I went to the library on Sunday as I always do. I don’t have the time to spend browsing, much as I would like to, so what I usually do is put books on hold throughout the week on the library’s web site, then stop by, pick 'em up, I’m outta there. On this particular weekend, a *lot * of books were ready for me (about 30). And as the librarian is checking them out, she says, “I can see we need to think about putting a limit on holds. We just don’t have the manpower for this. And there’s no way you can read all these in time.” Well, I just passed it off at the time, but the more I thought about it later on, the more annoyed I got. For one thing, I wasn’t just standing there while she processed my stuff, I was taking the rubber bands off the stacks, removing the paper “hold” notices, packing the books as she scanned them, and I went to fetch an extra bag when the ones I had brought were not enough. I also recalled that she’d willingly spent quite a few minutes on the guy ahead of me, who was researching a single book. There’s no way I can read all these in time? Well, pardon me, but you don’t know that. If I took a few days off work I could. Maybe I just like to look at the pictures.:rolleyes: Besides, some of the stuff was obviously for my kids. Sometimes my holds aren’t available for weeks or months, it just so happens that this time they all showed up at once. I don’t have a history of overdue books either.
So what do y’all think? Am I using my librarians too hard?
As a librarian, I think what you’re doing is great! I’m always trying to educate the patrons so they know our catalog is available online 24/7 and they can request materials online and have them sent to whichever library in the system is most convenient for them. If that happens to be our library, our circulation statistics go up and we can request additional funding.
It seems that some librarians/library workers seem to lose sight of the fact that we are a service industry and our primary function is to give the patrons what they’re asking for. And as a patron, I get really tired of librarians/library workers who think they know what I want/need better than I do. They are there to provide a service, not make arbitrary judgement calls. The next time you’re in the library, you might want to check and see if there’s any policy on limiting the number of holds a patron can place and ask the circulation supervisor or the library director why your ability to place holds would be restricted. This sounds more like a pissy circ clerk than an actual policy to me–you’re right to be annoyed.
I was just saying to someone today that I’ve never met a person who uses a library moderately - either they never use it, or they use it obsessively. I may be wrong, of course! 
Seriously, speaking as the girl who holds the record for most books borrowed out of her school library (sixty books ahead of the closest competition) in its four-hundred-year history, I can’t honestly say you’re doing anything out of line. If, as you say, it was a fluke that all your books arrived this week, then I would say your librarian was just having a bad day.
Libraries are cool.
I don’t think I’ve ever had 30 books come in at once, but I am considered a power user at my library. And none of the librarians helping me have ever commented on taking out “too many” books. I think you’re using the library perfectly reasonably.
In fact, I’d complain to that librarian’s supervisor. Don’t ask for her to get fired or anything, but it’s really none of her business why you’re getting so many books. You’re not obligated to read everything you check out from cover to cover.
The only thing I could imagine borderline inappropriate would be if you were taking out so many books as to empty an entire subject area. In which case, it might be politer to other patrons to scan thru the books and pick some, and plan to take the rest out later.
Our library calls us when holds are in, which would impose some little burden upon the librarians. It sounds as tho yours just pile up behind the counter for a set period.
IME, our librarians are very happy to see their facilities used as much as possible, and are eager to do just about anything to encourage that. I’m not for a moment suggesting that librarians are underworked, but I mean, the librarian was there behind the desk. What the hell else was she going to be doing other than client service? How did your actions waste library resources or inconvenience other patrons? I don’t see it.
Your post reminded me that I should get more in the habit of using our on-line catalog…
Your library is open on Sunday?!
My teeny tiny laibrary restriceted you to three books per non-fiction subject, (Ie three animal books, three math books, etc) but I often checked out 15+ books at a time, and the only people to complain were my parents. My librarians loved me and would order books for me before I knew they were out.
Well, I feel reassured. I let it go at the time as an annoying comment from someone who didn’t really have the ability to do any such thing. I won’t call back and make a fuss, but next time the subject comes up, I’ll be ready.
I guess it is a pain in the ass for someone to have to go collect all my choices off the shelves, on the other hand, it’s their job. We get notified of availability by e-mail, which is probably also a pain. If there was an option not to be notified, I’d take it, since I’ll be there every Sunday afternoon anyway.
The email thing shouldn’t be a pain at all–any library with an automated system should have that functionality built into the system. You make the request online and the owning library gets it automatically, finds the book and sends it to your library. When your library gets it and checks it in their, they know who it’s for and an automated response is sent to you. Some libraries have an automated phone message with an autodialer–not many, though, because the voice sounds like a junk call so lots of people hang up on it before they even realize who it is.
Dung Beetle, you sound like a great library user and if you were in RI I’d invite you to use my library–we’re very friendly
Thanks, laura, I’d love to come!
I’m appalled at her comments. She has no business saying things like that or making judgments like how fast you can read x number of books, which is none of her business. If she thinks there should be a limit on holds per person, she should suggest a change to her boss, not to you.
I put a lot of books on hold, but all of them are popular books with lots of holds or books from other branches. Sometimes I feel self-conscious, like they are thinking “that’s the guy who puts all those *@(@#ing books on hold”, but if they ever said something like that to me I’d chew them out for a breech of professionalism.
If it’s on the shelves on the library, I get it myself and don’t use the hold service to save me a small amount of time. Of course, once I went to pick up a book that I had checked was there and it was gone when I got to the library 