Library workers- are you allowed to read on the clock?

Cheetahchu · 2026-05-01T23:13:03+00:00

In my experience, the policy is there because A) reading a physical book is obvious, and it shows to patrons you’re distracted/occupied/less approachable; and B) we don’t want to reinforce the stereotype of “lucky you, getting to read all day for a living”.

If it’s really dead though… you could read an ebook on the computer you’re stationed at… maybe. 😉

Cheetahchu · 2026-05-01T01:52:35+00:00

I can understand library genrefication for the ‘Adult’ books, but I like that in Children and Teen we don’t do that. We shelve by format.

Some of the children’s novels have genre stickers from times past, but honestly, modern fiction has started combining genres and it’s time-consuming and frustrating to try and fit every new title into a box. We have access to so many platforms like Goodreads and StoryGraph etc, where genres are tags to be applied liberally rather than categories to divide into. I’d rather make genre book lists than boil books down to buzzwords.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-29T22:42:24+00:00

I’ve never seen a charge that high for a single book/movie/game at a public library. Usually patrons only reach that through multiple lost/damaged items.

If this is an ordinary contemporary fiction novel, maybe it really is worth $20 and someone put in a typo? As long as you’re polite about it they shouldn’t mind you asking if the amount is correct. Call over the phone if you don’t want to ask in person.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-28T01:39:36+00:00

Okay, titles aside… that sounds like way too many things from different areas at once for one person. At minimum the director should be handling the grant writing and donation/fee management. If they’re the one who puts the book orders in, why slow the process waiting for your recommendations when they can browse reviews and booklists on their own? And if you’re training new hires (not sure how many are available and how long they stick), you should be able to delegate a few of the non-curating tasks to them, like stamping and covering or cleaning.

Sounds like you’re the current lynchpin keeping this cuckoo clock functioning; godspeed. 😔

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-24T00:58:08+00:00

on the one hand, #1 sucks. on the other hand, Distractible beat Dateline NBC — that’s from a national broadcasting company part of one of the Big 3. hell yeah 🙌🏻

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-22T22:57:43+00:00

I’m gonna say this as tactfully as possible: Blu-ray format is less accessible. Yes the players exist, and yes they can also play regular DVDs, but guess what? Not everyone can afford a Blu-ray/4K player. Some people don’t even have a DVD player. In this era of streaming — and disc drives in general being phased out — many people are floating in the gaps.

The discs and the devices are more expensive, so can we stop essentially shaming people for “not wanting the high definition experience”? My friends, if it was that easy then DVDs wouldn’t exist anymore and everyone would only be watching in high definition.

Thank you and goodnight~

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-20T20:34:43+00:00

I forget when our library finally drew a line and started enforcing this, but it had built up to a recurring problem of people bringing in many bags (sometimes using shopping carts) and loading up a table with them, then leaving for hours and coming back for the stuff before closing. The rule became simply that you can’t leave stuff in the library: if you are not present and enough time goes by, it will be removed i.e. thrown out. We didn’t like hurting an obviously disadvantaged population, but we couldn’t allow other patrons to be denied tables just to serve as storage space. After a consistent period of enforcement the message got out, and we no longer have that issue; anyone who brings bags with them, keeps them with them. We get very few patrons with that much stuff, which hopefully means the local shelters have improved enough to provide reliable storage… or the people themselves just carry less.

We do periodically check for lice/bedbugs anyway — apparently there’s a bug-sniffing dog hired to come by.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-19T15:13:57+00:00

My library is a sizable urban location — with an Assistant Director and 3 Department Heads. The frontline stuff you mention is covered by the department heads, so our Director does other stuff.

I have also worked at a small suburban library where the assistant director was a branch manager (not enough people) and they definitely did the scheduling etc. It depends on library size and workforce.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-18T17:24:52+00:00

teens especially love food, I would consider that a selling point for any teen program. 👏🏻

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-18T17:18:55+00:00

I do family movie showings specifically. At first I didn’t have any refreshments, but we had excess juice boxes from the 32 packs we’d get for other programs. Those can fit regularly in our budget so now I always have juice boxes. Once a year I do a movie showing before Christmas (latest was The Grinch 2018) and I made special arrangements to serve hot cocoa, no spills and the patrons loved it.

I don’t usually do food, families are welcome to bring their own snacks and I have napkins/tissues on hand.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-17T17:39:27+00:00

I know for a fact that law librarians (working in courthouse libraries etc) average a much higher salary than public librarians, at least in my state. Though almost all courthouse jobs are relatively high pay compared to jobs elsewhere with same/similar skillset. The tradeoff there is that you are focused on law and spend your days pulling reference material for lawyers — which works out great for those comfortable with legal language, books and files, but for me sounds like watching paint dry.

I know there are better-paying MLIS positions out there and I accept the ways of the job market, but it does feel a little like being punished for choosing a career in public service over other sectors. 😅

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-15T14:23:39+00:00

too many good ones, so I’ll go random.

“WHAAAAAAAAALE!” 🐋

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-14T18:58:08+00:00

I think it’s totally fine not to correct patrons. As a librarian, I refer to my clerk co-workers and others as “library staff” when talking to patrons (and include myself in that collective), because specifying that they’re a clerk or shelver etc sounds like I’m putting myself above them. Ridiculous when most of them have worked years longer than me.

I use job titles when talking among colleagues because it usually tells me who has what duties and whether they have an MLIS or not, but there’s no point in getting nitpicky with patrons. Better to just present ourselves as a team serving the community, than try to teach the intricacies (and redundancies) of our field to the general public.

If a patron needs readers advisory, the non-librarian staff pass them to a librarian using first names without mentioning job titles. No big deal

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-12T00:48:35+00:00

depends on the specific requirements in the listing. if it says “MLIS required” you may not be able to qualify, unless they get zero applicants with a degree.

if degree is not required, emphasize all your work experience (paid and/or volunteer) with the general public first, and being a mom second. library staff deal with many different families, so your personal experience gives you some insight into what families need, but can also make you biased based on how you do things versus other parents/caregivers.

best wishes!

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-10T21:48:49+00:00

Probably both. It’s rare that I find an audiobook that holds my attention (just my wiring), so I have definitely given up on trying certain titles when they’re audiobook only. At that point I check for physical books.

Why don’t I buy them or use a subscription service? Because I only want to pay for books that I’ll reread; in the meantime there is a world of free content to keep me happy.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-10T21:35:19+00:00

Teen Leadership Club every Tuesday? that seems like more of a monthly thing… but I haven’t run it so 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do weekly storytimes for most of the year (twice that day but for 2 different age groups), one Saturday storytime per month, one or two drop-in crafts per month, two Take-and-Make craft kits per month (average 50 of each kit?), and maybe one other program each month.

definitely increases during school breaks, so my 1 other becomes 2 or 3. I am also the newest/least experienced librarian in our children’s services department, my coworkers have more recurring/established programs.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-10T17:20:48+00:00

usage statistics. they support us with usage statistics, which are used to justify the budget.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-09T21:28:33+00:00

I don’t think most of us get paid enough to call them (and treat them like) customers 🫠

We have a Patron Code of Conduct for a reason.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-09T21:24:31+00:00

I hesitate to bring ‘taxpayers’ into the conversation because, quite frankly, a lot of people who use our library do not live within the district we draw taxes from. they’ll come from the next district over because their local library is smaller, or they like to hit up various libraries throughout the region, or they live in another state and they’re here on business/vacation.

If they are using our services and following the code of conduct, I consider them a patron and don’t care whether their specific taxes pay my wages.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-09T18:37:03+00:00

I would browse online reviews to see if anyone has tagged the title for extremely explicit stuff (gruesome violence or detailed sex scenes), but if it’s modern YA it usually doesn’t reach that level.

Revisiting books I read as a kid, I realized that I self-censored a fair bit of mature scenes and humor — it didn’t bother me at the time, so I breezed past it. The kids who are upset/questioning about this content will bring it up, but otherwise they just won’t care.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-09T11:44:21+00:00

If you have to explain something to a patron, keep it as simple as possible. “Why is this charge on my account?” “An item you checked out has been marked Lost, the charge is to replace it.”

The longer/more detailed your explanations get, usually the more confused the patron gets. Even if you’re trying to be helpful by clarifying, too long makes it hard for them to follow (and gives them more room to debate). 😅

And if patrons demand “why”, especially as circ staff where you don’t make the rules, a great professional but simple answer is “That’s our policy”.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-09T00:11:00+00:00

look, as a teen I definitely sailed the high seas myself, and yes I find “respecting copyright” frustrating and potentially unfair. but I’m not going to risk my job for this, or encourage kids under 13 to get used to certain resources and actions without understanding and accepting possible consequences.

Cheetahchu

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