Library lament

I went back to the library in the role of a volunteer today, and things went well. I enjoyed hunting through the shelves for all the items requested by patrons at other libraries and managed to find all but three out of a lengthy list. I had a chance to chat briefly with some of the staff whom I had not seen for a while, which was also good. I plan to go in for an hour or so each Friday and for special events when they need extra help.

Two things make for the title of this blog: Library lament

1) Our library has comfortable chairs and is very user friendly. We don't insist on anything like absolute silence except in one area because it contains designated study rooms. There were a couple of elderly gentlemen back there talking very loudly, so much so that we could hear them at the other end of the building. When my duties took me near them, I mentioned that "we prefer" that people speak quietly there and pointed to the sign. They apologized and smiled and went back to talking as loudly as before. As one of them was leaving later, he stopped to apologize again and explain that he is hard of hearing. Since I am also hard of hearing in one ear, I sympathized with him. Then he remarked that there is no place for seniors to go to just sit and chat. There is a community room in the same building as the library, but it is only open for a few hours twice a week for a meal. And it has the comfort level of a school cafeteria from the late 1940s. He mentioned that lots of people wind up going to the bars to sit around, but that did not appeal to him. I made a couple of suggestions about places he might want to check out and we parted on good terms. But I was sad that he finds himself in this situation. We could do better. I know many towns and cities do.

2) Not long after this, an elderly gentleman came in to see if the tax forms were available yet. The library is one of the places where people have always been able to pick up state and federal forms. There are always problems getting all the forms in when people want them, but this year it turns out there is an added problem. The government has decided to provide only the basic 1040 forms and no instruction booklets. People are supposed to go online and print out the forms they need or fill them out online and submit them that way. Of course, this gentleman has no computer at home and has no idea how to use the ones available to him at the library free of charge. So the library staff is going to be overwhelmed by people trying desperately to find the proper forms and get them filled out. The man this morning said the government must want us all to pay H & R Block to do it. Could be. 

This is an ongoing problem with governmental "services" cutting back on services and throwing the burden onto taxpayers who are not well-equipped to deal with the internet. And it throws an additional burden on library staff who actually have full time jobs already trying to get everything else done that is part of a complex job description. I suspect much of the governmental motivation is to save money. I am not sure that it will, but I am sure that it is winning no friends out in the communities of this country.