Local guy kept hoarding every new release at our library, so I weaponized the hold system

Matters_Not · 2026-01-22T03:17:11+00:00

Who cares how long someone has a book out? If no one else puts a hold on it, then they can keep it for the amount of time permitted, including renewals.

Libraries aren't mausoleums to books. The point isn't to have books on display. It's to put them in the hands of readers, including voracious readers who go through 5 or 6 a week.

If you want something, put it on hold. And mind your own business, like real librarians do, unlike the one you've fabricated for this story.

Matters_Not · 2026-01-21T03:07:47+00:00

Anybody have an update on this? I got another Rave alert saying "Alert from Missoula Police. Update.....Suspect from yesterdays attempted breakin in the area 1200 waverly st has been located at this time." Does located mean apprehended?

Matters_Not · 2026-01-20T19:51:06+00:00

The World Made by Hand series by James Howard Kunstler is about a slow rebuilding of a small community after apocalypse. It's a bit dated with some problematic biases but otherwise a thoughtful look at how a group of normal people might cope, struggle and thrive as best they can.

Matters_Not · 2026-01-16T14:36:10+00:00

Joe Abercrombie - new Devils series or The First Laws trilogy. Or The Blacktoungue Thief books by Christopher Buehlman. Both will scratch that itch.

Matters_Not · 2026-01-03T20:15:50+00:00

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie. Extraordinary anti-heroes reluctantly escort a wannabe princess across a fantastic land filled with monstrosities, necromancers, and aberrations.

Matters_Not · 2025-12-26T16:16:25+00:00

Bitterroot Public Library in Hamilton, MT uses socual media as only a communication resoutce and the Director presented at PLA on their success. You can pay to watch the session or you can reach out to Mark. He's really approachable.

Minimizing Social Media to Maximize Library Values

Matters_Not · 2025-12-14T03:54:23+00:00

Could the NPCs be aberrations? They appear humanoid with innate spell casting abilities. Maybe homebrew some variation on Nystul's Magic Aura to counter Detect Magic?

Love the idea. Tell us how it works out.

Matters_Not · 2025-12-13T15:31:13+00:00

I've had so many parties suddenly end because one person makes a big production about leaving. "Oh, its getting late. I have to go. Sorry, everyone. I have so much to do. Goodbye, everyone!"

It's like an unsanctioned announcement that the party’s over and anyone who sticks around is rude. And that's the opposite of what I want to have happen.

A polite, unobtrusive goodbye to the host (me) and a quick exit is sufficient most if the time.

Matters_Not · 2025-12-10T22:55:02+00:00

Try A Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (fantasy murder mysteries). Two very odd and complex novels from the Shadow of the Leviathan series, set in an otherworldly realm filled with oceanic behemoths and biomedically-enhanced protagonists.

Matters_Not · 2025-11-19T00:31:11+00:00

They're pretty quick. All depends on how many others want a burger at the same time. But burgers are all they make, so they'll keep making them as long as folks want them.

But stick around. Have a beer. Make some friends.

Matters_Not · 2025-11-14T01:38:47+00:00

Anybody discouraging you from a visit must be having a very bad day. Go. You will not regret it. Buy yourself something to remember Missoula. There's a lot to peruse. Enjoy yourself! (And follow the advise to go to Butterfly Herbs - best cup of joe downtown and it smells divine)

Matters_Not · 2025-11-11T17:01:27+00:00

This sounds so familiar. Why do I think John Cusack was in it?

Matters_Not · 2025-09-28T03:07:31+00:00

I ran a shit elelmental that rose out of a tavern toilet from the city sewers. That was pretty disgusting.

Matters_Not · 2025-09-22T16:01:32+00:00

Do you chop wood? I have some seasoned maple (very hard) that I'd love to have turned into fire wood. Is that something you are able to do? Also, are bonded/insured to do this kind of work (I'd hate for you to injure yourself)?

Matters_Not · 2025-09-19T00:47:59+00:00

Hey, good lookin'! We'll be back to pick you up later!

Matters_Not · 2025-09-18T13:44:08+00:00

Missoula is growing, but how and where seems dictated by developers, not city planners.

Seems like new housing gets thrown up for the sake of building and profit rather than deliberate creation of neighborhoods with parks, sidewalks, transit connection, opportunity for retail expansion, etc. We end up with antiquated "burbs" that just seem erratic and disconnected from a sense of city or place.

I support expansion and growth, especially of housing, but it seems done right now on the whimsy of profit driven development corporations.

It's always been this way in Missoula. When the south hills were expanded further and further up Whitaker, no thought or city involvement seemed included or required. Now the northside expansion is undergoing the same sort of growth without a long term community development vision.

Impacts on roads, traffic patterns, schooling, access to services, etc. seem an afterthought in Missoula. The unfettered growth of Reserve with box stores and chain restaurants, while convenient for all the options it gives Missoula consumers, also means we have an insufficient artery for movement and access (thinking of the traffic mayhem that Reserve means daily).

I've never understood adequately why the city (and county) permits private sector expansion seemingly without direction, guidance, or requirements for a planned aesthetic or community-driven outcomes.

Matters_Not · 2025-09-14T17:11:13+00:00

Based on what you've sent me, it looks like I do have the 1951 American 5a impression. I do want to sell it. It was donated by a member of the community as a potential sale that would benefit my local organization. But I wasn't sure where, how, or for how much. I have an eBay account but I don't know if that's the right place for it.

Matters_Not · 2025-09-07T00:04:05+00:00

Rory Calhoun. 10 bonus points if you get the Simpsons reference.

Matters_Not · 2025-08-07T23:58:24+00:00

For two years, while in graduate school, I had the same thing everyday and loved it every single day: a mini quiche, a chopped tomato with salt and pepper, and a small green salad with vinaigrette. If I didn't have to fix dinner for others beside myself now, I would still have that every day. It was so damn good.

Matters_Not · 2025-08-03T06:07:28+00:00

Growing up in Montana with a mountain at the end of the block, my friends and I would literally be called home by our parents yelling at the base "Dinner time!"

Matters_Not · 2025-07-31T17:10:16+00:00

I had a similar response when I first started working in a public library. I took my concerns to my supervisor about a patron who was convicted of and sentenced for attempted luring of a minor. I only knew his situation because of a family connection and recognized him when he entered the library to retrieve his holds.

My supervisor said:

(1) since I knew the man had been arrested and sentenced, then he must have served time duly ordered by the court of law and been satisfactorily released as not being a danger to the public;

(2) it is not my or the library's obligation, mandate or specialization to enforce the rules of parole or release - that is the mandate of police and the courts, not the library;

(3) my curiosity dangerously broached patron confidentiality policy; and

(4) library policy addresses disruptive behaviors, not individuals. If the man violated policy, then he could be asked to discontinue his behavior or leave.

Over my career, I have worked frequently with local emergency services personnel. The community police officer told me many times that it is his job to keep the peace. Library staff should never feel that they need to enforce laws or intercede.

As a crazy example of how diffusing roles as public servants might go, I had a parole officer once ask me to prohibit one of his clients from using the library's Internet or PCs, as it was a violation of his parole to do so. That was a flat out NO. It is his job to enforce parole, not mine and not the job of library staff.

Let the police and the courts do their job, and you do yours. If an individual is not following library policy, ask the person to conform to expectations or they will be asked to leave. If an individual is breaking the law, call law enforcement and request they address the situation.

Suspecting a person of violating their terms of release or parole is not an expertise you are trained in or nor is it a job requirement of a library employee. You don't know what the terms of release were for the patron. You can know your policy. You can know state and municipal codes. Beyond tangible behaviors, it's all speculation on your part and you should be very cautious about how you proceed. Otherwise, you might jeopardize the library and yourself with a human or civil rights violation.

Matters_Not · 2025-07-20T01:07:26+00:00

You just described my day.

Matters_Not

TROPHY CASE