The Library Tag: Confessions of a former library employee
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- Опубліковано 4 гру 2024
- Hello Booktube! This was a really difficult tag to make as it brought up some painful memories. But everything turned out for the best for all concerned, and I learned a lot from the experience. I also have a lot of happy memories of libraries too, and I would love to hear about your library experiences! What do you use your library the most for? Are you the only one in your home to use your library or do you go with friends or family members? What's the best event you've attended at your library? Tell me all about it in the Comments section or answer any of the questions in the tag. If you'd like to do the tag, please feel free. If you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment, you can always leave an emoji or give this video a thumbs up as a way to say hello. I appreciate it!
This tag was created by @BookBuds
• The Library Tag! (Orig...
I was tagged by @BooklessPete
• The Library Tag: Tuesd...
and I was also tagged by @pleasereadyourbook
Shangai Library Edition: • Video
A message from Book Buds:
A new original tag from Book Buds! The Library Tag!! Did you know Book Buds films right next to a library? We had to make this tag! Let’s talk about your library habits! We have questions for BOTH those of you that go to the library AND those of you that don’t! Answer the questions that apply to you.
If you DO go to the library… (answer these)
1. How often do you go to the library?
2. Do you belong to more than one library system?
3. What percent of books you read come from the library?
4. Do you listen to audiobooks or get e-books from the library or are you hooked on Audible or Amazon or something else?
5. Did you go to storytime at the library as a kid?
6. Have you ever borrowed a movie or video game from your library?
7. Have you ever gotten fined for returning books late? If so, how do you feel about that?
8. Do you attend special events, groups or book sales at the library?
9. Have you ever given or taken a book from a little free library, a book box or a book swap?
10. Bonus! Does your librarian know you by name?
11. Tag some friends!
If you DON’T go to the library… (answer these)
1. Why the heck not?
2. Where do you get your books from?
3. Have you ever had a library card or do you have one now?
4. When was the last time you stepped foot in the library?
5. Have you ever gone to an event at your library?
6. Do you have little free libraries or book boxes or book swaps where you live? Show us a picture if you do.
7. Tag some friends!
Thanks to the many people who comment on and support this channel in many different ways!
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#booktube #books #library
Thanks for doing our tag!! But oh no!! I’m sorry this brought up such a traumatic employment story for you!! 😭 I mean- we all probably fantasize about wanting to work in a library…. But ya know, I imagine all jobs have the potential to suck 😬
Thanks for creating this tag! It was good to talk about and it has been quite awhile, so I felt OK! I probably wouldn't be able to have this channel if I worked there, so this is really so much better!
I had a job a while back where they had some layoffs. They asked me to stand and watch a guy while he packed up. I knew they guy well. I wasn't going to treat him like a criminal. I helped him pack up his stuff. That was emblematic of a few really difficult years in my working life.
One of the best things my library offers me is the ability to borrow books through Libby and Hoopla. The second is that I can donate books, DVDS/Blu-rays, and CDs to the library. I have unhauled a lot of them to the library in recent years.
Hi Stuart! What a kind person you are to help your co-worker. I actually felt pretty bad for the security guard. He was young and clearly felt uncomfortable. And thank you for sharing the things you enjoy about your library! Libby is very popular here. And unhauling books or other media related items is so easy. Thank you so much for watching and commenting! 💛
@@booksimnotreading You're welcome
Kelly--I'm so sorry to hear about your experience working at a library. I'd like to say that I've never heard anything like that, but I had a friend who went through a very similar situation. Still, as you said, it all worked out in the end. But, I also understand why you might be a fan of self check out!
No worries, Melinda. I’m sorry you know someone who had a similar experience, but I hope things worked out for them in the end. Thanks for your kind words, but yes, I try not to engage or engage as little as possible! I lost my library card but I have the number memorized. New people are always asking me for my ID, and I just want to explain to them that I used to work there! 😂 Happy reading! 💛
Thank you for sharing something so difficult and deeply personal. I can only imagine you being an amazing library worker and staff member. Life can be crazy sometimes! But great answers to the tag!
Oh, that was such a kind comment. Thank you! Life definitely gets crazy! I hope you are well, and I appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment on my video. 💛
I'm so sorry about your experience, that sounds pretty traumatic! I'm flabbergasted you got fired for that reason - you seem to be the nicest, kindest person ever, my brain can't compute XD Anyways, thank you for sharing, it mustn't be easy. And I'm glad all is well now.
That’s very sweet. It all worked out for the best. Thank you for watching and commenting! 💛
Hi Kelly! I am so sorry you had a traumatic experience with your library. Glad that at the end it worked out for the best. 💛
It did work out for the best! 😃 Happy reading! 💛
Thank you for doing this tag . I can't imagine the emotions it dredged up given your experience with the library. Well now we are fortunate you are with us here on booktube and you share your knowledge and bookish topics with us. I don't go to the library often as I take so long to read a book and I enjoy having books I enjoyed in my little collection. No one else in my family uses the library and the only event I have been to is the library book sales for which I have a lot of fun finding books that I have been seeking out. Keep up the good work! Kelly and we'll see you in the next video!
Marcia, thank you so much for your very kind comment! I am very glad to have this wonderful community. (I’m a slow reader too,) Happy reading! 💛
This was great, despite the drama you had before with your library. Thanks for the mention!
I really enjoyed your vlog-style tag. Thank you for tagging me! 💛
Im sorry you had to go through that with a job, Kelly. Those kind of experiences can feel so harsh and hurtful. Im glad with time you've had some healing! Ive had to learn myself that a job is just that...a job! And life does go on!
Thank you so much for that very kind comment. I realize a job is just a job … but I am ready to RETIRE! My financial planner says I have a ways to go, but I do hope that is in my future! 💛
@@booksimnotreading I think about retirement often. My husband and I don't have children and I said if it stays that way we are definitely retiring as early as possible. Sometimes I feel like I was never cut out for the workforce because I have so much anxiety 😂
I'm sorry you were fired by the library. Some people have very odd ideas of a hostile work environment.
I go to the library all the time. When I still lived in Albany, I sometimes walked to the Pine Hills branch, which was about a mile or so away from my apartment. I could also walk to the John J. Bach branch on the other side, though my favorites were the Colonie and Guilderland libraries that I could only reach by car. When I lived in Massachusetts, I loved the Dalton Library, which was located in an old house (Victorian?). One of my dream careers is to work in an academic library.
You should do this tag, Ursula! Truly! I’d love to hear your answers! Thank you for your kind words. 💛
I am currently reading Night Watch from my library also! Not sure what I think yet!
I didn't get any reading done yesterday, but I have been reading a lot today. I'll make a review video after I finish and we'll have to talk about it then! Thanks so much for commenting!
As someone who worked in a variety of libraries for more than 30 years, I understand your situation and your lingering pain, Kelly. To outsiders, it seems as though every library must be an exalted place of altruism and ideas and promotions and books and materials and yada yada yada. And it must be the most AMAZING place in the world to work and to spend one's days. A dream devoutly to be wished! And yet: libraries turn out to be just like any other businesses or workspaces. They contain a variety of employees with a variety of personalities -- often, with VERY STRONG personalities -- and clashings can happen. These conflicts may even happen regularly. Or daily. And if someone gets too uncomfortable with such a work environment, they will leave. On their own, or escorted out. (I'm VERY sorry you were a victim of this practice. I always left on my own accord. ) KUDOS to you for (a) still living in the same community, and (b) still ON OCCASION going back to the scene of the crime. I am fortunate enough to have the options of NOT returning to a number of libraries where I used to work. Or, I zip in and out of them without "knowing" staffers catching a glimpse of me. MANY THANKS for sharing your unexpected and yet inspirational story, Kelly. I'll post my own response to this tag sometime soon.
Hello Corinne! Thank you so much for your fantastic comment. You’re right about what we think working in a library will be like and the fact that it is like any other job. I look forward to your own version of this tag! 💛
Kelly, I am stunned. I cannot even fathom how your library could have considered you as creating a hostile environment. This sounds like a Twilight Zone episode. I’m very sorry that you had this traumatic experience in your library. I’m just stunned….and so sorry.
It’s OK Pat! Doing this tag was a bit cathartic, and it made me realize how long ago all this happened! It WAS a hostile work environment for me! 😂 I was so relieved not be working there in 2020, and while my current job isn’t perfect - I don’t have to work weekends or nights. They probably wouldn’t let me have a Booktube channel, and that would be positively terrible! 💛
@@booksimnotreading well, I’m glad you’re in a better place, literally and figuratively, now! You would never contribute to a hostile work environment!
God's nightgown! If I had pearls, consider them clutched. 😂😂😂, you trouble maker you. Go well. 😊
I have realized I AM a troublemaker! Wherever I go, whatever I do, I’m always in trouble! Be well, friend. 💛
@@booksimnotreading I just thought of a title for your memoir, "The Troubles" 😂
@@nathanfoung2347 😂😂😂
Ah, it’s been a long while since I was fired from a job. This did not exactly bring up fond memories but… things did (and sometimes do) work out. 😂
I can’t imagine you being fired. Seriously. It will not compute in my brain. Sorry to bring you any unpleasant memories. 💛
Hi Kelly, you are like the last person in the world I could ever picture being accused of creating a hostile work environment, let alone being escorted out of the job by security!! I had to check and make sure the date of this video wasn't April 1st. :D Seriously, I hope whatever negative emotions of that experience are fully (or at least mostly) behind you now. And hope you had a great weekend!
Thank you, Joe! I did go straight back to library the next day. They called the poor security guard and I invited him to sit down beside me. Hopefully he knew I wasn’t upset with him. I also dyed my hair purple while I was on unemployment, which I had wanted to do for a long time, but felt like it made me seem unprofessional in the workplace. Truly, I was not meant for that job though, so as I’ve tried to say, it all worked out in the end. Thanks so much for your kind words. 💛
I've been fired a couple of times too and both times it was for the best. Not bitter about it at all (most days)
I'm sorry, James. I sometimes think people really misunderstand what I'm trying to do/say. As someone else said, a job is just a job - it does not define you.
I cannot imagine you being fired for creating a hostile work environment! Well, you are definitely creating a positive environment here. :D Being fired absolutely sucks, especially when you don't see it coming and it feels personal. Thank you for sharing your experience, and I'm glad you can still go to the library, despite everything. 📚
Thanks so much for your kind comment. You're right - I didn't see it coming and was very emotionally charged. I think the worst part was telling my parents, who really wanted me to get my master's degree and have one job for the rest of my life. They were probably more crushed than I was and it was a very, very good thing that my parents don't live in the same place. But it's still MY library and my tax dollars help to fund it, so heck yes, I am going to use it. I actually went back as a patron the day after they fired me! They called security right away, but I just offered the guard a chair next to me and used the computers. I actually think the guard felt bad as well. Thank you for watching and commenting!
I'm sorry you went through that. I had a job like that once. It was pretty bad.
I’m sorry you had a similar job experience. At least we aren’t alone. 💛
Great video
Would love to know what documentaries and movies you love and have been watching lately
Thank you! I recently watched a video about the making of the film, Fiddler on the Roof. Afterwards my husband found another one that looks more recent - Lin-Manuel Miranda is in it, so we'll watch that soon. My husband is really more of a movie buff than I am. But Werner Herzog is definitely my favorite documentary film maker - he's a bit like Anthony Trollope in the fact that he inserts himself into the story. You can see - for free - a tour of our film library if you follow the link to my Ko-Fi page listed in the notes of this video.
I used the school library the most growing up, and it was the elementary library that gave me the idea to become a librarian. I studied history for my undergraduate, then I received my Master's in Library Science. Luckily all of my experiences have been positive. As others have said, I cannot believe anyone would say that you created a hostile environment. These days, even breathing creates a hostile environment. All I can say, it's their loss, not yours. I use the local library and the Library of Congress frequently to look up materials, almost daily. I don't actually take out books very often, because I use an e-reader 100% of the time now. I love the convenience of an e-reader.
I use Libby occasionally, because I can download the book to my e-reader.
The Librarians at my local library don't know my name, but I am often asked if I work in Library (is there a certain look?)
Karen, thank you for sharing your positive experiences working and using libraries. I appreciate it. Your librarians are probably asking that because you understand the Dewey decimal system and you rarely, if ever, need any assistance! You’re never going ask about a book with a blue cover! 😂 Happy reading! 💛
Oh, the blue cover was always my favorite question!
I have Kanopy and love it.
It’s really cool! Thanks for commenting! 💛
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Hey Kelly, Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity...they HAD to have fired the wrong person! 🙂 Glad you went ahead and did this after all. I don't go as often as I used to, though is still maybe once a month. Hmm...I'm thinking at some point I may actually do this tag since the library been a large part of life here. Thanks for sharing this, and happy weekend your way. -Carm & a snoozing Rocky
Carm, you should do this tag. I tag you! I'd love to hear your answers and you live in an area with lots of libraries, I believe. I'm sure you've cracked the case - they had their employee confused with someone else! I hope you're enjoying a long weekend with the cats. I woke up so relieved this morning to realize I still have tomorrow off. Take care, friend!
@@booksimnotreading Yes, I woke up wit that same relieved feeling! Oh, and I just put up a response video to this. 🙂
Fired?!?! There had to have been gaslighting involved. Glad I have the holiday weekend to recover from this shock 😳
Jan, it’s OK. I think someone threw me under the bus, but it’s good that I left. I’m sad that I can’t enjoy a library the way I once did, but there have been so many changes since I left and I’m not sure I could keep up. It was not my destiny! 😃 Happy reading this weekend, and thank you for your kind comment. 💛
That is a shocking story about your firing. A hostile workplace indeed, but not of your doing! I am also old fashioned in my love of print books.
I think I said something similar in response to another comment - that it had become a hostile workplace for ME! Thanks for watching and commenting. 💛
Ooh, that sounds like your coworker was a “pearl clutcher” whose ears had a pretty low smoke point. Too bad for them. It can make day to day living harder than it needs to be. Unfortunately, you were working in your hometown library which made library visits really awkward. I hope there was an alternate one available in a neighboring town within the county.
I’m fortunate to live in county with many libraries I can patronize if I choose. Generally, I request various books online and they call me when the books are available. I’m at the library several times a month. In pre-Internet days I would spend a more time browsing in the stacks.
If the book group schedules a book I’m interested in, I’ll join the discussion.
Happy Memorial Day, Kelly! 🌭🍉🍦🇺🇸
Yeah, no other libraries here, but it’s fine. Doing the tag has made realize this was fortunate for me in the long run. I’m glad to hear about your library experiences! 💛
I have had a fair amount of negative experiences with public libraries. I was once accused of lieing about how many books I was reading for the summer reading program in my hometown library. My mother didn't pick up on it and defend me either. I was shocked and embarrassed and I was absolutely reading a huge amount more than everyone else in the program. I was 10. My high school librarian was a nasty, abusive person who didn't really want anyone in the library so I rarely went there. I live in NYC and my branch is OK...Ive had positive interactions but frequently it is fairly unfriendly and the employees are not especially interested in helping anyone. I usually request books online and they are waiting for me when I get there. I pick them up myself and do self-checkout and leave as quickly as possible. It can also be actually kinda loud and rowdy in there and the security guard just ignores it. Having said all that...i took my kids to the library in my hometown in the summers and it was usually a fun experience. We really didn't do story hours at the library in NYC but we did do it Barnes and Noble.
So sorry to hear about your negative experiences at libraries. That sucks. I didn’t touch much on my time at Barnes and Noble and handling story time! Oh my. Glad I don’t do that anymore - and probably it’s better for the kids! Thanks so much for watching and commenting! 💛
If you ever decide to move to the sticks, we would love to have you and your children come visit our library!
@@audreyh7892 Audrey, I DO live in the sticks. 😂 No kiddos though. Thanks for the invite. 💛
@@booksimnotreading You live in Wyoming though, yes? It would be a long commute but I have faith in you.
@@audreyh7892 Where do you live?
I was going to ask if your former coworkers still worked at your library. That was an unfortunate experience, but it seems like you’ve handled it well. I resigned from my former school district due to false accusations and a hostile work environment. ☹️
There's only a few still there and a lot of people work in the back, most of whom I expect have retired by now. I'm sorry to hear about your work experience - I know more and more teachers who are leaving their positions, which when I was growing up was unheard of. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I'm sorry... making this video must have been so difficult. Take good care 🫶🏽
Thank you! It was a bit cathartic too. It made me realize how long ago all this happened. Happy reading! 💛
I know why you got fired. You slapped another employee for cursing.
I have not been to the library of the city I live in. I went to one in a city nearby I used to live in as it was very large but I went to check out a book and that's when I learned you have to live in that city to check out books. The Westland Michigan public library used to have a huge problem with books not being returned and I had a very brief tv news appearance as reporters showed a huge section of empty shelves as they passed by me.
It's been over a decade since I have browsed a library.
Actually, MY swearing in a very private room with one co-worker was what started everything. Ugh. You should check out (ha, ha) your local library just to see what’s happening there. Ten years is a very long time not to have been in a library. Thanks so much for watching and commenting. 💛
Maybe get a job at a book store
.Standard process for firing they do that st most places so dont feel bad. Your not the first won't b the last.karma will make it ok..Sorry ppl can b so cruel.. maybe go to another library down the way nice drive new neighborhood. SMALL MINDED PPL..SO SAD.
I previously worked for Barnes and Noble. No library down the road to work at either as I live in a very rural area. Thanks so much for your kind words. I appreciate it! Happy reading! 💛
That sounds like a bunch of political crap that they disguised as your fault. People. Glad you are in a better place now. It is sad when someone takes something as wonderful as the library and turns it into a political battleground. I work in a place where they have walked people who have worked twenty years out of the facility like they were common criminals. It definitely effects morale and your ability to trust in an institution.
Thanks for sharing that, Audrey. I was a) in shock and b) so hurt that they thought I would do anything to harm the public library. They also kept asking me if I wanted to call my husband and it took everything in me not to say, "You do not want my husband here. Then you WOULD need security!" But, as I said, it turned out for the best, and I'm very happy I don't work there. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!