I went to my local library this week - in search of books on cartoon drawing this time around. Now, before this new LRC (Learning Resource Centre) was built, our Library consisted of the downstairs being split into two very large rooms - children's and adults' libraries - and the upstairs was just a massive study area with all the references books (that you weren't allowed to check-out.) Several years ago, they decided to build a new building, so a certain percentage of the books were put into storage while the others were moved to a temporary library in the town shopping centre. This is where things went wrong in my opinion.
During this time I didn't use the library because there were hardly any books - most I wanted, it seemed, were in storage. Then the new building opened. It truly is a massive building - boasting a children's library downstairs, a gallery area and what they call the 'express library' section...which I just don't get to be honest (and not many people do.)
Then we have the upstairs, where the adult library; along with seminar rooms and the like scattered around the place. It seems nice enough - although, admittedly, we could do without the bright primary coloured benches and tables. This is where I come to my rant.
The non-fiction books that you can check out take forever for you to find what you're looking for and (I know I hadn't used the library for a long time) but seemed to have dwindled in number when compared to the old building - the same can be said for the fiction books...except that, they're a tad easier to find due to the icon-sticker on their spines. The references books (the ones you can't check out) used to be in a big room where you could browse them and photocopy them without asking - just as long as they stayed in the library. But no, not now. Now they sit in the middle of the large room, behind the librarians desk and you have to hope you get someone's attention and ask if they have what you're looking for...which is a pain, when you can't see the books or know exactly what you're looking for - hence the whole idea of browsing.
So, one irritation - Where have all the books gone? And why are they harder to get at?
Second irritation. The loudest people in the room were two librarians chatting. You could hear them over the other side of the room. What happened to the quiet librarians that told you to shh if you so much as squeaked over a certain decibel?
And lastly, the thing that irritated me - no. Infuriated and wound me up immensely - the most? The lack of organisation on the shelves. I was looking for drawing books and when I found the section, I expect it to be easy to browse and JUST be drawing books - not a whole row of knitting books on the wrong shelf!
I then decided to browse the fiction side of the library; I was looking for Wilbur Smith books for my mum to read. Now, why was there a Dean Koontz book in with the 'S's? And another Koontz book in 'M' and finally an actual Koontz book in 'K' but between two authors with surnames starting with 'Ka'. There was one Wilbur Smith book and then ten books along the shelf later, another Wilbur Smith book - the two books separated by some other lesser known 'Smiths'.
And this sets the benchmark for the entire library. The more I looked, the more I noticed. For example; there were two fantasy labelled books (with a little blue unicorn icon on their spines) in the horror section (defined by a maroon monster's head) - a section which is two book cases away.
Is this the standard of Libraries and Librarians now, or just that of my local library?
On that note, I'm entirely tempted to ask if they want a part-time worker to just sit and rearrange the shelves all day, because, I would happily do that all day long. I was very tempted to do it while there...but as I have no job, being paid to do something that comes natural to me would be a nice bonus.
