athough I have been known to work +500 hours in a month!)And our library doesnt have security although we are within shouting distance of the firestation and several of the staff are or were married to firemen ( one of ourr exstaff left to join the fire service) so they are usally there to help.
Id have thought it would get boring in a school, but obviously Im wrong! good to know :D:D

:eek: How on earth did you manage to clock up 500+ hours in a month Night?

You do have staff to work with which was what I meant, so it can get a bit lonely. How lovely having firemen to help you... I love firemen....:D, but that shows what I meant really. There are so many branch libraries, and the security have to travel around from one to another. I just called the police if I needed to. It's the first school I've worked in, so I don't know about others, but I certainly don't get bored. It is a very large school with a large library though. I know some poor schools don't have a library, or just a few books in a corridor.

[sprinks]

I know some poor schools don't have a library, or just a few books in a corridor.

Then there is my school. A fancy private school, but when we started we had 2 shelves a few books. Now we have a big fancy library and research building, but only another 3 or more shelves added on to the previous 2!!

[wessexgirl]

Then there is my school. A fancy private school, but when we started we had 2 shelves a few books. Now we have a big fancy library and research building, but only another 3 or more shelves added on to the previous 2!!

Is the building filled with computers and IT stuff I wonder :rolleyes: What a shame. I know we have to keep up with technology, but I do despair at the lack of books, or the importance being placed on them. As I try to get through to the students in my school, computers crash, books don't :lol:. We ought to have a thread on sayings about libraries, books, reading and its importance. There are some great ones, (which I have put up all around my Library). Off the top of my head, here's some we should take note of:

To learn to read is to light a fire, every syllable is like a spark. (Victor Hugo)

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of Library. (Jorge Luis Borges)

Read in order to live. (Gustave Flaubert)

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. (Frederick Douglass)

A room without a book is like a body without a soul— Marcus Tullius Cicero

I found this one recently which is great

At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better. --Barack Obama

That's hopeful.

And another one I really love,
"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall."
— Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

There are loads more.

[sprinks]

Is the building filled with computers and IT stuff I wonder :rolleyes: What a shame. I know we have to keep up with technology, but I do despair at the lack of books, or the importance being placed on them. As I try to get through to the students in my school, computers crash, books don't :lol:.

Well it's actually just because the building only got finished last year, so we're still getting things in :). Of course by the time I graduate at the end of the year it'll be full of all sorts of wonderous things! :rolleyes:.

And they are some great quotes! I like that idea. In our school library when we walk in, there are big pin up boards full of quotes like that :D. It might still be lacking a little bit in books, but it is still a great place in there :D.

[Nightshade]

We ought to have a thread on sayings about libraries, books, reading and its importance. There are some great ones, (which I have put up all around my Library). Off the top of my head, here's some we should take note of:

To learn to read is to light a fire, every syllable is like a spark. (Victor Hugo)

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of Library. (Jorge Luis Borges)

Read in order to live. (Gustave Flaubert)

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. (Frederick Douglass)

A room without a book is like a body without a soul— Marcus Tullius Cicero

I found this one recently which is great

At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better. --Barack Obama

That's hopeful.

And another one I really love,
"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall."
— Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

There are loads more.

OOOH I like these! :nod:
the 500 hrs was due to a rash of illness and jury duty so I was working 6 days a week full hours..but hey I got through the first 2 years of uni without a student loan thanks to working my gap year in the library, and keeping up as many hours as possible, I probably would have made most of this year without a loan too, if I hadnt gone off on the exchange to prague all summer :D

[Niamh]

I like that Obama one!!!

We had a fairly okay library is school. I was one of the Librarians in 5th year and a Library Prefect in 6th, but all we really did was cover the books and supervise lunch time detention.

[wessexgirl]

I just wanted to say how much I love Phillip Pullman. I've just seen him on The Book Show, and he was "bigging up" libraries :D. I know he and Michael Rosen have been involved in a campaign to save a school library, where it's been decided that the librarian is no longer needed, and the students can just basically use the resource/computers without the need for a skilled professional. What a nonsense. Talk about undervaluing books and reading!!! He spoke of the value of having someone who knows the books, and the students, who can help to guide them. He also dismisses, quite rightly, the producing of age ranges on books, for very sensible reasons. In the climate where literacy is paramount, and many children leave school barely able to read or write, what is the thinking behind such a bad move as undervaluing a library? It's the most short-sighted idea. I am gobsmacked. What does that tell kids? I hope he and Rosen are successful in helping that particular school to change their mind.

[wessexgirl]

I like that Obama one!!!

We had a fairly okay library is school. I was one of the Librarians in 5th year and a Library Prefect in 6th, but all we really did was cover the books and supervise lunch time detention.

Did they have detention in the Library Niamh, as if that was a punishment????:flare: Again, what sort of thinking is that. The Library is a beautiful place where people should want to go.

[sprinks]

The Library is a beautiful place where people should want to go.

hear, hear! :D

[Niamh]

Did they have detention in the Library Niamh, as if that was a punishment????:flare: Again, what sort of thinking is that. The Library is a beautiful place where people should want to go.

Well we didnt have a detention room... and it really was a classroom that had books along the wall. It was also an exam room and a study hall. Some people came there to study during lunch, others were sent there by teachers as it was beside the teachers lounge. we got a new library built when i was in 6th year, but our library was very neglected by students.

[Nightshade]

Michael Rosen, is that the Traces guy? Or is that micheal rose? :confused:

[wessexgirl]

Michael Rosen, is that the Traces guy? Or is that micheal rose? :confused:

That's Malcolm Rose, Michael Rosen is the Children's Poet Laureate, and he's brilliant. Check out some of his stuff Night, I'm sure you'll love it. He's great to do with little kids at your reading sessions. I love his poem about the chocolate cake, and you may know his "We're Going on a Bear Hunt"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytc0U2WAz4s&feature=related

[Nightshade]

Im dyslexic and can't read aloud, especially poetry, but Ill keep the name in mind.
Oh hey I know the bear hunt, I love that one!! I love action stories, didnt realise it was a poem! :D