Friday, January 14, 2011
The Moppets
We get a lot of families that visit us en masse. Mom, Dad, little Joni and Chachi. Sometimes they come in every once in a while. Other times it's like clockwork or a menstrual cycle. The Moppets being the most like a menstrual cycle. There's mama moppet and her three or four adolescent moppet daughters. They range from early teens to early twenties. They are always super nice but they take up so much time. They, on average, pick up 20-25 holds that range from graphic novels, obscure fiction and audio visual items. Not place holds... pick up holds. It takes for freaking ever. The irritating part about it is they don't care how inconvenient it is to other patrons they just settle in for the duration and the line starts forming. You can't be rude. You can't complain you just have to smile and try and get them out of the way as quickly as you can. We've had them at the desk on a Saturday morning for an hour. One entire hour. It's insane.
Bookstore Oddities....
Today we had a neurotic mother/daughter team purchase close to a hundred book sale books which was great except for the intense way they asked us to not mix up the books. We get peculiar book buyers like that. For instance Freaky Deaky Dutch Guy who complains about how expensive our bookstore prices are and then starts up a conversation about how it should be okay for 14 year old girls to be having sex in public. Or the really rude used bookstore owner that resells our books at ten times the price. He makes a profit on our little bookstore would it kill him to be polite?
Bringing in the New Year in Uncertain Times
As the New Year progresses so does our frustration. We've lost yet more employees, this time one to marital bliss. She's moving to the Eastern Seaboard with her new husband. Another is being transfered to a new branch. What with the state budget cuts I doubt we will be able to replace them.
The Demented Miss D is displaying more dementia related behavior. She's been rude to other staff members claiming that they are out to "take her job". No amount of reassurance is effective. Miss D feels even more threatened by the appearance of Miss C another senior worker who's presence is another bone of contention among the staff. Miss C was hired by Mr. Useless and is paid by the department of aging. Miss C had an unsuccessful stint as a library volunteer. We warned Mr. Useless that she was not going to be a good fit with our organization and why. As a volunteer she was unable to do even the most simple tasks no matter how much time I spent teaching her how to shelve. It didn't make matters any easier when she miss represented herself in the interview claiming that the proposed schedule was acceptable and that she would have no physical limitations. Since she's started it's been more work for the rest of the staff as they have to fix mistakes she's made when we find them. I'm sure there's more to be fixed that we are not aware of. I shudder to think about it even now. So as our employee pool dwindles and our resources are stretched thin, our tempers and frustration rises.
We've also been informed that our library system will have a new head honcho. The former head honcho leaving under uncomfortable circumstances. The unsubstantiated rumours being that he was fired, which is unfortunate because in my estimation he was an effective leader. During his tenure no one was laid off, the system opened new branches and our hours remained constant...oh and we had a small book budget. So life is uncertain. Will the new head honcho start hiring or firing? Cutting the book budget, diminish operating hours and/or staff?
While all this speculation is going on it would help to have our Branch Manager actually at the helm. I don't think it would be so much of an issue if Mr. Useless actually showed up for work more than 2 - 4 hours a week. Our "Site Manager" a.k.a. Assistant Manager is on a well deserved vacation which leaves no margin of error where staffing is concerned. With only a limited number of staff you'd think he'd pitch in and help make up the difference with his presence at the Circulation or Reference Desks, but alas he is displaying his usual lack of well...everything. All this is pissing off the staff. We wonder what does he do all day? The Branch's reports? No that's done by the assistant branch manager. Manage the staff, scheduling, book processing? Nope, all done by others. His nicknames are getting to be more and more offensive and tempers are rising. I think it's the fact that there are strong indications that Mr. Useless is getting paid for a job he doesn't actually do is what makes it so hard for the staff to stay calm. There are times when we need our Branch Manager to make decisions only he can make and of course he's not here to make them. So we call the other branch he's supposed to be managing and find that he's not there either. So what does that mean? Mr. Useless has no oversight from what the staff can see. Administration doesn't check to see if he's at work. It's amazing and it's happened before. When staff members have called or reported his ineffectiveness as a manager we've been blown off. Part of the staff occupies the "at least he's the devil we know" camp, the other part of the staff just wants him gone and the assistant manager hired to be the manager. We don't often get what we want or need.
The Demented Miss D is displaying more dementia related behavior. She's been rude to other staff members claiming that they are out to "take her job". No amount of reassurance is effective. Miss D feels even more threatened by the appearance of Miss C another senior worker who's presence is another bone of contention among the staff. Miss C was hired by Mr. Useless and is paid by the department of aging. Miss C had an unsuccessful stint as a library volunteer. We warned Mr. Useless that she was not going to be a good fit with our organization and why. As a volunteer she was unable to do even the most simple tasks no matter how much time I spent teaching her how to shelve. It didn't make matters any easier when she miss represented herself in the interview claiming that the proposed schedule was acceptable and that she would have no physical limitations. Since she's started it's been more work for the rest of the staff as they have to fix mistakes she's made when we find them. I'm sure there's more to be fixed that we are not aware of. I shudder to think about it even now. So as our employee pool dwindles and our resources are stretched thin, our tempers and frustration rises.
We've also been informed that our library system will have a new head honcho. The former head honcho leaving under uncomfortable circumstances. The unsubstantiated rumours being that he was fired, which is unfortunate because in my estimation he was an effective leader. During his tenure no one was laid off, the system opened new branches and our hours remained constant...oh and we had a small book budget. So life is uncertain. Will the new head honcho start hiring or firing? Cutting the book budget, diminish operating hours and/or staff?
While all this speculation is going on it would help to have our Branch Manager actually at the helm. I don't think it would be so much of an issue if Mr. Useless actually showed up for work more than 2 - 4 hours a week. Our "Site Manager" a.k.a. Assistant Manager is on a well deserved vacation which leaves no margin of error where staffing is concerned. With only a limited number of staff you'd think he'd pitch in and help make up the difference with his presence at the Circulation or Reference Desks, but alas he is displaying his usual lack of well...everything. All this is pissing off the staff. We wonder what does he do all day? The Branch's reports? No that's done by the assistant branch manager. Manage the staff, scheduling, book processing? Nope, all done by others. His nicknames are getting to be more and more offensive and tempers are rising. I think it's the fact that there are strong indications that Mr. Useless is getting paid for a job he doesn't actually do is what makes it so hard for the staff to stay calm. There are times when we need our Branch Manager to make decisions only he can make and of course he's not here to make them. So we call the other branch he's supposed to be managing and find that he's not there either. So what does that mean? Mr. Useless has no oversight from what the staff can see. Administration doesn't check to see if he's at work. It's amazing and it's happened before. When staff members have called or reported his ineffectiveness as a manager we've been blown off. Part of the staff occupies the "at least he's the devil we know" camp, the other part of the staff just wants him gone and the assistant manager hired to be the manager. We don't often get what we want or need.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
To Beg or not To Beg...
A guy came in reeking of nicotine begging to use the computer. He did not have a library card or Id. I asked him to see the manager. He continued to beg. When I asked him to stop begging he ripped me a new one for calling him a beggar. Oops. I guess the truth hurts. Because the definition of to beg is: 1. to ask for money, or to ask someone to do something in an urgent way. That's what he was doing. I guess I should sugar coat it next time. I'm making friends and influencing people. Left and Right.
Invisible Signs and the Printer Blues
It never ceases to amaze me.
Due to budget cuts we aren't always able to get our laserjet printer cartridges in a timely manner. (We used to have one or two stored at the branch)
Yesterday, our printer ran out of ink.
Today we've posted several signs in bright lime green that state:
"No Printing Until Further Notice."
One sign on the post as you enter the library.
One at the reservation station.
One on the printer itself.
Still no one sees these signs and want to print and are extra pissed when they can't.
One girl would not take no for an answer, she in fact insisted that there should be a way we could print for her and why wouldn't we do it.
It took all I had not to pick up a pencil and scrap paper and say knock yourself out.
On a similar note our Reservation Receipt Printer ran out of paper. So I took it apart and went to get another roll of paper. The nice thing about the Reservation Station is that people can make reservations to use the computer and the Reservation Receipt Printer will print out a little receipt with the patrons library card number, computer number and time to use the computer. OK so sometimes I have to show them how to decipher the receipt but if they have multiple brain cells then it's pretty simple. So I return to find a guy trying to make a reservation and wondering why he didn't get his freakin' receipt. With the printer all taken apart in front of him. He had to move parts of it to make his reservation.
All I could do was stare.
I think I may live in a village of idiots.
Due to budget cuts we aren't always able to get our laserjet printer cartridges in a timely manner. (We used to have one or two stored at the branch)
Yesterday, our printer ran out of ink.
Today we've posted several signs in bright lime green that state:
"No Printing Until Further Notice."
One sign on the post as you enter the library.
One at the reservation station.
One on the printer itself.
Still no one sees these signs and want to print and are extra pissed when they can't.
One girl would not take no for an answer, she in fact insisted that there should be a way we could print for her and why wouldn't we do it.
It took all I had not to pick up a pencil and scrap paper and say knock yourself out.
On a similar note our Reservation Receipt Printer ran out of paper. So I took it apart and went to get another roll of paper. The nice thing about the Reservation Station is that people can make reservations to use the computer and the Reservation Receipt Printer will print out a little receipt with the patrons library card number, computer number and time to use the computer. OK so sometimes I have to show them how to decipher the receipt but if they have multiple brain cells then it's pretty simple. So I return to find a guy trying to make a reservation and wondering why he didn't get his freakin' receipt. With the printer all taken apart in front of him. He had to move parts of it to make his reservation.
All I could do was stare.
I think I may live in a village of idiots.
Blood from a....
This lady walks up to me and asks for a Phlebotomy Handbook. After checking the catalog I inform her that we only have Phlebotomy Exam Review books and she asks me "What's that?"
Crap. Crap. Crap.
....and this chick wants to work with needles?
Crap. Crap. Crap.
....and this chick wants to work with needles?
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Moose Has Landed
An older gentleman came in today with a slip of paper wanting to know if a specific phone number was still valid. After going through the gamut of reference questions where I must figure out what in heaven's name this guy actually wants. It becomes clear, kind of, sort of. This guy wants to contact a long lost friend in order to tell them of a family member's death. The actual interview takes 3x the usual amount of time but I finally figure it out.
My immediate unspoken response was..."Have you called the actual number?"
...I mean come on it's a phone number for God's sake. If you want to know if it's a valid number DIAL IT!
My actual spoken response..."Let's see what I can find out for you" ...Freakin' customer service brainwashing.
The Older Gentleman is uncertain of the spelling of the persons first name which was when I asked myself the question "Um...how close a friend where you if you don't know how to spell the person's first name?"
I am unable to locate the lost friend on the Internet and really don't want to continue this search because the guy has phone number and won't. call. it.
Finally he asks me to look up a relative of the person he's looking for. Okay, I'll humor him so ...whack! irony hits me on the side of the head with....oh yes, a hit. I found the relative on peoplefinder which lists the individuals last known cities of residence and known relatives.
I show the Older Gentleman my results and he starts asking me questions which have no context like...he must be the son, or a nephew and she must be his aunt. Right? Huh? Who? WTF.
I finally said "Sir I have no idea what you're talking about, I don't know these people or their relationship to each other. "
A lot of the websites for finding people just dangle a little bit of information in front of you so you'll pay the $14.95 a month for their services. Which might be worth it for some but not for me and well not for this guy either because even if he gets contact information like, say, a phone number he won't call it.
Finally I convinced the guy to try the actual number that he already had and if that didn't work out he could always call 411 (which he had to write down so he'd remember it, we are talking about the number for information...INFORMATION.) in each of the cities the long lost friends relative has lived in and see if there's anyone by the name of Moose listed. Yes the family he's looking for has MOOSE as a surname.
I almost asked if his last name was Ox as in dumb as an...
But that would be rude and against my customer service programming....
My immediate unspoken response was..."Have you called the actual number?"
...I mean come on it's a phone number for God's sake. If you want to know if it's a valid number DIAL IT!
My actual spoken response..."Let's see what I can find out for you" ...Freakin' customer service brainwashing.
The Older Gentleman is uncertain of the spelling of the persons first name which was when I asked myself the question "Um...how close a friend where you if you don't know how to spell the person's first name?"
I am unable to locate the lost friend on the Internet and really don't want to continue this search because the guy has phone number and won't. call. it.
Finally he asks me to look up a relative of the person he's looking for. Okay, I'll humor him so ...whack! irony hits me on the side of the head with....oh yes, a hit. I found the relative on peoplefinder which lists the individuals last known cities of residence and known relatives.
I show the Older Gentleman my results and he starts asking me questions which have no context like...he must be the son, or a nephew and she must be his aunt. Right? Huh? Who? WTF.
I finally said "Sir I have no idea what you're talking about, I don't know these people or their relationship to each other. "
A lot of the websites for finding people just dangle a little bit of information in front of you so you'll pay the $14.95 a month for their services. Which might be worth it for some but not for me and well not for this guy either because even if he gets contact information like, say, a phone number he won't call it.
Finally I convinced the guy to try the actual number that he already had and if that didn't work out he could always call 411 (which he had to write down so he'd remember it, we are talking about the number for information...INFORMATION.) in each of the cities the long lost friends relative has lived in and see if there's anyone by the name of Moose listed. Yes the family he's looking for has MOOSE as a surname.
I almost asked if his last name was Ox as in dumb as an...
But that would be rude and against my customer service programming....
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