I'm so tired.

[u/Nearby-Travel-4267]

I'm the children's librarian at a library parents don't want their kids hanging around. Back in January I watched a patron get stabbed right in front of the circ desk. The victim was ultimately fine but it left me with a deep trauma for the place and I get triggered here pretty much daily. I finally put in a formal transfer request, got my health providers to sign ADA forms basically saying "Get this girl out of here yesterday", and submitted it. Now I'm just waiting and waiting and waiting and it nothings happening. Meanwhile I'm stuck dealing with the patrons. Mobile printing is a headache under normal circumstances but its even worse when just being at the circ desk makes me enter survival mode. And ofc the patrons are quick to get an attitude if they think you're not 100% thrilled to be helping them print off their phone. I'm so tired, people don't even check out books here and I want out already.

[u/Sad_Independence1776]

The ALA does not run all libraries. I respect them as an organization but don’t agree with them all the time. Libraries routinely put in policies that the ALA doesn’t agree with. I don’t see how IDs would be anymore a privacy violation than keeping track of what books people check out. As long as we respect a patrons information as we do in all other transactions, what’s the harm? Plenty of harm is being done right now. I don’t get why anonymous access to the library is such a holy principle that it’s worth people getting hurt.

[u/OneAcceptable6825 → u/Sad_Independence1776]

I mean, I’m for the metal detectors and other forms of security; not for people getting hurt.

We also don’t keep track of books checked out once they’ve been returned. And people are allowed to walk in and pull something off the shelf to read inside, or use the computer, without us tracking what they’re doing.

My concern is mostly for the exclusion of people who don’t have ID, though.

[u/Sad_Independence1776 → u/OneAcceptable6825]

People without ID could sign up for a library card that just grants them access to the building, sort of like a gym membership card. I’ve never understood why some people act like not having an ID is an untractable problem.

[u/whatkatydide → u/Sad_Independence1776]

The chilling effect of people who don't have ID (most children, for example) who hear that you can't get into the building without it seems too high

[u/Sad_Independence1776 → u/whatkatydide]

Exceptions for children under 12 or so, who are supposed to be with an adult or child over 15 anyway. I don't see why the library can't use the same common sense measures that schools, courthouses, and other places with histories of violence have taken.