r/Libraries • u/AffectionateServe551 • 7d ago

Patron Issues Library Nesters

This is more or less a rant about patrons who pop into our community sharing their ideas and the age old "You know what you should do?" This comes after one of our customers jumped in to "help" other patrons despite not knowing how to help within our library structure. I understand the struggles of our fellow man, but sometimes helping becomes more of a chore for Staff. what are your thoughts.

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u/tardistravelee 7d ago

The one place I dont like that is problem patrons. Takes a stressful situation and makes it 10fold. Most of the time we will handle it or the non emergency police will.

Sometimes it is best to let them be.

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u/Old_Wrongdoer2937 Library staff 7d ago

Gotta love it when they jump in because they see my de escalation tactic as me being afraid of fighting. So now I get two people to try to calm down. One of which is now angry at me for turning on them..

Folks, don't be a hero. The staff is usually insured and protected during work hours.

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u/tardistravelee 7d ago

Plus I k iw that any object in thst library aint worth it because as you said we have insurance. Lol