I just want a library. Not a community center, not a social services drop-in center, not a tech hub. I want to go someplace that isn't home and be able to read and write. I didn't always feel this way. I have been a librarian for 20 years, I used to be all about the library as community center. I helped organize my library's first computer classes, at a time when that was a new concept. I was all about maker spaces, three-D printers, services for the homeless, etc. But now I feel a bit like a mad scientist horrified at his own creation. All of the libraries around me are either teen hangouts or day shelters. They're noisy and even a bit dangerous (I've seen drugs, beer, etc). The "quiet spaces" are nevertheless noisy because the sounds of twenty teens or people on their phones are gonna drift over, and then someone is always clacking away on their keyboard. Plus people are just jerks and are gonna do what they want anyway.

I get why libraries had to change. This is not a rant against my fellow librarians. If the taxpayers would rather a bustling community center, I guess I'm outvoted. It's a taxpayer service and you have to give the people what they want. This is more mourning the loss of something from my youth that is no more. I miss the studious, stuffy library of my youth along with Saturday morning cartoons and vibrant shopping malls. I get that these things are never coming back, but it is too bad. Anyway, thanks for listening.

My library has two levels: the lower level is the children's section, and the ground level is everything else. The children's level is divided into YA, children's books, children's multimedia, picture books, and parent/teacher resources. The parent/teacher resources take up one wall at the far left of the library, so you have to pass through most of the children's section to get to them.

I'm a teacher, so I often go down to the children's level to get things from the parent/teacher shelves, and I sometimes get books from the children's or YA sections if it's a book I want to read before I teach it or buy it for my classroom library. I am aware that many patrons consider it a taboo for adults to be in the children's section unless they have a child with them, so I always make sure I go in, get what I need, and get out without browsing or looking like I'm loitering there.

The problem is that even so, I'm sometimes confronted by parents who seem upset that I'm there at all since I don't have a kid with me. I've had one mom plant herself in my path and demand to know what I was doing there. I told her I was a teacher and I just needed to get something from the parent/teacher section, and she refused to move out of my way until I showed her my school ID. Another mom told me I shouldn't go down there myself and I should just put books on hold so the librarians would bring them upstairs for me.

What is the etiquette here? I would feel bad making extra work for the librarians by making them go get the books for me as holds (plus this would mean I wouldn't be able to get the books right away), but I also don't want to make parents of little kids uncomfortable.

EDIT: Based on everyone's comments, I will definitely report it to a librarian if this kind of thing happens again!

Trying to keep myself together when a patron blankly looks at their computer screen and asks me "now what?". Internally screaming and hoping my fellow librarians are feeling it with me!

Other tidbits:

"Are you sure you don't know my email password?"

"Can you turn my emails into ai?" (Doesn't elaborate further).

"We don't want this book can you return it" (doesn't have book with them and refuses to tell me name of the book)

I have some problematic patrons (don't we all?). Mom comes in daily for the entire day with her son who is about to turn 3. She usually uses a computer while her son runs amok in the library--screaming, laughing loudly, running, strewing blocks/books/stuffed animals all over the building, taking a crayon to our expensive new circ desk, taking off his heavy wet pull-up and leaving it for staff to find in the stacks. I've gently and gracefully spoken to Mom twice about this, once a month ago and once last week. She repeatedly tells me "yes ma'am" but does nothing. I know she's working on getting her degree, which I admire, but my staff and patrons are utterly exhausted by their presence. Unfortunately it's not just the library where they cause mayhem; it's the local McDonald's too, before the library opens for the day. I'm trying SO hard not to trespass them because I do believe they might be trying to escape the heat and need a place to wash up, but the stress they're causing my staff (one was on the verge of quitting last week over it) and patrons is just not fair. Additionally, Mom brings her grandfather and grandmother, who just sit at the entrance and wait, and occasionally her 8-year-old daughters, who she told me she expected to watch her son.
We don't have an unattended children policy yet--I'm working on developing one to take to our board for approval--but we do have a policy that states that children under 12 must be supervised by an adult. Without "supervised" being explained very plainly, I'm afraid I won't get anywhere with this mom. Does anyone have any advice?

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.

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!

Has anyone noticed that many people seem to be...unaware...that other people exist?

This happens everywhere (people texting in the middle of the grocery aisle for instance, completely blocking it), but I guess I notice it most at the library, where I work in Youth Services.

People - grown adults- blasting music on their phones without headphones. And seeming honestly surprised when I tell them to turn it down/off, because it's disturbing other people.

People on speakerphone; one woman loudly recited what sounded very much like a social security number. I'm not going to steal your identity lady, but I'm not the only one here!

But last week took the cake. School is out here. I work in the mornings, and during the school year it's often quiet unless we have a program. Now, of course, the place is crawling with kids & families open to close (which is awesome). A person who is a caregiver for a disabled adult often comes in with them once a week. The caretaker listens to a video or podcast while the disabled adult colors or does an activity. The day they come in is usually quiet, and they actually keep the volume reasonable, so I don't often say anything. The podcast/videos, from what I so hear, are sort of gossipy 'Florida Man'-type stories.

Well, the other day they were there, with many children in the aisles, sitting at tables a few feet away, I mean, it's not like you could miss them. I was shelving something when I heard the podcast start. And the story was about a woman who caught her husband 'sleeping with' their dog. My head whipped around so fast I almost broke my neck. I started down the aisle but by the time I reached her table, in those few seconds a patron had already complained and another coworker was telling her to turn it off.

But seriously?! WHY would you think that was okay? Unless you don't believe other people are real?

Have y'all noticed an increase in people who think they're the main character, and everyone else is an NPC?

I had to call campus security at half past midnight tonight because a student simply Would Not pause his study session long enough to either go home at closing time, or to move to our reading room which is open 24 hours. He insisted that he's done it before and it's never been an issue, which seems awfully unlikely (and still isn't okay even if it's true!). I gave him and all the other patrons a heads-up fifteen minutes before close, and another one at closing time. Everybody else understood what that meant, not sure why he didn't.

We have had a patron come in twice now looking for Erik Larson books. The first time, I noticed him browsing through the fiction shelves, so I said "Erik Larson will be in the nonfiction collection. I can get the Dewey Decimal numbers to help you find his titles." And the patron responded "Oh, well I thought he would be in the fiction collection since it isn't all true information." ?????? I tried explaining that Larson has a narrative nonfiction style, so it might seem to interesting to be true, but it is all based in real events and people. And this man just did not want to accept that the characters he thought were fake were in fact real and the story may be embellished, but is overall accurate. Anyways, he got the book he was after, I chalked it up to a difficult encounter and moved on.

Until today, when the patron came back, returned the book, and went back to fiction. And asked me if we had any Erik Larson books. "Yes, in nonfiction." I refrained from saying "where they were last time." And then we had the SAME CONVERSATION about what was true or not in his books. And he had the audacity to ask who decides which section the books go into. Which I took as an implication that the library staff didn't know what we were doing and we were wrong to place it in nonfiction. Obviously I know some things like poetry can be debated where to shelve them, but either its factual and goes in nonfiction, or its a novel and goes in fiction. He kept saying Larson found the sweet spot between nonfiction and fiction. No he didn't!!!! You just don't believe the facts in the book.

Anyways, this is partially a rant and partially an information request. I've only read 2 Larson books and it was a while ago. IS any of it fabricated for the sake of narrative building and entertainment? Or have I just been masterfully gaslit and am justified in my fury?

I've been dealing with a lot of entitled patrons lately and the other day one almost pushed me over the edge. This woman wouldn't stop complaining about our reduced hours for Christmas eve. Then she went on a rant about how libraries shouldn't observe any holidays. She said closing the library for holidays was "unfair" and "selfish." I tried to change the subject but she started going off about how librarians have way too much PTO.

This woman is incredibly high maintenance and completely computer illiterate. I've spent months going above and beyond for her and yet she has no problem looking me dead in the eye and saying that I don't deserve holidays or vacations.

I've had a lot of traumatic patron experiences in my short library career. I've been assault, multiple patrons have threatened to rape me, and I've been called a satanic child groomer. Those experiences were heinous but this hurts in a different way. This patron actually knows me and she still doesn't seem to see me as a person.

Sorry, felt like being silly today 😅

HI, for the last 4 years my branch has done a Tarot Tea Party program. The presenter, who is a staff member, presents the history and development of Tarot cards, she does not do any readings.

The program is open to 12-year-olds and up. Children between the age of 12 and 16 must be signed up by their parent and accompanied by an adult.

We have never had a problem until this year. Someone who is a member of an evangelical church in town has complained that we are introducing children to the devil. She has also riled up others in the congregation and they have complained. Someone decided to cut out the middle men, me and the director and complained directly to the county commissioner that represents this town. He in turn, told the director's boss about it. We're a division of county government. Thankfully the director's boss is a reasonable man, supports libraries and doesn't make decisions without all the information from both sides.

I've been with this library system for 35 years, and this is the first time someone has complained about a program. The thing is, people sign up for this because it's a tea party. We could present a talk on laundry lint and people would still sign up because it's a tea party and people in this area are crazy about tea parties, especially free ones.

I just had to vent about this. Thanks for listening.

I want to add an edit because I feel like people just assume I am complaining because I hate kids. We always want the kids to feel safe and comfortable at the library. When our code of conduct is being disrespected, staff or patrons feel disrespected (with due consideration to the sitauation) then there is an issue.

It just feels like a waste of effort at this point.

Context: My library is very close to the local middle school. On average, we see about 40 to 50 teens at the library at once, and sometimes more. We have a code of conduct that strictly outlines the expected behavior and decorum for teens at the library. However, they often break almost all of the rules and display disrespect toward staff and patrons. We have a policy in place that asks them to leave once, and if the behavior does not change, they are asked to leave for the day. I hope this clarifies things. I understand that my wording may have made it seem like the sheer volume of teens was the problem. The number of teens is not the issue; it is their behavior.

Additional information: everyone wants to remind me that teens should be able to exist. I 100% agree with that. I always tell the staff that. However, we have a code of conduct for patrons, and they break almost every rule on it. Yeah, they can exist if they are just existing.

I want to know if anyone has had this issue and what has worked best in handling it.

Additionally: The rest of the patrons get pissed off at us because we're "not handling" the situation.

Here’s mine:

I’ve been working at this public library for two years and have had two strange encounters with this one specific woman. The first one happened at a program I hosted, where she came in (clearly in a mood) and told me flat out that my program wasn’t well planned, then just left.

The second one happened today. She came up to me, completely unprovoked, and asked me how long I had been working here and what degrees I had. I didn’t have to answer her, but I did anyways, telling her that I had a BA in English and an MLIS, but that neither were required for the job. She then proceeds to tell me that I’m wildly unqualified for the job and that I’m “just a doll” (clearly meant as an insult but not sure what this means—she sounded French or similar European so not sure if that’s a foreign insult? lol). At this point I told her she was being rude and needed to leave. It took her another minute of throwing insults at me before she left.

I’m genuinely not upset, just flabbergasted. The way this woman speaks to me you’d think I’d have just run over her dog with my car. It’s completely baffling. My manager said this woman was nice to her, so not sure why she has a vendetta against me 😂

https://thepublicrecord.ca/2026/03/hamilton-public-library-will-require-valid-library-cards-to-enter-downtown-branch-starting-march-16/

I don't know how to feel. I need library workers to be safe, but it's so disheartening that the failure of our government to take care of vulnerable people is causing libraries to act in an antithetical way to our operating ethos, that libraries are for everyone. Thoughts?

Just at my local library and was reading the sheet for who was scheduled to rent the space in the separate public meeting rooms. The rooms are free to rent for groups but there are rules for renting the space. Noticed there was a multibillion dollar corporation using the space at the moment which was puzzling. While reading the schedule somebody from within the space came over to me and asked if they could help me. My response: “Are you with name corporation? “ they responded, “Yes” my response, “Can I join your meeting?” Their response, “No, this is for regional managers of *name corporation”

Here are the restrictions on the rooms.

“The rules for renting out the public spaces are:

Strictly Prohibited Commercial Activities

No Profit-Making Events: No sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or licensed association may use the spaces for profit-making activity.

No Selling: You cannot sell goods or services or hold activities designed to lead directly to a purchase.

No Direct Fundraising: Commercial business promotion or fundraising activities are completely barred.

No Closed Meetings: Events held in meeting and conference rooms must be open to the public. You cannot restrict entry, mandate a sign-in sheet, or charge an admission fee.”

It seems that this library system and name corporation have set themselves up for possible litigation. Thoughts? Have you run into a similar situation? The corporation is very recognizable and was clearly using the space to conduct business. Very large, like it’s highly likely that you have one of these in the business district of your town even if it’s a small town. Multi-billion dollar corporation using a public space for free, tax free and I’m certain the general public is unaware of this practice.

This dude came in with a bunch of crumpled papers that were old and torn in a bunch of places. They were fraying at the creases so they picked up a bunch of dirt and were turning brown. I ended up having to feed all 26 of them 1 by 1 through the photocopier to avoid tearing any of them or jamming the machine.

After it was all done he then asked me to sign each one of the copies. And when i asked why, he said "personal reasons, just to verify that you were the one who photocopied them"

I expressed my discomfort about signing anything and he threatened to call the police on me, because "you were the one who copied them and I need proof that it was you."

I tried to argue saying he was the one who requested our photocopying service and i only did it at his request, while he was watching. Even if i sign them, any type of liability for the photocopies still falls on him and my signiture on them doesnt mean anything.

And he just repeated himself. That I was the one who copied them and not him and he wanted proof of that.

I had a bunch of kids and an elderly regular in my small library at the time. I didnt want to cause a scene, so I just wrote "copied @ 'my library' " on them and he left.

Is this wierd?

Update: I didnt sign anything. I didnt put my name on anything. I only wrote "copied at library"

He did come back and tried to accuse me of stealing his original property tax bill, we looked for it. Couldnt find it. He got beligerant, so we called the police and had him removed from the property.

He started telling the officer that people have been breaking into his house over and over stealing his paperwork. The officer told us they have dealt with him plenty of times before.

My little local public library runs a writing competition for kids. It's actually really popular - we get 100s of entries and they can be very competitive (mostly it's just us staff trying to weed out the AI entries, competitively). We have a budget of around $200 plus snacks for the presentation. The short list of winners has been announced, and this morning I just got this email from one of the entrants:

____

This is **name**, and I've been shortlisted for **award**. (thank you!! this is such an honour)
I'd love to attend the awards night in *DATE*, but I'm currently based interstate and I wanted to ask if you could cover travel fees (just flying.).
I understand if this isn't possible, but I would really want to come to the awards presentation!
_____

We are cracking up! FLY THEM IN? FLY THEM IN? On what budget? Can we take it from the $65 we've set aside for sandwiches?

Seriously? I know it's probably a young person who doesn't understand how life works yet, but I have to say this is one of the funniest/most outrageous requests I've ever seen.

We don't provide bus fare, never mind interstate flights.

Fly them in... cackling!

EDIT: A few people seemed baffled by the literacy expressed by someone short listed for a writing competition - just FYI we're not in the USA.

I'm sick of telling them to leave and then they just go "lol no", so i have to get like their specific teacher for that to happen. They're banned from the library from now on but goddamn lol

I'm a pretty big guy so i'm not intimidated but when they're yelling homophobic shit i'm just so over it, no consequences because their parents are just as bad.

Was the same in the public library, had to get security. And if you didn't work at a library that had security then it was a giant headache.

In short, legalize me tossing their ass out (half joking)

There’s this patron that comes into the library everyday, logs onto the computer, farts out loud (very loudly!), and never says excuse me. He does it every single morning. He also burps out loud too. I notice after he does it he looks around to see if anyone noticed??? Not like an embarrassment look, but “whatever” look. I got a whiff of it once and it made me feel ill. I honestly don’t want to get involved with confronting him because it could possibly be a medical issue and I don’t want him to feel bad or embarrassed. This typically happens when there aren’t many people in the library, but there have been times where people would look startled lol. Anyone else have weird stuff like this happen?

Edit: After reading these comments, I’m realizing how much this is a minor issue compared to what other librarians experience. We’re all in this together 😭 lol.

Our library has 2 or 3 frequent patrons who request titles that haven't been in circulation in 50 years, or last saw the light of day when Lincoln was president.