8 posts tagged “etiquette/manners”

Once again, I have put aside enough posts on the topic of bad bosses to make a post about it. These are mostly food for thought. I am sure someone could write some substantial post on bad bosses as they related to libraries and library administration, but I personally don't feel like doing it at the moment. A common theme in some of these posts seems to be what can we learn from those bad bosses.

• Lifehacker asks "How Do You Deal with a Bad Boss?" It is an invitation to their readers to comment, but it is also discussing a bit about entitled Working for You Isn't Working for Me. The book may be something to consider reading at some point. A key point here is knowing what it is about your boss that irks or bothers you, then find a way to cope, or as I say, decompress after work. 
• The Effing Librarian tells us to "Prepare for the Scottish Librarian Invasion." It deals with a story of certain library administrators basically deprofessionalizing their staff and a few other boneheaded things administrators tend to do that demoralize their workers. A must read. Effing Librarian also has a short one on why he is a bad librarian. This was one I could identify with, and it has been something I have been wanting to write about. Maybe it goes back the idea I have seen in some circles where, if a librarian expresses little to no interest in a "leadership" position (read: management) due to having bad experiences with management, then he must have a bad attitude. I have pondered a bit of that before, but not sure what else to do with it.
  
• Bob Sutton, one of my favorites on this topic, asks "Do You Learn More From Working for a Bad Boss than a Good Boss?" He is making the point that bad bosses force you to learn about situations and yourself. After all, when the boss is good and all is well, you are not really as reflective. This may be worth some thought. Mr. Sutton also raises a very good question, which I think would make a nice writing prompt for me one of these days: "What is the most important thing you ever learned NOT TO DO from working for a bad boss?"
  
• I saved this piece not so much for anything deep but because it has a draft memo for when you have to convince your boss to let you go to a conference. (via The Liminal Librarian). Then again, if you have to convince your boss why your professional development is important, how it will better serve the organization, and how it is an investment in you as an asset to the organization, then you may have bigger problems.

And for the random reader who may be interested, here are Part 1 and Part 2 of this rambling series.
 

Being employed means that I work for somebody. Notice I did not say "self-employed." I read someplace that the definition of work is having to do something you would rather not do in some place you would rather not be in the company of people you would rather not be with. Now my current work situation is not that extreme, but as I tell people who ask, some days are better than others. I have recently read a few more items dealing with issues of workplace and management, so I wanted to make some notes here with a bit of quick commentary.

The links:

• Bob Sutton has a great post on "You Better Start Treating Your People Right, or the Best Will Be Leaving Soon." I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Sutton's idea that you have to treat your workers right. It seems horror stories of how corporations treat their workers like cannon fodder abound. The library world is no exception. Just take a peek at the library mofo blog, and you will find a parade of stories of bosses who treat their workers like dirt. Sutton makes a great point, which I would like to quote for my rare reader here: "But if you have treated people like dirt during the tough times (for a horror story, see here), have been inept about how you have implemented tough decisions (see here) or have simply been clueless about your people's perspective during these tough times (see here), you may have been able to keep great people working for you during these tough times and to hire some of the best. You can be sure, however, that they have told their friends about how much your company or you suck.  They are waiting for things to get better, and perhaps encouraged by the signs the labor market is coming back, are probably doing their jobs extra well these days to enhance their reputation for that coming job search.  So you may be fooling yourself into believing all is well when it is not." That last part is something that I can certainly see: your good workers may be just be doing extra well now so you, the boss, can give them a good reference when their time comes to go into the job market. Sure, the economy may be tight, and you can't give raises or financial incentives, but even if you were able to give money, money is not everything if you are treating your employees in a poor manner. Mr. Sutton's post is something every manager, including library administrators, need to read.
  
• There will be times when you could get blamed for something your colleague did. So, here are some things to do "when a colleague's mistakes affect you." Sometimes you may need to help out, but other times you may have to confront, and always remember to protect yourself. This was an old lesson I learned when I first became a public school teacher: document everything, and cover your ass. In essence, no one is going to protect you, so you have to protect yourself. You don't need to brag, but you do need to make your contributions known and clear to the organization. That reality has not changed. (h/t to Lifehacker.) 
• There may also be times when you will be in charge of a team. Or you may have just moved into management. Here is "Motivating Your Team--What to Do (and What to Avoid)." (via Dumb Little Man). 
• When you have a day off, it means a day off. It does not mean you check your e-mail or call the workplace. It is your day, take it off. Period. If you need a reminder of how to take a day off or what to do, here is "How to Really Take a Day Off From the Madness of Life." This is a reminder to take some "me time" now and then. I will admit that I am not as good about taking time off as I should, but when I do, I do unplug completely from work. And when I leave the library at the end of the day, the library stays behind. After all, I do need to keep my sanity. (via Dumb Little Man). 
• Here is more advice to workers: "How to Make Yourself Indispensable at Work." I think that some of the advice in that post is common sense. Unfortunately, for some people, you do have to tell them basic things like minding their manners and acting in a civil manner towards others. The first item on the list is very important: do your job and do it well. Personally, I think that is basically the goal in my life. Thus I hate the classic interview question of "where do you see yourself five years from now?" or some similar question. My answer, the honest answer, is that I want to do be doing my job and doing it well. And before anyone questions me about saying it is my "honest answer," take an honest look at the job interview process. You know both sides will use little white lies now and then during the process. At least, for that question, I tend to be honest because if I get negative feedback on it (namely, I did not lie to them and tell them I want to be a manager or other), I probably don't want to work for them. By the way, I think reading this post goes along nicely with Sutton's post above. (via Dumb Little Man; man, they do put out some good stuff, huh?). 
• Here is another one from Bob Sutton. He is pointing to a Forbes magazine column on getting rid of jackass clients. Up front, I will say that this is not always an option in librarianship. Whether you are in a public library that has to let everyone in (and it usually takes some extreme incident before some jackass gets banned) or an academic library where either some students or certain faculty can display jackass behavior (and you can't really ban them unless the behavior is so egregious it borders on dangerous), you will have to keep a good face and march ahead. This is probably why I will never be a library administrator or manager. I have no tolerance for jackasses or assholes. If I run the library, and you behave like a jackass, you are gone, even if it means I have to call the cops to get you out. Life is too short to deal with jackasses, as Shaun Rein, author of the Forbes piece, points out. Jackasses do damage to your organization. This is very applicable to libraries. If your library develops a reputation of being the place where rude people hang out, where disruptive and loud people are regularly present, and so on, rest assured your best clients will take their business elsewhere. Stop coddling misbehavior in the name of being welcoming or open to all.
  
• I have not had the chance to watch this yet. Dan Pink on "Overcoming the 'Candle Problem' and Rethinking Motivation." (via Lifehacker). 
• And more advice for workers: "9 Qualities That Will Rock Your Career." (via Dumb Little Man). There is some very good advice here on traits that good workers should possess and cultivate.
  
• And as if things were not bad enough, it can be harder to get hired during a recession (but not due to the reasons you may think). The post, via Crooks and Liars, discusses a Wall Street Journal article that says "Only the Employed Need Apply, Companies Say." This caught my eye because some of what is discussed is pretty rampant in the librarian profession. When it comes to hiring, especially as of late, libraries will prefer the most experience possible (even if the job is actually advertised as entry level), and in particular, a lot of libraries will try to cram two or even three job descriptions into one job. As Susie Madrak, writing for Crooks and Liars, says, "the other annoying thing that happens during a recession is that employers start demanding all sorts of unrelated skill sets in one person (figuring they'll get them to do two jobs for the price of one)." Just take a look at some of the library job postings out there. When you see something like desire for cataloger who is fluent in Persian and Farsi, can do library instruction, and supervise student workers, you know they either have an internal candidate already lined up (but they have to advertise the job anyways due to some bureaucratic rule), or they are trying to get one candidate to do three different jobs. In such a case, I think Madrak's advice is good, even if you think turning down the job in this economy is a bad idea: "I'd advise you against taking a job like that even if it's offered - no matter how bad the economy is, it's not worth the heart attack you'll probably get." Or, don't take a library job that sucks, to borrow the term coined by the Annoyed Librarian. 
• A couple more tips from Bob Sutton. First, he points to a cool quiz on "Does Your Work Matter to You?" (link to the quiz itself). Second, he points to the blog Unemploymentality blog. I have to take another look at that blog, maybe add it to my feed reader. 
• From the Anecdote blog, here is "Building a Collaborative Workplace with Stories." It is a presentation you have to view online. 
• The folks from Anecdote also remind us that "Saying Thanks is Important for Collaboration." I say that saying thank you any time it is needed should be a given.
  
• Bob Sutton also has some thoughts on business language that makes him squirm. It makes me squirm too, and the sad thing is I am seeing a lot of that language sneaking up in librarianship. In some cases, it is no longer sneaking up; it is becoming part of the landscape, and no, it is not a good thing. This reminds me a book I read a while ago, that I need to look over again: The Dictionary of Corporate Bullshit by Lois Beckwith. 

(Crossposted from my professional blog, The Gypsy Librarian).

I bet my four readers at The Gypsy Librarian were expecting the next installment in my small series on blogging mistakes and library blogs (first installment here). I am taking a break today to highlight a very important issue as well as let my four readers know about some of the good work going on in my campus. Ok, this is kind of to let people know where I was last night too. The series will resume next Friday.

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October domestic violence purple_ribbon

 

October has a few observances associated with it. One of those observances is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (link to President Obama's proclamation). Last night I attended a candlelight vigil held on our campus to recognize the issue of domestic violence and to educate people. The event took place at 7:00pm last night in the fourth floor meeting room of the library. They were going to do it outdoors, but the weather did not cooperate. Nevertheless the event was successful, and from a quick glance, I think we had about 50 people or so. We did get some representatives from our campus police, a very strong Greek presence (ladies and gents), and some students. I was the only representative of the library present. The room's lights were down, and the room was lit with candles. At the entrance, there was a display with educational materials.

The event started with an opening statement by Ms. Samantha Dwight, who among her many hats has done work for the Campus Assault Response Effort (CARE) and is an educator/facilitator/presenter extraordinaire on this and other gender issues. She does a bit of everything, so if she reads this I apologize in advance if I can't quite "put her in a slot." At any rate, she read a statement, including a recognition of the important role that law enforcement officers have in domestic violence prevention. Those men and women in uniform when they get a call never know what they may be walking into. So our thanks go to them.

Next, the ladies of Alpha Chi Omega took the stage and did a dramatic reading. Members of the sorority took turns reading statistics and facts related to domestic violence in the nation. This had a moving effect on the crowd, and we learned a thing or two in the process. The last member on stage sang a song.

The activity would come to an end as a prayer was said for the victims as well as those involved in caring for them as well as for us all. And silently the event closed.

Whenever possible, I think it is important for me to attend events like this. In my role as outreach librarian, this is another way for me to reach out to our campus community, another way for the library to say present and that we support the cause. Personally, I just think this is important and needs to be supported. We have a long way to go in educating people, and events like this are a way to do it.

I would like to wrap this up by offering some links and resources that I hope people will find useful. Please, if you happen to be a victim, or you know someone who is, know that there is help out there. Some of the links will include phone numbers and contacts. On our campus here, the folks at C.A.R.E. are one such resource. Need more information, and you are local, you can contact them, or you can contact me, and I will refer you to the right place or find you the information you may need.

The resources then:

• The Domestic Violence Awareness Project. These are the folks who promote and maintain activities for the observance, which started as an awareness "Day of Unity" back in October of 1981. The Project is coordinated by the National Center on Domestic Violence. You can learn about campaigns, find educational materials, and get links, and phone numbers if you need help. Of course, if you are in imminent danger, dial 911.
  
• The National Coalition on Against Domestic Violence. Among the things this organization does, "the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), in conjunction with Ms. Magazine, started the Remember My Name project in 1994 to create a national registry of names of those who have lost their lives to domestic violence. Since then, NCADV has continued to collect information on incidents of people who have been killed by an intimate partner and produces a poster each year for Domestic Violence Awareness Month listing the names of those submitted to the project. To date, over 7,753 people have been memorialized through the project." Names are added daily to the list, which you can view on the website.
  
• The U.S. Department of Justice has an Office on Violence Against Women. In addition to listing national hotlines, the site contains a lot of good information, including statistics.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a handbook on domestic violence awareness. This seems geared to employers so they can be supportive in the workplace. Provides some good information.
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline. The number is 1−800−799−SAFE (7233) or TTY 1−800−787−3224. Their contact form can also be used to get assistance if you prefer, though they encourage calling more. You can also find some information on the site.
  
• The National Youth Violence Prevention Center also has resources related to the observance here. Yes, it is not just spouses or significant others; children and youths in families where an abusive situation exists suffer too.
• The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) is also a good resource.
• In Texas, the Attorney General has some resources here. A bit more geared to sexual assault, but still good information.
• There is also a Texas Council on Family Violence.
• Locally, you have the good folks of the East Texas Crisis Center. If you need help locally, this is a place to go.
  

This small list is certainly not comprehensive. I have tried to put out some resources that I have looked over and seem to provide good information. Readers are invited to comment, respond, and if they have other suggestions for links, add in the comments as well.

And yes, I tagged the post under "celebrations and holidays." It is not because I think domestic violence is to be celebrated; it is not. But this is also about a monthly observance, which is what I use the tag for. Just to be clear.

A couple of things have been buzzing in my mind lately. One issues about bad bosses. The other a recent post I read that librarians who do not want to be managers, let alone appreciate bad ones, and complain about it somehow have a "bad attitude." I have been wanting to reply to that for a while, but as usual, time has been tight. But I hope to get to it eventually. Bottom line: I happen to be one of those librarians, and if it's a problem to you up in your ivory tower, tough.

In the meantime, these are a few things I have been reading and picking up on my feed reader. I hope I can draw on some of this to write something more thoughtful later.

• From the blog Dumb Little Man, here is "How to be a great boss." The third item on his list, "delegate--then stay hands off" is one of my favorites. Nothing annoys me more than a boss who thinks they are "helping" with "suggestions" after they assign you a task. Tell me what you want, then stay the hell out of my way. When I am done, I will let you know. Micromanaging is not going to get it done any faster unless you want to do it yourself.
• This is not so much about bad bosses, but it is something for bosses to consider nonetheless. From Mashable, "Friending your employees: What are the rules?" The rules are pretty basic. I think overall, the best answer may well be no. And if you are an employee, and your boss asks to friend you, you may want to decline. At any rate, people should know by now to be careful what they post online given the potential someone you don't want to see it may see it anyways.
  
• I keep finding over time that a lot of bosses simply do not know how to manage a meeting. This is something that interests me, maybe because I have been victimized by one bad meeting too many. I could tell you all sorts of horror stories, and they usually due to some manager who just does not know how to control or run a meeting. From Dumb Little Man, here is "How to get more from Live Meetings." 
• Lifehacker has an interesting post on "Why the manager's schedule blows creative productivity." I have had bosses guilty of this: have no understanding of what us creative types do and the kind of time we need to do it in. For instance, "when managers schedule makers into midday meetings, they kill creative productivity in real but not-obvious ways." I know at least one manager who does this consistently. It's a miracle I get anything done.
  
• Bob Sutton speaks a bit more on "You know your boss is a certified asshole when. . . ." He is expanding a bit on the issue of asshole bosses and collateral damage that he wrote about previously. Sutton also highlights an article he had published in Harvard Business Review (June 2009) on "How to be a good boss in a bad economy." I have to look it up sometime and have a look.
  
• Via Copyblogger, here are "7 types of people everyone wishes would just shut the **** up." I include this here to go with the post about meetings noted above. This is because you often see these asshats during meetings, and they tend to be people that the boss fails to control or manage. And speaking of certain people, Sutton discusses the "Sir, we don't actually do what we propose. We just propose it" syndrome. And I know just that type of person.
  
• Bob Sutton recommends a book called I Hate People. The post is here. I have added it to my TBR list. Not just about bad bosses but also about those not so nice coworkers.
  
• This sounds like some meetings I have attended. For bosses, maybe decision by committee, or trying to please everyone to get the precious consensus, is not the best way to go. Here is "what would happen if the Stop sign was invented in 2008" via Public Sector Marketing 2.0 blog. 

I have an interest in leadership as a subject. I also have an interest in topics about bosses and managers, in large part because I am "managed" by others, so to speak. I am not my own boss. I always make the distinction between management and leadership. Leaders can be managers, but not all managers can be leaders. In fact, a lot of managers are lousy both at managing and in leadership.

These are some items I have come across recently in relation to bosses that have caught my eye:

From Bob Sutton's blog:

• Sutton comments on a post by Scott Berkun that discusses "Top ten reasons managers become assholes."
  
• Sutton asks "Do  you end meetings on time?" Another big peeve of mine. It is not just bosses who do not know  how to allot time efficiently for meetings, but bosses that simply do not know how to run a meeting at all. The second item on the post's list--boss not dealing with blabbermouths-- is something I encounter continuously. Sometimes, you have to have the guts to tell some self-important blabbermouth to shut the fuck up. If you are the boss, that is your job. Do it.
  
• Sutton gives an interview on the topic of "Good boss, bad times."
  
• "The effects of asshole bosses on victim's families, friends and partners." Sutton looks at the collateral damage that an asshole boss can have on those close to the victim. When the victim brings the pain and effects of an asshole boss home, it throws the rest of the household into turmoil. Your relationship with your spouse can suffer, and so on. This is something worth thinking about, and yet it is not often considered.
  
• "How to avoid being a nasty, clueless, and idiotic boss during the downturn." He cites advice telling bosses to really listen. This often has been the case in my experience where a boss pretends to listen, but you already know that they will pretty much do whatever they want anyways. In other words, the boss's mind is already made up before they even asked for your view or opinion. It is basically an exercise in futility and pretense, and personally, I do find it a lack of respect on the part of the boss when they do that. 

From Inside Higher Ed:

• Dean Dad looks at "When the Boss is Awful." I think at times the dean does defend bosses a bit much. In my opinion, there are times when a boss is an asshat pure and simple. No amount of searching for a "reasonable explanation" will do in such cases. And such assholes, to use Sutton's term, should not be tolerated in academia or elsewhere. 

From CIO:

• "How to deal with jerks at work." They are interviewing Bob Sutton about his book, The No Asshole Rule. When it comes to the book, it should be required reading as far as I am concerned; see my review of the book here. As for this particular interview, there are some gems worth reviewing, and not just for bosses.
  

I often describe myself as someone with a "live and let live" attitude. If there is something I can't tolerate it is oppressive and pushy people who think their rights, and only their rights and views, are the only valid ones and are more than happy to trample on everybody else. I am looking at a lot of you religious fundamentalist nuts out there and their enabling brethren for example. I honestly do not care what it is you practice or preach as long as you keep it to yourself and don't try to convert me, or worse, to give up my rights and freedoms because your big fairy in the sky tells you to. Guess what? I don't have a big fairy in the sky telling me to do it, so please, keep it to yourself. I will be happy to mind my own business in the meantime. Is it really that hard to respect the rights of others and get others to respect mine? I don't have all the answers, but J.D. Tucille considers it in his post on "you respect my rights and I will respect yours." From the post:

"It comes down to the same thing: When liberty is under attack, everybody is at risk. But that's not what the politicians and inspectors and tax collectors and police officers say, of course. No, they're all too happy to tell you that the queers next door are a threat to your way of life, or that the gun nuts are a public danger, or that the tax dodgers are greedy and not doing their fair share, or the store keepers are running amuck without entangling red tape, or that the pot heads are lazy parasites who will corrupt your kids.

But once the politicians and inspectors and tax collectors and police officers are done with the queers, they'll happily shift their sights to the gun nuts, then to the tax dodgers, the store keepers, and then the pot heads, and ...

Where were you planning to hide? Forget about it. Because you're some kind of menace, too, and you'll be fresh out of allies if you don't realize that the freedom of people you don't care very much about is just as important as your own."

This is what a lot of people do not get, and it is the reason that I believe quite firmly in defending the rights of others. Because in the long run, if you do not, when the oppressors come after me, there will be no one left to help defend me. In a way, it is a matter of self-interest to me. You help me out, and I will help you out. And I may not agree with a lot of stuff, but I do agree with their right to express it (again, as long as you are not trying to impose it on me, go wild). At one point, my father and I were talking, and he wondered out loud how come his boys turned away from the religion they were raised with. For the record, I was raised Roman Catholic, and I am no longer practicing. In fact, I am happily going along as a spiritual but not religious person. He was fairly mellow, saying he was not going to ask me why, that it was my thing, but it made me think. And at the end of the day, this is certainly one of the issues that convinced me to get away from religion and seek my own path: that more often than not religion is more interested in suppressing the rights of others in order to carry out whatever their agenda is; in extreme cases, they do things like what the Catholic Church recently did in Brazil in relation to a young 9 year old girl getting raped. Pharyngula has been following the story, and I have to say, it is definitely a fine illustration of what I have been saying. What they don't get is that they will be a threat to someone as well down the road, and then who will they be allied with when the oppressors come around for them?

Just one of the things I keep in mind now and then. 

Oh, and by the way, that Examiner site where the article comes from looks interesting. I may have to take a look around.

Recently, I have been reading a few posts on the demise of libraries as a place of intellectual pursuit. Public libraries and their rush to become arcades and entertainment centers seem to be largest culprits, but there are some academic libraries who would love to embrace that model as well. Questioning such ideas is likely to get you labeled as someone who "does not get it" or as a snob. Well, if wanting some intellectual rigor, if wanting libraries to actually meet their educational missions, if wanting some peace and quiet to get some actual reading done, if that makes me a snob, then I guess you can throw the label at me. Because at the end of the day, I don't believe that the individual who comes to a library seeking some peace and quiet to get some studying or reading done should have to suffer because certain librarians want to turn a library into a playground in order to be seen as cool and relevant.

As I mentioned, I am not the only one saying this. Here are some things I have seen recently on the topic:

• Peg Tittle writes on "Libraries: What are they and so what?" Contrary to what some 2.0 evangelists may say, I don't think what Tittle asks is totally unreasonable. Here's a highlight: "And in any case, given that libraries are repositories of knowledge that one either peruses to borrow or accesses on site – both of which often require mental effort, requiring concentration, which is inhibited by the distraction of talking aloud – both the kid's running commentary and the cellphone conversation should not have occurred." Of course, suggest restricting cellphone use, and the 2.0 evangelists will right away boo at you. In fact, certain bloggers make it a common habit to complain about signs in libraries that restrict cellphone use. Now, personally, I am not saying you should be without your cellphone, but if you have to talk into it, take it outside where you are not disrupting everyone else. And for the love of the powers that be, do supervise your children. Whatever happened to civility and parents who actually had a sense of shame when their children misbehaved in public? Back in my day, I misbehaved in public, my parents would be ashamed, not to mention they would "deal with me" the minute we got back home. That was all it took, the threat of "wait 'til we get home," to get me to behave. I guess these days people simply breed and have no clue how to be parents. A hat tip to LISNews, where if you look at the comments, you get an illustration of my point about what happens when you question. Some anonymous person there said Ms. Tittle "sounds like she's pretty out of touch with what public libraries these days look (and sound) like." Does it occur to anyone that maybe some of those sounds might be problematic? Probably not. After all, they are getting more people in the door.
  
• Then there is this article by Jacqueline Wayment on commercialism and libraries which looks at the trend of putting cafes in libraries, particularly Starbucks-branded ones. She is writing a general piece on how commercialism seems to be more rampant on college campuses. However, there is food for thought in the idea of actually putting a Starbucks inside a campus library. This is how she closes the piece: "'As many have noted, a university should value different things than the market: openness, not ownership; cooperative scholarship, not self-seeking competition; knowledge, not entrepreneurial success; and challenging students as learners, not simply satisfying them as consumers,' Dr. Stephen Bocking, Professor of Environmental and Resource Studies at Trent University." Maybe something to think about. A hat tip to Library Stuff.
  
• And then, there are those who for some reason don't understand the concept that you are borrowing items from a library, and then whine when they have to pay a fine. Get it straight: you borrowed the items, and therefore, you are responsible to return them. If you can't be bothered to be responsible enough, maybe you should forgo borrowing the items in the first place. Otherwise, pay your fine and shut up about it. By the way, I am not the first to express this. Gail Kerr does so in a piece about library fines for The Tennessean. She points out how her local library actually makes it easy for people to return the items they borrow on time or to renew them if need be. Here is the concept, see if you can figure it out: "The library system isn't someone's personal video store. If you want that, sign up for one of the online movie-delivery services. The public library system has a limited number of DVDs compared to books. They want you to check one out, enjoy it, and then bring it back so somebody else can do the same." You know, the whole common good thing? That is what your taxes help pay for, in case you are planning on claiming that line. It is not just your taxes. It's everyone else's too, and they want to borrow those DVDs as well. So, stop being a deadbeat and act decently for a change. The rules apply to everybody. Another hat tip to LISNews.
  
• The noise concerns also affect academia. I can certainly attest to that given I work in academia. Steven Bell points to a student piece on the subject, and he adds his remarks. I have to disagree with Mr. Bell when he says there is a need to satisfy everyone. An academic library is first and foremost there to support the academic mission of the institution. It is there to provide support for student scholarship and studying. If it can also provide various fun activities that enhance the student experience, then that is fine. But one should not forget the primary mission because of a desire to make the library into a game room. If you are planning on more games, you better be providing serious and substantial support to those who come to the library looking for that quiet spot. If you can't, then put it off until you can. You are not there to provide a playground; you are there to support students' scholarly needs. As Professor Bells suggests, I would not want to play noise cop either. However, if there are rules about noise and behavior, I am certainly not about to abdicate my duty to tell those disrupting to either quiet down or leave. As the student in that piece wrote: "Bottom Line: It would be great if other people would more considerate and respectful for others and for the library/learning environment." It would be, but in the meantime, librarians and library staff should behave as the authority figures they are. It's just common sense. You can't really satisfy everyone. You aim for that, but in reality, you can't accomplish that. It's not realistic.
  

The thing that makes me think about all this is that I am a believer in libraries as places where communities can come together. In academia, a library should be a good place for students to gather and study as well as socialize. It should not mean the library needs to become another Starbucks franchisee or an annex to the student center. There are ways to have some balance, and they are not impossible. In planning, provide for the community spaces but also provide for the quiet areas that many students will need. Sure, many will come in to socialize in the common areas, but sooner or later, when that final exam rears its ugly head, they are going to really appreciate finding a nice quiet area free of distractions. At the end of the day, it's a matter of focusing on the library's mission, especially for those in academia.

While at work, some cameraman came into the library and began filming. Usually, we ask that people coming to film at least ask the director for permission. It is finals week here, so we do try to minimize the disruption. When one of our librarians peeked out of the reference office, since the not so nice cameraman was almost leaning on our door, to ask what he was doing, the man replied in what can only be described as a rude tone, "I am just doing my job. I am here following [a local student who is actually a well known boxer]." The rude and unprofessional tone for asking a simple question, which by the way my colleague asked in a friendly cheery way, is simply not excusable. So, to the man from the local Houston Channel 11 News (I believe their call letters are KHOU, and no, I am not giving them the link), how about you learn some manners? Such attitude is simply shameful and reflects poorly on you and your employer. I mean, are you an example of the type of people Channel 11 employs? I would hope not.