Comments on: Library Snitch Crushes Dreams

By: Why so much ignorance?

Why so much ignorance? — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:13:05 +0000

It is genuinely distressing to read so many ignorant comments from people about this situation. Is it a shame that this boy can’t go to this library? Yes. Does he have the ability to go to another one? Yes. Was the library acting correctly? Yes. This isn’t about one child using the library, it’s about state funding, taxes, and politics. It’s about our wonderful society that expects everything, but is unwilling to be held accountable for anything. The mother should be the one explaining to her child “I messed up, we were going to the wrong library.” instead of blaming everybody else. And as for the “snitch”, are you kidding me? Almost all of you honestly believe that they were out to ruin this kid’s love of reading? That makes sense. Especially because libraries are all the rage right now. Of course they should put their job in potential danger because of some kid with an irresponsible mother. I’m sure you all would also right? I’ll come to where you work and ask you to break some rules for me with your supervisor standing there. If they’re not there, I’ll be sure they find out. I’m sure you’ll be fine sticking your neck out for me right?
It’s just like politics, the majority of the nation form their opinions based on emotion and from a 30 second news clip they saw on tv, and they call that being educated. Please, lets do a little more research before we form opinions and start casting judgement because a poor child can’t go to this one library.

By: Jason W.

Jason W. — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:50:51 +0000

I saw this on Colbert and it just made me sad that some person has such low self-esteem that they had to get their jollies ruining the joy of reading for a seven year old child.

That person needs some serious psychological help if they behave in a manner like this. They obviously have the inability to reason or even have common decency.

By: Link

Link — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:28:49 +0000

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/239944/july-27-2009/nailed–em—library-crime

By: tx library type

tx library type — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:12:04 +0000

In locales with no county libraries or other regional umbrellas, residents in the suburbs are often left out of the library equation. In the mid-1990s I worked at the Austin Public Library and because of tax-funding issues, anyone who lived outside of very strictly (and often surprisingly) defined city tax limits, had to pay $48 and later $60 a year for a card. Obviously NOT something I enjoyed doing, particularly during summer reading program. Because I worked at a branch near the “border”, we had to daily inform 10+ patrons that they really didn’t live in “Austin.” There were no exceptions and we could be disciplined for fudging. That said, had I discovered the clerical error described in the above scenario, I would have let it slide, particularly if it wouldn’t come back to haunt any of my co-workers.

By: annabanana

annabanana — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:12:25 +0000

Saw this on the Colbert Report. You can’t blame the mother- she went to their local library- and the librarian gave her son the access to the Nazareth library by mistake. It’s not like this family went there knowing they were stealing services- the library gave them access and then took it away.

I don’t know what kind of person looks at a news photo of one kid and thinks it is a big enough problem to ban him from the library.

Funny enough, that library web page now has a banner pleading with patrons to appeal for more funding. That kid must have stolen a lot of books! But it’s hard to have sympathy for an institution with so little compassion for others. I’d help them myself, but I don’t live in that county, and I’m pretty sure that’s against the rules.

By: La-La

La-La — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:03:55 +0000

To Local Gal Who Knows, the Colbert Report aired the story tonight and that’s how I came upon this story.

Anywho….. I don’t get it. I must admit, I do not frequent the library now that I am out of school. But when I dug deep in my wallet I found that I have 2 library cards. One says Luzerne County Library System and the other says Lackawanna County Library System. They both have the Access Pennsylvania stickers on them. But I live in Lehigh County.

In my comfortable cloud of library ignorance, I thought you could live anywhere in PA and use any library in PA. Perhaps I can USE the library in Luzerne County but I can’t attend special programs there?

SARCASM ALERT:
Maybe we should all stop pointing fingers at “female employee” and blame the real culprit here: The Morning Call. If they hadn’t reported their facts straight, Mr. Colbert would have no librarians at which to poke-fun.

By: Local Gal Who Knows

Local Gal Who Knows — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:32:39 +0000

Point One. The town of Tatamy has refused to allocate funds for the library system, but instead wants a membership system in which the town will partially subsidize Tatamy residents who want to join as individuals. Kind of like paying to use the public golf course. That sounds reasonable, but if the idea catches on, we’ll say good-bye to a lot of libraries. We can’t survive on membership fees, any more than public schools could survive if only parents with children paid tuition.

Point Two.

When the mother went to Easton to obtain a library card, she told them she lived in Easton. The clerk should have checked at the time, but the mother should not have, hmmm, made a mistake about her own residence.

Point Three. The director was out of town when this incident happened. When she got back, the first thing she did was extend the kid’s card to the end of the year. That would have been the sane thing to do from the get-go, but sometimes circ staff are not empowered to anything but follow the rules to the letter.

Point Four. (Not a point, actually but a heads-up). The Colbert Report sent a crew out to film a story on this controversy. I imagine they’ll make the library look like the bad guys. Too bad. (And no, I’m not affiliated with the Nazareth or Easton Library – I’m from another state.

By: snnh2

snnh2 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:30:11 +0000

Please, Snarky Director, if cute waifs want to steal services, you have to let them.

Just make sure that ethnic kids keep it on the straight and low and play by all rules.

By: Snarky Director

Snarky Director — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:12:33 +0000

So, anyone can use any library for “free?”

Where do you think the money for the library comes from? It comes from property tax payers (in most places, and renters are included because property tax is figured in your rent). The problem is that most people — including many library staff — have no clue about where the money comes from!

Yes, it was a PR faux pas, but maybe the “taxpayer rights” folks will begin to understand that if you don’t pay, you may be denied service. And if taxes are capped, libraries will start reducing hours or services.

By: geeze

geeze — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:45:30 +0000

So a library employee notified another branch that they made an error. That employee did not remove the child from the program. The clerks must follow rules at all times to ensure that they follow policy to keep their jobs and function accordingly. Anyone who has worked as a clerk before becoming a librarian knows how difficult dealing with people wanting things that the library does not allow, gets old. Do it for one, do it for all. Would not a senior person, probably a librarian, be the one who removed the child? They could have let him finish and then transfer, but they didn’t,whoopty doo!