Going to one's local public library should be a pleasant experience. Unfortunately, as is the case with any public setting, one's experience can be profoundly affected by the actions and behavior of random strangers. You could be in a movie theater, a coffee shop, or the post office and find similar entitled behavior from Karens, parents, and kids that has the potential to ruin your day. Let's take a moment to assess the myriad of ways in which the same phenomenon can occur in public libraries.…

In Gandolf we trust.

Some teachers have your back

This worker shared a day in the life of their job as a library assistant . Though it seems like a whimsical job, there's apparently much more to working in a library than meets the eye. This person writes that they had jobs at two different library branches. One of these jobs was a piece of cake, while the other was home to some rather haughty trustees. As u/localanimenerd shared in their malicious compliance story , they've realized that one trustee in particular seems to dislike them. The sto…

'Enter my boss, who, for a University educated manager of a university group, had the personality of a mid-19th Century mill owner', are OP's exact words when describing their boss, who really stepped on the wrong person's toes when he lashed out at OP when he saw him reading a newspaper at work. What characteristics does such a personality entail? Well, entitled, rude, and arrogant to start. If you'd like me to use some more descriptive words, I'm afraid I cannot… so your imagination must suff…

Bookish kids will always remember the day they got their library card. Perhaps it's because this is the first card you ever authenticate with a signature at the bottom, or perhaps it's because you had unlimited access to all the books in the world and finally had a friendly old lady who was willing to point you towards your next adventure. And everyone knows that friendly librarians are the ultimate pseudo-granny.

Kleptomaniacs come in many forms. Bank robbers, snatch-and-grabbers, check-out chocolate bar thieves, and public transit backpack rummagers are all some form of thieving-obsessed klepto. Although most klepto's dream of being a bank robber like in the movies, nobody has the stones or the brains to pull a job that big, so instead, they head over to their local library to get their thieving fix.

If you've ever worked in customer service, you know you have dealt with some dicey patrons. Not everyone has the guts to do what needs to be done with every customer confrontation and most folks lean on their one sassy manager who walks fast, talks loud, and shuts down every local Karen before they can get too ramped up. However, as a librarian, you can't necessarily strong-arm every bad patron with your big voice in the ‘Quiet Reading’ section.

Like, it's way blurrier.

It is a meaningful use of time.

Humor at a reasonable volume.

Thanks, Curbside Larry.

Bat was just trying to catch up on some light reading.