[Publib] RE: Thoughts on a Music Lab

[Theyer, Hillary]

In Torrance we are a City library system, surrounded by libraries from LA City, LA County, Palos Verdes Library District, Redondo Beach City, El Segundo City, Long Beach City, etc.  We participate in universal borrowing so you can have cards from all these systems with any California address and we have many people who use more than one library system (I have seven cards myself).

So we often get told how all our neighbors offer better stuff than us, how X library always lets people do X, their fines are lower, their policies are better, they have better books, they have more computers, nicer librarians, etc.

All of this without knowing we actually routinely talk to our neighboring systems, keep track of how our policies are in line with the area, have meetings, read each other's web pages, and in general we know what our neighbors have that we don't, and vice versa.  We also hear from our neighbors that the same thing happens to them, when they are told WE are better.  We call each other to confirm facts.  We also have no problem referring people to each other if a neighbor can offer something we can't - like a larger selection, something rare, a service we don't offer etc.

So, what do you say when a patron wants to tell you how deficient you are, but they use a fact that you KNOW not to be true, like "at the other library they don't charge overdue fines to seniors!" (I heard that one last week)

Do you say "Ummm, actually they do." Or just leave it alone?

Hillary Theyer
Torrance PL (CA)


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Message: 17
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 11:03:07 -0400
From: "Dusty Gres" <gresd at ohoopeelibrary.org>
Subject: RE: [Publib] Thoughts on a Music Lab
To: <publib at webjunction.org>
Message-ID: <000601c8f643$347a9670$140ba8c0 at Director>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me that they had "X" in their
library (in another city/state/country) and had NEVER, EVER heard of a
library in the world that didn't have "X" -- well, I could afford to have
all the "X's"....

Just in the last two weeks I have been informed that:
1. Libraries in New York always have any book you want all the time.
2. Libraries in Washington State are always open -- 24 hours a day/7 days a
week.
3. Libraries in Ohio will let anyone with a library card from any place in
the world check out any item.
4. Libraries in Iowa provide daycare services.

Dusty, so far behind I can never catch up, Gres


Dusty Gres, Director
Ohoopee Regional Library System
Hdq: Vidalia-Toombs County Library
610 Jackson Street
Vidalia, GA 30474
PH: (912) 537-9283
FAX: (912) 537-3735
EMAIL: gresd at ohoopeelibrary.org
WEB: http://www.ohoopeelibrary.org <http://www.ohoopeelibrary.org/>
"Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different
speeds.
A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing."
William James