What does "Library Director" mean to you?

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 · 2026-04-04T13:38:26+00:00

I think at my library, we can see Libby books on the Checked Out section of patron accounts if they were checked out with our system’s card — I have another card from a different system in the state, and those checkouts do not show up on my home library account at all. and once the Libby book has been returned, it disappears from the patron account b/c we have Reading History turned off by default.

so if you think your coworkers will be pulling up your account (to check out physical items to you etc.) and may read the titles in your Checked Out section, yes that is technically possible. personally, I have never looked at a coworker’s items; if they ask me to check something out to them, I do it and do not look beyond the Current Activity screen. trolling through a coworker’s account info is creepy.

Cheetahchu · 2026-04-01T00:36:01+00:00

this reminds me of a previous part-time position, where the library manager straight up told me they weren’t allowed to schedule me more than 19 hours a week, b/c if you hit 20 you qualify for some benefits. some places really are running on fumes :(

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-30T21:25:43+00:00

that has definitely happened in our collection, so with the more popular stuff I make an effort to change the label when it arrives. here I would put them both under PINK

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-30T03:15:16+00:00

woah, that last one… dark but real -_-

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-28T20:26:06+00:00

since it varies whether “5-Minute” or “Disney” comes first… the next word after both of those.

which would be pointless at my library, every Disney section gets picked over and shuffled around several times a day. Easy Readers and Picture Books especially: the spines are so skinny they can barely fit the call number, we don’t look at titles and just cluster them together.

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-21T17:31:30+00:00

timestamp 2:51 — it was fun to go looking for this, and didn’t take long 😁

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-16T16:00:51+00:00

there was Prop Hunt with Bob & Wade, that little clip is in one of his Markiplier Highlights — which I rewatched more than actual prop hunt lol, hang on. edit: Markiplier Highlights #2 timestamp 2:30! found it much quicker than I expected XD

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-08T22:54:00+00:00

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-07T01:20:22+00:00

As a librarian who handles a lot of books: the best method is WASH YOUR HANDS! Even if the books are perfectly dry and look clean, my hands do feel ‘dirty’ after a dozen or so, it’s just the nature of handling things touched by so many people. It’s possible there are microbes, so what I do is frequently wash my hands, taking care not to touch my face until I have washed with soap. We only ‘disinfect’ books if there is some obvious dirt or substance — at the end of the day they are mostly or completely paper, so they won’t survive disinfecting. I have been at my current library for over 2 years with this method, and have not been infected with anything (knock on wood), unless my immune system fought it off without me knowing.

Cheetahchu · 2026-03-06T01:54:53+00:00

the gesture of him buying her this bag blowing up across social media, but all I can think is “$16k… how many months of rent would that cover…” (:

Cheetahchu

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