The 10 most infuriating things about working in a busy University library
10. Book Dumping:
I hate it hate it HATE it when a library user decides they no longer want to borrow the book and dumps it in the wrong place. Please please please if you don’t want it just hand it to a member of staff or place it on the hundreds of spare trolleys that are lying around for this very purpose. It saves so much time and energy this way, believe me!
9. Getting too Comfortable in the Soft-Seating Areas:
A university library is a place of work and study – not really somewhere you turn up to in your pajamas to chill out on the ‘comfy’sofas. Well this is exactly what I saw during the busy exam period last week. Yes a moronic student curled up with a cup of hot chocolate in her pajamas in the ’soft seating areas’. What an idiot.
8. Lost Books:
Here I’m referring more to carelessness that genuine ‘lost books’ I understand that from time to time things go missing at home – maybe a book gets left behind at a friends or the parent’s house, or it got packed in the wrong box whilst moving or it was left by mistake in the library and someone else moved it. But come on! If a book is issued to your account then it is your responsibility to make sure that that book gets returned! That’s not a hard task is it? Why are some people so careless with other people’s property?
7. Filthy Students:
I work in one of these ‘new libraries’ with cafe facilities and designated ’snack areas’. I don’t work in one of these libraries that allows users to eat and drink a full course meal at their desk and I hate it that students think it’s OK to leave their mess anywhere they feel like it. I’m so surprised at how disgusting students can be actually. I don’t mind drinks being taken into the computer areas but I definitely draw a line at bacon sandwiches!!
6. Books from other Sites:
As a student it’s difficult to see why a book borrowed from one library site can’t be returned to another library site within the same university compound. It makes perfect sense right? WRONG. In returning a book from another site it greatly increases the delay in getting that book back to its rightful home, it stresses out the library staff when something ‘goes missing in transit’ and it ain’t half nightmarishly difficult to lug about very heavy boxes!
5. Technical Failures:
Whilst book sorters are a wonderful invention on the days that they decide they want to work they are absolute nightmares when they’ve decided they’ve done enough work for one day. In all honesty I just don’t think ours is big enough for the sheer volume of books that pass through everyday. Oh and we don’t have enough staff to regularly empty it so again I’m not surprised that it often jams.
4. University Staff:
Seen as it’s my blog I feel it’s quite OK to make sweeping generalisations – so, GENERALLY why do members of university staff seem to think that they are exempt from library policies and procedures? Well know this you infuriating members of university staff – you DO have to renew your books from time to time and should you fail to do this I WILL charge you the fines accumulated on your account and NO I do NOT waive fines just because you have ‘been busy teaching’. PAH.
3. Uncollected Reservations:
We get hundreds and hundreds of these every day! Why? Because annoying students a) decide they can’t be bothered to come in and get them, b) forget they made the reservation, c) fail to check their emails or d) don’t need them anymore because the deadline has passed. Not only does this waste time but it delays the process of getting books back on the shelves and issued to borrowers that are desperate for them. Damn you.
2. Poor Reshelving:
A fundamental rule of running a good library is having a good system of reshelving. My library is massive and it is impossible to keep on top of the shelving due to the lack of interest library assistants/support staff have in getting shelving done. It wouldn’t hurt to do an hour a day surely but apparently it does. I hate the whole attitude of ‘it’s not in my job description’, ‘I’m far too senior to involve myself in such menial tasks’ – ER wrong! If you work in a library IT IS in your job description.
1. Vandals:
The lack of respect library users show for library books! Look at these pictures I took this morning – Why do it? Would you do this to your own books? They are completely unreadable and the most annoying thing is I can’t prove who did it. But be warned Mr Webb! I AM watching.
(click to enlarge and excuse the creepily long fingers I have here).
That's me... Lex Rigby
February 19th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
It seems to me that the most annoying thing about the library is the students that use it… so I would like to share an annoying trend that I have recently noticed regarding the behaviour of students:-
It seems that instead of carrying there shopping home from the supermarket in bags or getting a bus or taxi back to their flats, the local students in the area where i work are doing the big shop and then pushing it back to their flats in the trolley. I would have no problems with this but they don’t return the trolleys to the supermarket, they leave it outside on the pavement.
I have seem a collection of 8 trolleys outside student flats which at first a had a little chuckle to myself about (I am so responsible sometimes). This was until i had to go and sort out a car crash caused by the trolleys finding there way onto the road.
I am hoping to catch the student shoppers red handed pushing them trolleys home soon, this will be a good day.
Sometimes the little things can annoy the most!
Nothing to do with Librarys but your top ten brought back my frustrations.