Friday, March 06, 2009

 

Success Brings Up Other Issues

The Chambers County Library System works very hard to make visiting your local library a pleasant experience for everyone. Our efforts have paid off over the years, since we had over 150,000 people walk through the doors and we circulated over a quarter of a million items in 2008.

Occasionally, we have a problem or two, and again, we work hard to make sure that these problems don’t continue and drive away our happy customers. If everyone knows the rules, so to speak, and everyone agrees to abide by them, then the whole atmosphere is better for the customers, for the library staff, and for the community in general.

Shopping is a good example of our problem #1. When you visit a store, you purchase something, and flash a bit of plastic, some cash, or write a check. At the library, you need to do something similar: you flash that plastic library card. This was a big change from a few years ago, when everyone on staff knew everyone who walked in the door. We just can’t operate that way anymore, and absolutely need to know that a library card is in your possession to use our materials and services. If your card is lost, a new set of three cards can be purchased for $1.00, provided that your existing library record is up to date, with no additional charges listed. Your first, card, of course, is still free.

A second problem we are addressing these days is disruptive, unattended children. We aren’t talking about children who come to library programs and movies, or who sit at the computers quietly; the key word is disruptive. Crying, running, making excessive noise, and generally upsetting the other library patrons can result in a frank discussion with a parent about the behaviors. According to the library system policy on unattended children who are not picked up when the library closes, the Sheriff’s Department should be contacted. The library staff is exceedingly busy, as witnessed by those attendance and circulation figures above; they do not replace the attentive care of a parent or caregiver who needs to be aware of the child’s activities.

Another issue that has arisen lately is that of older library visitors who, because the library is welcoming, turn the site into an area for loitering, rude speech, rowdy behavior, and potentially dangerous rambunctiousness. For their safety, and for the comfort of the library patrons who are actually using the facilities for library purposes, our policy again states that the staff should contact the Sheriff’s Department to curtail the problems. The library staff may also contact parents (if the culprits are under 16) and may ban the youngsters from the libraries for some time.

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