Shush Her

I’m not about to register
I’m not about to register over there just to comment – but someone really should point out over there that even if privacy laws DON’T have something against that in that state, that every librarian I know is MORE concerned about privacy than the laws even are.

I really suspect that the “librarian” is actually just the town gossip who has just been hired to work circulation. Sadly the average person who starts work at a library just doesn’t get the privacy issue (my student workers don’t even after I explain it often… oh they might finally get that they can’t tell someone who has the book they’re looking for checked out, but I found one snooping around on someone’s jump drive to find out whose it was instead of just putting it in the lost and found the other day)

Miss Manners really should have suggested she ask to speak with the library director or whomever is the woman’s supervisor. Unless this is a really really small town library – I really sincerely doubt that this woman is the branch manager, so there has to be someone over her that this can be taken to – thats the appropriate response – not throwing stereotypes back in the woman’s face (which probably won’t do anything because other than being really loud, I somewhat suspect she’s closer to the stereotype than most of us)

I responded
I read this column and am very surprised by it.I was going to suggest it was a clerk but the letter implies she’s the only employee and the response was off regardless. This is the response I just sent to MM (or the intern who was phoning it in for her that day.) I was going to throw in a comment about someone working for the doomed print media not throwing stones, but decided that would thwart my chances of being printed.

Dear Miss Manners,
I am astounded at your response to the reader whose library selections are read aloud and commented upon. How taking cheap shots at the rest of the profession with archaic, cruel stereotypes and making sexist jabs at this agreeably awful woman’s value as a human could be construed as appropriate or helpful escapes me. Such harsh and futile recommendations are uncharacteristic of your column.

After all of your years of handling interpersonal faux-pas, do you seriously believe that “shushing” this woman will show her the error of her ways? This library is failing in its obligation to honor patron privacy which is not just a customer service issue but rather one of professional ethics. Be the offender a librarian, clerk or volunteer, the correct response is that this patron should complain to the director or governing body of the library- or at the very least attempt a constructive response rather than a petty retaliation.

Sincerely,
A young, good-sighted, loved, forward-thinking and well-mannered librarian

P.S. You “got to me,” all right: I’ll be deleting your column from my RSS feed (which is an online article subscription, for those who are technically behind-the-times.)