Take pleasure in the little things. There aren't many big things to take pleasure in whilst in a library.
One of the most enjoyable parts of working in a library is getting to be the person who, at the end of the day, gets to announce that the library is closing in 30/20/15/10 minutes. It's the idea that you get to rip into a noiseless room and shock people, the power trip to say you're shepherding people away, but most of all, it's reminding yourself that soon, you'll be on your way home!!
Monday, 25 March 2013
Sunday, 24 March 2013
And so it begins...
Working in a library is a bag of mixed emotions.
On one hand you're in a room that's a fountain of information, a considerable luxury afforded to far too few people the world over; you feel a sort of ambassador of this endangered beast like machine in the face of massive government budget cuts and a public that just doesn't really appreciate the benefit libraries provide to communities.
But on the other hand...
... I have a fountain of information in my pocket. My iPhone can access pretty much anything in the library immediately. And it doesn't have sporadic opening hours. Actually, it's an iPhone. It has an awful battery life.
That's the first big problem facing libraries. Secondly, tramps.
Seriously, where else can drunk bums spend hours upon hours of the day in shelter, warmth and mild mannered staff who have no real right to evict them?
So basically, libraries need to address two major concerns in order to better provide a more streamlined service. Fundamentally alter the services underpinning their very existence on a complete, unforgiving scale and vet their clientele.
Another noticeable occurrence that needs addressing in libraries is that time is affected incredibly. It's not necessarily slower and it's certainly not faster in a library, rather, it fluctuates and deceives you. In some ways it helps: while lamenting for arduous minutes at the fact that time isn't going fast enough, you look stare at a wall in boredom for what seems like a moment and you realise you're already close to lunch. I think it's strange anomalous occurrences like this that account for the fact that almost every librarian you'll meet is like 700 years old. They just somehow find themselves in a weird kind of time loop and walk in as a teenager and walk out with a hip replacement.
I manage two elderly chaps. Who both claim to suffer from a syndrome known as CFS. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Apparently, there's no cure for it, there's no real logic behind it, some people just generally get REALLY tired, REALLY quickly....
I'm just throwing this out there... Like, seriously, I know it might sound CrAzY or something, and bear with me on this one, it'll make sense in the end, I think..... But could it perhaps have.... A SLIGHT something to do with the fact that you're both a BILLION YEARS OLD?!?!?!
Seriously! One has come OUT of retirement, to work at my library, only to refuse to actually DO anything because he's perpetually tired. Why work?! ARGRHGRHGHHH!!!!!
Another thing is that sometimes it appears that libraries aren't particularly interested in procuring the best talent in the world. Now I know, that shines a bad light on myself as a member of a library service, I can take it- I'm not particularly gifted, I can shelve books and have discovered a way in which this talent help's me to feed myself.
However honestly, having a conversation with one of the two elderly chaps I manage regarding work experience children that volunteer in the library, he said:
"Well, when I worked in , we had a bunch of kids come in and work for us. Some were really up for it, some were just doing it because they had to, I guess it's the luck of the draw who you get."
So far so good...
"I remember there was this one boy, lovely lad, he had a learning disability. But he fitted in so well, so much better than those normal kids, you couldn't tell him apart from any other full time member of staff..."
......
SERIOSULY?!?! This guy literally just said to me that a kid with mental problems fits in better with library faculty than those that aren't mentally challenged?!? What kind of light does that shine on library staff?!
>>Disclaimer, I'm not a bigot and nor do I discriminate against anyone based on any kind of mental illness or disability. But the context in which this statement was said and the earnestness in which it was delivered really made me go: Wow, you've just pegged yourself with a mentally challenged teenager.
Anyway, this blogs about ways to survive in a library that I pick up along the way. Ive gone about a month and a half here and the most pertinent thing I've discovered is that tea is a staple. Never turn your nose up at tea. Librarians live and die by tea. So get used to it. (It actually kind of helps, a small dose of caffeine, keeping you awake enough to not curl up and not so much that you bounce off the walls and kill yourself of boredom. So tea, good.
On one hand you're in a room that's a fountain of information, a considerable luxury afforded to far too few people the world over; you feel a sort of ambassador of this endangered beast like machine in the face of massive government budget cuts and a public that just doesn't really appreciate the benefit libraries provide to communities.
But on the other hand...
... I have a fountain of information in my pocket. My iPhone can access pretty much anything in the library immediately. And it doesn't have sporadic opening hours. Actually, it's an iPhone. It has an awful battery life.
That's the first big problem facing libraries. Secondly, tramps.
Seriously, where else can drunk bums spend hours upon hours of the day in shelter, warmth and mild mannered staff who have no real right to evict them?
So basically, libraries need to address two major concerns in order to better provide a more streamlined service. Fundamentally alter the services underpinning their very existence on a complete, unforgiving scale and vet their clientele.
Another noticeable occurrence that needs addressing in libraries is that time is affected incredibly. It's not necessarily slower and it's certainly not faster in a library, rather, it fluctuates and deceives you. In some ways it helps: while lamenting for arduous minutes at the fact that time isn't going fast enough, you look stare at a wall in boredom for what seems like a moment and you realise you're already close to lunch. I think it's strange anomalous occurrences like this that account for the fact that almost every librarian you'll meet is like 700 years old. They just somehow find themselves in a weird kind of time loop and walk in as a teenager and walk out with a hip replacement.
I manage two elderly chaps. Who both claim to suffer from a syndrome known as CFS. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Apparently, there's no cure for it, there's no real logic behind it, some people just generally get REALLY tired, REALLY quickly....
I'm just throwing this out there... Like, seriously, I know it might sound CrAzY or something, and bear with me on this one, it'll make sense in the end, I think..... But could it perhaps have.... A SLIGHT something to do with the fact that you're both a BILLION YEARS OLD?!?!?!
Seriously! One has come OUT of retirement, to work at my library, only to refuse to actually DO anything because he's perpetually tired. Why work?! ARGRHGRHGHHH!!!!!
Another thing is that sometimes it appears that libraries aren't particularly interested in procuring the best talent in the world. Now I know, that shines a bad light on myself as a member of a library service, I can take it- I'm not particularly gifted, I can shelve books and have discovered a way in which this talent help's me to feed myself.
However honestly, having a conversation with one of the two elderly chaps I manage regarding work experience children that volunteer in the library, he said:
"Well, when I worked in , we had a bunch of kids come in and work for us. Some were really up for it, some were just doing it because they had to, I guess it's the luck of the draw who you get."
So far so good...
"I remember there was this one boy, lovely lad, he had a learning disability. But he fitted in so well, so much better than those normal kids, you couldn't tell him apart from any other full time member of staff..."
......
SERIOSULY?!?! This guy literally just said to me that a kid with mental problems fits in better with library faculty than those that aren't mentally challenged?!? What kind of light does that shine on library staff?!
>>Disclaimer, I'm not a bigot and nor do I discriminate against anyone based on any kind of mental illness or disability. But the context in which this statement was said and the earnestness in which it was delivered really made me go: Wow, you've just pegged yourself with a mentally challenged teenager.
Anyway, this blogs about ways to survive in a library that I pick up along the way. Ive gone about a month and a half here and the most pertinent thing I've discovered is that tea is a staple. Never turn your nose up at tea. Librarians live and die by tea. So get used to it. (It actually kind of helps, a small dose of caffeine, keeping you awake enough to not curl up and not so much that you bounce off the walls and kill yourself of boredom. So tea, good.
Friday, 25 January 2013
A Journey Of A Thousand Miles, Begins With A Single Step. Lao-Tzu
Hello!
My name is Usman. I work in a library service. Well, technically, I'll be starting my new job in three days. That means in three days, I'll spend 40 hours a week, as the custodian of a large room full of books.
Now, as you may imagine, libraries aren't the most exciting places to work. Libraries aren't even moderately exciting places to work. In fact, if you type "Exciting Libraries" into google search and look at the images, the first three pictures feature a granddad, a mundane brick facade, and a cartoon grandma.
That last picture looks too animated to be indicative of the kind of libraries I've personally experienced... Thats not to say all the libraries I've visited are drab... The last place I worked had some cool libraries, trying their hardest to stay relevant. You may be aware of the type: older brick walls replaced with tall, plastered walls, overuse of primary colours to make a bold statement of youthfulness, large windows looking out into the big wide word, sparsely populated bookshelves, islands with computers frequented by school children playing flash games, DVD cases and music CDs, as they slowly tread into the 19th century....
It's a big change from the classic, brick walls, mauve paint, a labyrinth of bookshelves and musty, oak wood, rustic feel that was synonymous with libraries for so long. Personally, I fear the superficial makeover is probably too little too late, which is a shame because I love libraries and feel there is so much that they can be utilised for, if properly administrated and maintained.
I mean it; libraries are amazing- where else can you go to sit down, free of charge, pick up a product with no questions asked and entirely utilise it for all it was meant to be? Make part of your morning routine to read a newspaper? Take your child for an hour or two of activity to exhaust him/herself while you just sit back and observe or just try to forget about it? Where can you get entirely free wifi and unburdened access to whatever site you want (honestly, you'd think porn was a no go but I've come across many a canny service user who has their own way around such firewalls...)? Where can you watch the telly, take out a comic book, find out what this month best seller is, get advice on council issues, meet authors, attend poetry session, black history month events, English for Speakers of Other Languages workshops, homework clubs, messy play for toddlers, avoid the rain and even for some people, just take a nap?? I don't know of many places outside of libraries that offer such a vast array of services and all for free.
That said, they can be fucking boring to work in.
And that's where this blog comes in. Every now and then, I'll be checking in with the details of what it's like to work in such a service and the steps I've taken to stop myself from blowing my brains out from boredom. I hope you find this useful and informative. And that you appreciate libraries for all they can, and ought to be.
My name is Usman. I work in a library service. Well, technically, I'll be starting my new job in three days. That means in three days, I'll spend 40 hours a week, as the custodian of a large room full of books.
Now, as you may imagine, libraries aren't the most exciting places to work. Libraries aren't even moderately exciting places to work. In fact, if you type "Exciting Libraries" into google search and look at the images, the first three pictures feature a granddad, a mundane brick facade, and a cartoon grandma.
That last picture looks too animated to be indicative of the kind of libraries I've personally experienced... Thats not to say all the libraries I've visited are drab... The last place I worked had some cool libraries, trying their hardest to stay relevant. You may be aware of the type: older brick walls replaced with tall, plastered walls, overuse of primary colours to make a bold statement of youthfulness, large windows looking out into the big wide word, sparsely populated bookshelves, islands with computers frequented by school children playing flash games, DVD cases and music CDs, as they slowly tread into the 19th century....
It's a big change from the classic, brick walls, mauve paint, a labyrinth of bookshelves and musty, oak wood, rustic feel that was synonymous with libraries for so long. Personally, I fear the superficial makeover is probably too little too late, which is a shame because I love libraries and feel there is so much that they can be utilised for, if properly administrated and maintained.
I mean it; libraries are amazing- where else can you go to sit down, free of charge, pick up a product with no questions asked and entirely utilise it for all it was meant to be? Make part of your morning routine to read a newspaper? Take your child for an hour or two of activity to exhaust him/herself while you just sit back and observe or just try to forget about it? Where can you get entirely free wifi and unburdened access to whatever site you want (honestly, you'd think porn was a no go but I've come across many a canny service user who has their own way around such firewalls...)? Where can you watch the telly, take out a comic book, find out what this month best seller is, get advice on council issues, meet authors, attend poetry session, black history month events, English for Speakers of Other Languages workshops, homework clubs, messy play for toddlers, avoid the rain and even for some people, just take a nap?? I don't know of many places outside of libraries that offer such a vast array of services and all for free.
That said, they can be fucking boring to work in.
And that's where this blog comes in. Every now and then, I'll be checking in with the details of what it's like to work in such a service and the steps I've taken to stop myself from blowing my brains out from boredom. I hope you find this useful and informative. And that you appreciate libraries for all they can, and ought to be.
:)
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