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Warning, this is an angry post. I had an upsetting incident at a library and I'm steaming.
Here's the scene. We are in the children's section of the library (not our local one) and my 2 year old is exploring and chatting at a normal volume - believe me he wasn't being loud. I was tidying up some books my 2 year old had pulled out. My 4 year old is sitting a child-sized desk reading aloud from a book we had just checked out. We had been there less than 5 minutes. A "lady" in the adjacent section pops her head over the bookshelves (separating us from this anti-child fruitcake) and asks us to be quiet, we are "disturbing the computer users." Huh??????
Is the library intended for computer use or for reading and promoting literacy? We were in the children's section and my son was reading!
I wish I could go back and give that woman a large piece of my mind. She was not a librarian, by the way. (I think my reaction was complacent since I assumed it was an authority figure.) A child in the children's section reading a book aloud should not be told they are bothering a computer user! It is a small library so we all have to get along. Maybe she should go buy a laptop and pay for her own internet access! If you are that grouchy you need to stay home.
It also really bothers me that she said "users" like there were a whole bunch of people banded together wanting my son to stop reading. What a coward!Pin It
Friday, March 14, 2008
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11 comments:
Ooh, I hate that kind of snarky confrontation "OMG, you are breathing my AIR" sort of expectation that they should be in this bubble of privilege where ever they go. Alas, I am not very good at putting my smart mouth on a leash, which never really helps the situation much.
Wow, I too wish I could give that lady a piece of my mind.
Oh my God!
I work in a library as a librarian and I can confirm that it's the new way of using a "library"...Where a work, it's a kind of a specialize library and some patrons, here everyday of every week, come only to use there free 9 hours of computer use...
You understand that they don't come here for the library...
Hope you still like to go to your local library!
p.s. : sorry for my basic english...I'm a french speaking person...
I would be the Mom looking at you enviously while trying to keep my two girls from blasting out everyone's ears while talking/shouting at the top of their lungs. My children aren't quite and don't sit still.
Sheila, I am SO sorry. The library I work at (nowhere near Seattle) lets children rule the roost! If patrons complain of the noise we let them know that the downstairs (nonfiction) is usually quieter than the main level, but overall, we are not a quiet library. We also host a number of groups (knitting, reading clubs) who, by necessity, are in the public areas and make plenty of noise. We love it- it lets us know that our library is used and loved. Please don't assume that this entitled patron reflects the sentiments of the library's staff.
As a librarian I have to say that it is a sad state when children reading are seen as a "disturbance".
Every day I watch people use the computers to play party poker and look at obscene photos posted on social networking sites by their friend - now that is disturbing!
In our library it is music to our ears when wee ones are getting excited about books - regardless of the volume.
That's the limit! I work in library technology, but that turns the whole thing upside down entirely.
I'm sorry to hear your library experience was less than wonderful. It certainly sounds as if your family was using the library as it was intended. As a librarian in a small, public library, it is sometimes difficult to balance the needs of all users. In some cases, a patron speaking up about someone else's behavior helps our small staff to keep the peace throughout the buildings, sometimes. Other times (as in your case) they clearly don't understand the broad spectrum of activities that are, in fact, appropriate uses of the library. -I hope your next visit is better.
I am a mother of a four-year old as well as a public librarian and I am very upset reading this post. At our library we have an entire wing devoted to the children and still we would not expect any child who was reading out loud to be quiet. Access to information on computers is important, but it does not override the need for a child to learn a love of books. Thanks for sharing. Maybe this post will help adults think the next time they try to shush a child.
I am a librarian and I feel your pain. If a library is designed properly, kids being kids should not bother other people. In your case the person should've told a librarian, then the librarian could've done whatever needed as per that library policy.
Today, libraries provide information content on computers. Someone using a computer is as engaged and as entitled to quiet as someone reading a book.
I personally get around the problem of noise in libraries by checking books out or going there in evening hours.
Again, it's probably mostly the fault of the design of your library, not specifically that another patron was wrong to find the noise created by your kid annoying.
Take your problems to the librarians and let us deal with it. It's usually not a black and white cut and dried wrong-right situation.
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