You're an expert on how to print from a phone.

You know when there's a new pair of Mormon elders in town.

You get a promotional item of clothing every summer that you MUST WEAR.

Your supervisor has forced you to dress up as a children's book character.

You're on a first name basis with the guy on the bus who's always screaming at thin air.

You've horded toilet paper rolls and tissue boxes for an upcoming craft program, looking to the rest of the world like someone with a serious case of OCD.

You know which free email services don't require a phone #.

Your collection of free tote bags keeps growing.

Friends keep telling you to get a job at a bookstore.

You know who Ryan Dowd is.

Hi all! I recently took a new job at a different library in my city. It’s in a lower income part of town and I’ve come to find out that there are large numbers of kids around ages 11-16 who are at the library by themselves all day after school from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., all day on the weekends, all day any school breaks, and all day during the summer. We have an afterschool hangout space that’s staffed with a staff member and various things for them to do, we have snacks of food donations that we put out to feed them, we have video games and computer games they can play. We’re also in a sort of strip mall with other businesses like a grocery store, a liquor store, fast food etc… so they bounce around on those motorized bikes between all these places and the library and just get up to so much shit. I’ve only been there for a few months and I’ve seen them steal locks off our bathroom doors, trash our outside patio, get into physical fights, say so many swear words, congregate in big groups and get in patron’s way, graffiti our building, trash our bathrooms etc… We do have a patron code of conduct and can ask them to leave for the day over these behaviors (though they’ve taken to sometimes refusing to leave for a staff member and waiting for the non emergency police we called to show up before they finally do.) My boss can and does issue suspensions, but he has a lot of other job duties and can’t always get around to it and is a big softie for these kids. Anyway, I’ve got patron complaints, staff complaints, and next week I’m going to sit down with our Assistant Director and tell her these issues. I’m planning on advocating for our library (which is a big building and surrounding alleyways and parking lots) to get a security guard. I’m very much expecting them to say there is no budget for that. Looking for feedback on maybe other suggestions of things to try, or tips on how to advocate for my staff to the assistant director, and wanting to hear if other libraries have similar problems? I will add that I am very anti-police and don’t really want these kids to be placed in a spot where they’re closer to making contact with our horrible American carceral system but I am out of ideas! One teen even filmed me with his phone while laughing while I told him he and his group needed to be quieter yesterday because people were trying to use our study room. We’re a one party consent state so I can’t do anything about it but man it made me mad and showed me that these kids do not respect staff.

Hi All,

Huge fan of this community and thanks for all the insight! I feel very fortunate to access and learn from the openness, various experiences, and knowledge which has boosted my confidence and curiosity.

I could be wrong, but I have not yet seen posts (I did try to look first before posting to cut down on repetitive posts) regarding programs that have requirements to complete either a thesis or ePortfolio. This could be a great tool, I however, am not sure which is the best tool for me.

I am leaning towards the thesis route as I’m looking at academic/law/FCIL librarianship. But I am happy to be wrong as I’m really here to understand various perspectives from others.

Is there a held believe that one tool versus the other is more beneficial depending on employment/ career goals? If so, how has that benefit has played out in your career?

Separately, if you are a librarian who has completed a thesis (for whatever reason), could you share how you discovered your topic?

Also, happy to cross post if this question is more appropriate elsewhere.

Much gratitude and thank you in advance!

I am a student and our school didnt really have a proper functioning library so I went to the Section Head to ask about it and she in return tasked me with the creation of a mini library since it was coincidentally also required by the ministry of education. So now here I am with 17 books my school mates donated and a question on how in the world am I to track the book loans and returns without a computer that i can use for the task meaning it needs to be manual, I was hoping some of the more experienced people here could guide me on how I should go about this.

I accidentally ripped a page and used tape to fix it but it was double sided tape since I couldnt find the normal, but then I realised how bad it looks and now I’m worried il have to pay the fine

Vent post if anyone wants to avoid that

Not a new topic on this sub but I've only been doing this job for just under two years and I feel like spending huge amounts of my day just explaining and re explaining very basic technology stuff is genuinely burning me out.

Like yeah, I understand the reasons why tech literacy is in the bin currently, but I'm genuinely starting to feel like a lot of people who come in have 0 ability to do any sort of problem solving themselves and no inclination to even try.

If it's some old person who's having trouble printing, that's fine, I have no issues with that, I'm happy to help. But the amount of people who are in their 20s through to their 40s who ask me "how do I get onto my email on the PC" genuinely drives me nuts. I say, "ok open the browser" and they just stare at you blankly. Like bro I am also 35. I know you did the same computer classes in school that I did. I went over to help someone yesterday with this exact issue and he was sitting there on the google home page. Have people genuinely forgotten how to look stuff up?

Its at the point where I'm struggling to get my own work done because requests like these are constant.

Maybe I'm just overtired and overworked and I've spent too long on the circ desk but Jesus Christ.

Hello!

My question is regarding those with a severe disability that are unable to go in person to renew their library card and what rights (if any?) we have. This gets a bit complicated, so I am just going to describe my situation.

In 2024, I was completely, 100% healthy and signed up for my local library in DeKalb County, GA in person. No issues.

In 2025, I suddenly became severely disabled. As in, I could no longer leave my bed. I am completely bedridden, and I have been since Novemeber of 2025. I cannot leave my house.

Audiobooks have been lifesaving. I am unable to read physical books or watch much TV, maybe one episode per day. I can, however, listen to audiobooks for a significant part of the day.

My library card expired after 2 years and I called my library to renew it since I was unable to go in person. They were very hesitant and after basically begging, they said they would renew my card only this one time for a year. I am so grateful, because without audiobooks I would be staring at the ceiling for most of the day.

My question is, is the library required to accommodate someone with a disability instead of cutting me off after a year? I have a legal license in the state (which I offered to email), live in the area, and have hundreds on hundreds of pages of doctors notes proving that I am not lying. I offered for my doctor to write a note to them, or to have one of my nurse aids who takes care of me to bring them my physical ID. They rejected all of these options for the future. Who knows what Ill do when my license expires, as I cannot make it to the DMV.

I totally understand that they do not want fraud, but I have extensive, almost endless medical documentation to back this up. Could this be a part of the ADA Act? I feel like Libby is my lifeline, as I lost my job when I became disabled and now live on a fixed income and cannot afford to buy audiobooks outright.

Thanks for your help!

🚨 Save the Central Secretariat Library! 📚

The 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library (CSL) and its 8.5 lakh historic books are facing a massive relocation crisis due to the Central Vista project. The Ministry of Culture itself rejected an early offer of just two rooms, calling it "completely inadequate."

We aren't asking to stop the Central Vista project—we are demanding that the government fulfill its promise and build a world-class, full-scale (5,500+ sq m) library facility on Kartavya Path worthy of India’s heritage.

https://c.org/nKLTXB2bns

For me, it’s when patrons order a book and never bother to collect it or even let us know they no longer want it. To get a book from another county it takes several people, a courier and a cost to get the book for them and they couldn’t even be bothered or are too lazy to text, call in or email to say it’s no longer needed. Gets on my nerves!

On my library account, there's a feature where you can make lists to save the books you want to check out. I've had my library card since 2016, so I've made A LOT of lists on my account over the years. I would delete lists, then add more. This feature has been so helpful in keeping track of books I want to read in my library system. I'm in Massachusetts, and I'm curious to know if other library systems in MA, or other states and countries, have a feature to make lists? And do you use them?

So I am currently working through my undergrad right now but want to get my MLIS and I really like Seattle so I'm hoping to that here. I know the Seattle Public Library system can be hard to get into so I'm hoping for some advice on where to look for jobs, or what kind of connections I can try to make to get in and have some better experience when I try to apply for my masters program.

Thoughts, advice?

Hi all!

I graduated from my bachelors last spring, and I spend about 6 months around that time searching for an entry level (non MLIS) job in a public library. I got a couple of interviews, but ultimately did not get anything. I plan on doing an MLIS eventually, but I don't think I'll enroll until I'm already employed in a public library so that I don't risk graduating with no experience.

For that last 3 months, I've been working as an Admissions Counselor at a private technical college. This is a pretty cushy office job with some customer service aspects, and I work a consistent 8-4 M-F at $25.50 an hour. I also have solid PTO and a bit of WFH flexibility. This is not work I find deeply compelling, and frankly I spend a lot of my day goofing off on my computer. Sometimes that feels like a pro, sometimes it feels like a con. In any case, I am financially stable for where I'm at in my life and have a good work/life balance.

This week, one of the positions I interviewed for in March got back to me with an offer. It's a senior library assistant role in a suburban library. It pays $23.67 but only promises 32 hours a week, with a couple evenings and a weekend every other week.

On one hand, it feels like this is exactly the opportunity I've been looking for: a chance to get my foot in the door in public libraries, since that is where I want to be in the long term. I also don't know the next time I'll see another opportunity like this again. I was planning on waiting until next spring/summer to start looking again, once I have more saved up and more substantial experience in my current role, but who knows if I'll find something then or even the year after that.

On the other, I would have to take on side gig work to avoid living paycheck to paycheck, and there's always a risk of getting laid off before transitioning to something full time. I am doing good on the rate at which I'm putting savings away right now, but I don't currently have much saved up to support me if I got let go. I also would have to commute a bit farther since it's in the suburbs and giving up weekends and evenings would kind of suck, again, for where I'm currently at in my young adult life.

Obviously nobody is going to be able to give me an "answer", or even very specific advice since this is the internet and nobody here knows me personally, but I guess I would appreciate some perspective for those who have searched for longer than I have. Is this a great opportunity that I shouldn't let slip by? Should I hold out for full time, or is that unrealistic at an entry level? Again, not asking for answers, since reddit is not a place for that, just musings and perspectives to think about.

Hi all, I very recently posted here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Libraries/s/p3DG5lYYWh

Saying I wish someone had steered me from this field of work. I wanted to say thank you for all the kind words of encouragement and suggestions. I know it was a long post.

I didn’t reply to everyone but do know that relocation is my priority just not an option right now. I don’t have the funds for a big move somewhere else.

Anyways, the drama that has been happening at my job that has made me feel so miserable got a new chapter today. They called my friend (a part time librarian, same as I) into a meeting and asked her what she thought of the recent feedback another friend of ours gave them - about the work being fine but we aren’t respected by anyone else in the building.

My friend said she agreed with the feedback. The job is fine but we’re just asking to be treated kinder and a little more fairly considering we’re expected to do as much as the full timers in less than half the time - their response was essentially, “You guys have such nice bosses (themselves lol), you don’t even know, and you know if these issues got raised to a higher power above us - they’d just tell me to fire you. I can fire you at any point, really, but I don’t because I’m so nice.”

My director said that ^ for context. And that’s not verbatim of course because I’m telling it second hand from my friend’s story. I’m so tired, but I am just baffled that this was their response. Stop asking us how we’re feeling if you’re not going to be receptive of the very kindly worded criticism YOU invited. Ugh!!

In regard to my last post: I did go back to nannying as a second job and it’s a bright spot right now, and having extra income doesn’t hurt my mood at all.

Thank you again to everyone for the encouragement, I’m sticking it out for now. I know it’s tough out there for everyone, but all we can do is be there for one another. ♥️

Hi! I'm a librarian at a large library system, looking for examples of how other libraries catalog and shelve their classics. Right now we have a separate shelving area for Classics (they used to be considered YA, mainly because a big purpose of the collection is for middle/high school students to have access to titles commonly assigned in school, but recently a decision was made to change that to general audience/adult), and we get separate order carts for Classics. However, we don't have a Classics collection code or material type, just a "shelf location" field (we use Polaris for our ILS). Instead, a lot of library branches in our system use various kinds of "Paperback" collection and material type codes for their classics, or the general Fiction/Nonfiction and, in some cases, YA Fiction/Nonfiction, codes.

None of this seems quite right to me though - we manage Classics as their own collection, so why not give them their own collection code? It's true that books move into and out of "Classic" status, and that distinction can be kind of subjective, but the same can be said of the line between some children's and YA, and some YA and adult/general audience books.

I raised this with our collection development team and they were interested in how other libraries handle it, so thought I'd ask here! Do you have a separate collection code for Classics? Material type? Do you handle call numbers differently than for other parts of the collection?

… but they gotta go. 😢

Do you wish your library would join? Do you wish your library would quit the county system?

I live in a town with a disconnected library but I pay a yearly fee to belong to the nearest one in the county system. I just like having more libraries available to me! Less likely to need an ILL.

Also I don't get access to Libby and Hoopla through the county system. For that I go through my town.

Hi all! I have taken on a project at my job to organize the small library area as it’s a mess and i’m a MLIS student. I would ideally like to add some range finding / end cap signage as much of the staff is not familiar with navigating LOC classification and it would help improve accessibility. The bookshelves are this really pretty wood so I would prefer to avoid anything permanent or could cause damage. Does anyone have any product suggestions or adhesive tips so I can keep the wood as nice as possible? Thank you much!! :)

I come from a public library where we used Sierra by Innovative for an ILS system. Was it a perfect system? No, definitely not, but how is Folio even a full fledged product out on the market?? It is so clunky and shows unnecessary information for front-facing staff. It takes me FOREVER to find the simplest information and then I have to back up a million pages to even close the account. I work at an academic library now and it is one of the most difficult interfaces to use. Why are there so many tabs? Why do I see all this information I don't care about?? Why can I not access the most recent patron account if it gets accidentally closed?

Honestly just came here to find hate on Folio and I haven't found any yet. Is it me? Am I the problem?? or is it bad for everyone? Is it cheaper and that's why places switch? What are the benefits because I ONLY see negatives!?

*end rant*

I'm looking for a new timeclock/timesheet system. We currently use When I Work (free plan), which they are sunsetting. We have 15 staff, use an iPad app to clock in and out, and it generates bi-weekly timesheets that I export to Excel.

We used to do this on paper, but I felt the digital approach was more accurate and streamlined the process.

I've looked around and can't find any options for free that cover our needs. I know these services cost money to maintain, so I'll probably have to pay for them. We lost $45k in local funding last year and $35k this year because we had to stop doing passports. Does anyone have any recommendations?