Condition of Library Materials

[Scarlett]

My first thread in the rant room.

I am a person who likes to go to the library to check out movies and music CDs. I am usually pleased with what I get, but sometimes a movie or CD will skip because of scratches on the back of the CD/DVD. This bothers me a great deal. This is especially apparent on popular items that are in high demand (we're talking multiple scratches, an occasional almost crack in the item). I know that scratches can be caused on accident when taking a disc in and out of a player, but I truly believe that some library patrons are just careless with library property, assuming that since it's not theirs, they don't have to take care of it and don't care in the condition that it gets returned. I know full well that the library takes no responsibility for the condition of the materials (it says so on most boxes and cases) but it still bugs me that people can be so careless and uncaring.

End rant.

[TJames03]

I worked for a library for quite a long time (quiet & books - my favorite things. I would still be there, but at the time, libraries were going under in CA. VERY quickly at the time) and any time a CD, etc., was taken out, we would look at it to make sure that there wasn't any damage. We would also always have the person's name that checked it out if we did find damages and make them pay for it.

Sounds like your library is a bit lazy.

[Scarlett]

That's what the library needs - accountability for patrons! But with cut-backs on library funding going on, and many of the library workers are volunteers that are not paid, I don't anticipate any changes in the immediate future. I believe even before DVDS, the library said that 'they were not responsible for the condition of materials checked out'.

One solution would be to stop going to the library (which I would never do), so I'm stuck where I am - which isn't so bad most of the time, but when you wait a week for an item....and then the item won't play for you....

TJ were you a paid worker or a volunteer?

[TJames03]

Started out as a volunteer (for about six months) and then worked there as a regular for quite some time (sleeping with the married head librarian didn't hurt my chances, either. I was in my early 20's, she was in her late 40').

I can't tell you what is under the hood of a car, but I can manipulate your most complex computer and its systems (that helped too). Pretty much I was a sure thing when I started telling their com. expert what to do and was able to do things that even he wasn't.

Stayed there until it became apparent that cutbacks were going to force a lot of the libraries out.

Ah....memories.

Actually, if I had to do it over again, I still would have left. My job now pays MUCH better.

[Scarlett]

Well I'm sure the pharmaceutical industry is doing very well.

[TJames03]

Well I'm sure the pharmaceutical industry is doing very well.

Yeppers - it is. I do miss the QUIET of a library, but they will not be around within the next decade, I am afraid. Everything is going digital (even books). One thing that I DID learn.....NEVER think that the head librarian is a stuffy woman. There is not too many peeps that can say that they have had sex in a library!!!!!



The only bad thing with my job now is that I have to deal with idiots who take their pain meds too soon and want them refilled when they have more than two weeks before my company can. Can't they do MATH?!

?!?!?!!

[Scarlett]

Yeppers - it is. I do miss the QUIET of a library, but they will not be around within the next decade, I am afraid. Everything is going digital (even books). One thing that I DID learn.....NEVER think that the head librarian is a stuffy woman. There is not too many peeps that can say that they have had sex in a library!!!!!



The only bad thing with my job now is that I have to deal with idiots who take their pain meds too soon and want them refilled when they have more than two weeks before my company can. Can't they do MATH?!

?!?!?!!

You make the library sound like a modern day soap opera. Personally I disagree about libraries being extinct in the next decade. I read in the newspapers that library circulation is improving thanks to DVDs - some libraries are doing more movie lending businesses than some of the retail lenders (Blockbuster, etc)

[Tessie]

[CENTER][..NEVER think that the head librarian is a stuffy woman. There is not too many peeps that can say that they have had sex in a library!!!!![/COLOR]

You weren't the one damaging the books, were you?

[TJames03]

Scarlett - you would be shocked at some peoples' personal life.



No, Tessie - maybe I damaged the carpet, but not the books!

LOL!

I still say that libraries won't be around in the next coming years. There are books being published now that are strictly Kindle, etc. Sad because a library (and bookstores in general) have a very comfortable feel to them.

[Scarlett]

Scarlett - you would be shocked at some peoples' personal life.



No, Tessie - maybe I damaged the carpet, but not the books!

LOL!

I still say that libraries won't be around in the next coming years. There are books being published now that are strictly Kindle, etc. Sad because a library (and bookstores in general) have a very comfortable feel to them.

I'm sure I'd be very suprised.

There are two big book stores in my area that are closing (both Borders). That is very sad for me, but I'd attribute that more to the recession (and Borders going bankrupt) than the extinction of libraries/bok stores in general.

[TJames03]

Though I LOATHE coffee, it is nice to walk into "Barnes & Noble" and smell the aroma.

I only purchase hardcovers online because they are a fraction of what they are in the stores.

I keep every book that I get, so I could easily open a library myself!
I still disagree with you on Kindles, etc., not spelling the end of libraries. it will happen within the next 10 or so years.

As I have said before, there are books only being published now as e-books.

It is better for the environment and you can store massive amounts of data onto one simple disc or chip.

[MargaretKrebbs]

I still disagree with you on Kindles, etc., not spelling the end of libraries. it will happen within the next 10 or so years.

As I have said before, there are books only being published now as e-books.

Libraries are now lending electronic materials, like e-books, etc. Libraries are not going to die because of a change of technology or a change in the way information is delivered. Public libraries may die because of a lack of public funding. Perhaps more patrons won't actually visit a "brick and mortar" library, they will access their materials online.

http://ebooks.nypl.org/D30E2152-D273...en/Default.htm

And research libraries will always be around because their holdings are primary source materials. Research libraries are even collecting primary source materials that originated in electronic format. For example, many writers now write on computers from the very beginning, and do not write with pens on paper. So instead of the authors donating their collection of papers to some library, they donate their hard drives and other electronic devices.

The Library of Congress in Washington DC is actually preserving Twitter feeds!

Also, libraries have always been much more than books. There are libraries of films and music, etc.

It is better for the environment and you can store massive amounts of data onto one simple disc or chip.

Computers run on electricity, which is hardly green. Just see what's currently happening in Japan, or talk to someone in West Virginia.

In order to keep electronic formats viable in the quickly changing technology world, formats must be migrated to the most up-to-date formats. For example, information on a floppy disk is useless because that technology is "ancient" and no longer supportable. But people can still read ancient clay tablets from Mesopotamia and scrolls written in ancient Egypt today. These "formats" do not rely on technology, just preservation.

[MargaretKrebbs]

[Vote4Cliff]

I still go to the library several times a month. I love the technology of being able to go online and find whatever book or CD/DVD I want and have it transferred to pick it up at my local branch. If funding becomes a serious issue, I would gladly pay an annual fee to use the library.

I haven't experienced Scarlett's issue with scratched DVD's; however, many times I find notes, coupons, bookmarks, etc. in the pages of a book. Can't the librarian just turn it over and give it a good shake before putting it back into circulation? I would never return a book with stuff left inside, it just seems rude to me.

And while a lot of mainstream media is available in electronic media, specialized materials are not - my job involves working with various societies, universities, and libraries around the world. Often I need to contact them to get a scan of a material that is only available in paper format. And sometimes I need to have that material then translated into English, which despite technology, only a human can do with reliable results. So while technology is a wonderful tool, there seems no substitute for real books and real people.

[Vote4Cliff]

Loved the medieval Help Desk!!

[Scarlett]

I still go to the library several times a month. I love the technology of being able to go online and find whatever book or CD/DVD I want and have it transferred to pick it up at my local branch. If funding becomes a serious issue, I would gladly pay an annual fee to use the library.

I haven't experienced Scarlett's issue with scratched DVD's; however, many times I find notes, coupons, bookmarks, etc. in the pages of a book. Can't the librarian just turn it over and give it a good shake before putting it back into circulation? I would never return a book with stuff left inside, it just seems rude to me.

And while a lot of mainstream media is available in electronic media, specialized materials are not - my job involves working with various societies, universities, and libraries around the world. Often I need to contact them to get a scan of a material that is only available in paper format. And sometimes I need to have that material then translated into English, which despite technology, only a human can do with reliable results. So while technology is a wonderful tool, there seems no substitute for real books and real people.

MK thanks so much for the medieval Help Desk.

V4C, I am always requesting library materials and having them sent to my local branch. I can do it on the Internet, and find and order stuff without leaving the house. And Inner Library Loan - wow. I can check out stuff from all over the country (world really, but they are very sensitive about sending their stuff overseas without cost. ) Of course now I can only have five Inner Library Loan requests at a time (thanks to budget cuts) cut from 15, but it's wonderful and I wouldn't trade the library for the world.

[TJames03]

A good example is FATE magazine. It has been out since '48 and is going green. The magazine (which I have been a subscriber to for many years) is phasing out its paper editions.

If you go 'green,' you get extra bonus perks and twice as much material.

I went 'green' a few months ago when my subscription was up and it is now delivered to my e-mail in a PDF format. It is very nice because (as I said before) you can save the material on disc or chip and can read the sections that you want to read without having to deal with any other parts that you normally don't read.

[Scarlett]

What would I do if I couldn't borrow DVDs and CDs from the library? I would truly be lost.

[TJames03]

What would I do if I couldn't borrow DVDs and CDs from the library? I would truly be lost.

Well, you had better get ready for that happening.

Though there are still quite a few people that go to the library, that group will fade more and more as the years go by and it simply will not be profitable to keep a library running for just a few individuals.

[Scarlett]

Well, you had better get ready for that happening.

Though there are still quite a few people that go to the library, that group will fade more and more as the years go by and it simply will not be profitable to keep a library running for just a few individuals.

I completely disagree. If anything the circulation of DVDs has gone up; the libraries acquire new titles as soon as they are released to DVD and the waiting list begins. University libraries will stay in tact; students can see unique primary source documents there that they could not find elsewhere. Public school libraries will stay in tact.