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1. Anonymous
   Member Profile

   Abusive egocentric Librarian
   Was at the SW library, reading a book, sitting at a far corner of the room .My shoes are brand new, wearing a pair of clean socks and out of public sight. Like most of you, trying to be as comfortable as possible and not bothering anyone except when this librarian told me that it is a policy that one needs to have their shoes on AT ALL TIME. My shoes were just very near to my feet and sometimes half way in as I have a blister

   I politely asked him for the policy (see attached) and it did not state anything about taking the shoes off. It just state, no shirt no shoes (barefoot).

   Bear in mind, I was not even walking with socks on.

   I told his that is a ridiculous policy and should not be applied. I wanted to discuss with him constructively about the policy but he rudely refused and wrote me this “Notice of Exclusion Order”-banning me for coming to the library for 3 days.

   I called the Administrative office at the Library’s HQ and talked to an Administrator and she said that my particular case was ridiculous and “nip-picking”.

   What I wanted to discuss with the librarian that wrote me up is: Does this apply when one is wearing thongs or slippers or slip in/out scandals?

   Guess what, the Administrator said it is OKAY to wear slippers.

   Now go figure, it is okay to wear slippers and let everyone see your toes but you cannot wear socks!!

   Note: the librarian said I was banned from ALL libraries but the question is how will you know I have gone to another library?

   I have used other libraries and no librarians have approached me about this situation except this librarian at SW library.

   Well folk, your taxes are at work here and what would you do?

   Fire the Librarian

   I have a site for this http://www.WebsiteGossip.com

   Posted 3 years ago #         

2. JimmyG
   Member Profile

   

   Chris, Get. A. Grip.

   No shirt, no shoes means exactly that--keep on your damn shoes. I don't care if you're socks are as pure as the driven snow--keep your shoes on when you're in a public place.

   Flip flops and slippers ARE shoes. Thus they are within policy.

   Now go smoke a bowl and chill.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

3. Anonymous
   Member Profile

   That what I don't understand...

   I was wearing shoes, just half way in and out when I sat down to read the book.

   Anyway, I'll just wear slippers to the library.

   Isn't it ironic??

   Posted 3 years ago #         

4. JimmyG
   Member Profile

   

   No irony at all.

   Shoes is shoes and socks is socks.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

5. MargL
   Member Profile

   I'd be flippin' pissed, too.
   I'm surprised this librarian doesn't stand over in the kids area writing up tickets and checking the box for 'disruptive behavior'. Sitting in an out of the way corner with clean socks and no foot odor is just fine in my book. I'm glad you call the Administrator, ridiculous and nit-picking is right. Did they offer to rescind your exclusion order?
   And technically it doesn't say without shoes, it says without shirt and barefoot. You -did- have socks on. :-)

   Posted 3 years ago #         

6. Anonymous
   Member Profile

   I see kids eating and chatting so loud and no action taken!

   JimmG, you rather see some broken toes via wearing slippers/flip flops than a pair of clean socks?

   The ban is only for 3 days and I don't really need to go to the library often. I can always go to the High point one too and there nobody says anything to me...even w/o shoes on.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

7. Anonymous
   Member Profile

   Go there bet 2-6pm when the kids are..chatting on the cellphones ,yakking and I was just at a corner minding my own business..out off sight from everyone.
   He just happened to walk by seeing that my shoes were off or half way off.

   How pathetic is that?

   Posted 3 years ago #         

8. JimmyG
   Member Profile

   

   jade, seriously.

   Go smoke a bowl and chill. I'm picking up on an unstable vibe here.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

9. cruiser
   Member Profile

   

   Emmmm growing the wrong thing if you ask me:) Latte anybody?

   Posted 3 years ago #         

10. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    Thanks Jimmy G sausage.

    Cruiser...growingjade is the name of my largest jade plant in the world and it is also the name of the webstie:
    http://www.GrowingJade.com or http://www.GrowingJadePlant.com

    I post a thread anybody wanting a piece of it.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

11. JimmyG
    Member Profile

    

    Cruiser!!!!

    Yes, I'd like to order a cinnamon latte please. Double shot, medium foam.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

12. JenV
    Member Profile

    

    gorgeous jade plant! I always killed mine.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

13. FullTilt
    Member Profile

    

    The no shoe policy is a health and saftey thing. There is a possibility of you spreading a fungus around, picking up a fungus, or stepping on something and suing.

    Rules are rules. They are there for everyone, not just some people. Would it not have been easier to just put your shoes back on when asked?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

14. Jeannie
    Member Profile

    I think it would be difficult to spread a fungus if you're wearing socks. I hate to say this, but I have found that some of the librarians at this branch tend to be cranky. Rules are not meant to be followed blindly. I'm with growingjade!

    Posted 3 years ago #         

15. FullTilt
    Member Profile

    

    It would be very easy to step on a staple, piece of glass, thumb tac though. Don't get me wrong, trespassing someone for three days is highly moronic, but I agree with the rules. I really agree with the shirt rule. Please keep your shirt on in the library.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

16. Gina
    Member Profile

    

    I wouldn't even sit in a chair in the library. The term "you don't know where that has been" is quite true at the library.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

17. MargL
    Member Profile

    But that's just it - he wasn't walking around, just sitting there. Yeah, yeah - the library isn't your living room but I can see slipping your shoes off to be a little more comfortable while sitting in a chair reading a book for awhile.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

18. OlMom
    Member Profile

    

    Gross - Put your shoes on.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

19. JoB
    Member Profile

    Guess i'll have to be more careful about slipping my shoes off while i am reading at the library...

    being turfed for 3 days won't bother me much.. but it's the idea of getting kicked out that rankles..

    though i will have to admit that in the same situation i would have smiled and put my shoes on..at least until he was done making his rounds...

    if he cared enough to stop and make a big deal about it.. it was likely he would exercise his authority.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

20. Gina
    Member Profile

    

    Sounds like the type of infraction that another patron would report to the desk, and at that time someone walks by to check it out. Someone else, a member of the public, complained, would be my take on it.

    And the infraction notice says 3 warnings before 86'd for 3 days.

    Kids making noise is a 50/50 situation. See snowflake thread. Imagine those kids as teens.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

21. GenHillOne
    Member Profile

    Let's just say that there are numerous things about this post and it's links that smell funny to me.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

22. JoB
    Member Profile

    GenHillOne...

    ah shucks.. that would be me with my shoes off...

    :((((((

    Posted 3 years ago #         

23. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    I think I want to get ban for life from the library so I can justify not supporting the library levy.

    Furthermore, I don't need the library, the library needs my property tax.

    Anyway, maybe that will be my goal, be the first one to get ban from the library for life for that shoe poligy and get my dorky photo up at the front door.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

24. FullTilt
    Member Profile

    

    Really?!?! This conversation is still going on?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

25. JanS
    Member Profile

    

    lol..believe whatever Gina says....she has a VERY close asociation with the library ;-)

    Posted 3 years ago #         

26. JimmyG
    Member Profile

    

    Jade you're behind the curve. Other people have already been banned from Seattle public Libraries for life.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

27. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    JimmyG...how would you know? are you one of them?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

28. JenV
    Member Profile

    

    I am banned from the public library systems in King County, Pierce County, Thurston County and Seattle Public Libraries. I dare anyone to top that.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

29. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    I can't top that, but I'm extremely curious how that happened? Care to share?:)

    Posted 3 years ago #         

30. JoB
    Member Profile

    JenV..

    just when i think i am getting to know you..

    you astound me.

    i would be lost.. or very very very broke.. without the public library.

    i could handle being banned for a week... maybe... but to lose access to all those books would nearly kill me.

    The first public space i spent time in that i really felt at home was the library.. and i still feel that way.. no matter how small or large it is.

    i smile every time i walk through the door.

    We are so lucky here to have access to so many books at such a small cost.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

31. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    JenV...do they have wanted sign posters on the wall so that they know who you are?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

32. JenV
    Member Profile

    

    no, but let's just say I probably wouldn't even be able to apply for a library card. Last time I had one was 1995 or so...never tried to go back.

    For my reading needs, I buy used off Amazon - generally as low as a $1 a book plus shipping, or I go to my favorite place in the whole world - Pegasus Used Books.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

33. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    but you still can use the library...like free wifi..

    I have never checked out books or anything...just there to hang around. I read everything online.

    You kids or friends can check out for you.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

34. JenV
    Member Profile

    

    no need, I can get free wi-fi at a coffee shop. Seeing as how I have not been in a library in 13 years, I think I am just fine without it. I never found libraries to be comfortable places- with the exception of the Burton Elementary School library - with the giant claw-foot tub filled with cushions...

    and for the record, if you were sitting there with your shoes off, who cares? good lord. it's not like it's a restaurant!

    Posted 3 years ago #         

35. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    Nobody goes to the library to check out books anymore...all online and most ppl use the library computers.

    After all, all the books are obsolete.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

36. FullTilt
    Member Profile

    

    "After all, all the books are obsolete. "

    Now your threads make a lot more sense.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

37. Traci
    Member Profile

    

    I am racking my brain trying to figure out getting banned from that many libraries, JenV! Also I am impressed that you've been to that many counties' libraries.

    growingjade, I understand where you're coming from. Whenever I'm wearing heels (er...about once a year) I find that I walk around in my tights - shoeless - without even realizing it. I used to slip my feet halfway out of shoes in college during every lecture.

    However, you're making too big a deal out of this. The guy was a jerk but don't let it nag you. You may have both ticked each other off, but whatever. You don't know him. Forget it and move on!

    Posted 3 years ago #         

38. Gina
    Member Profile

    

    Lifetime ban from Seattle Public Library?

    Permanent expulsion is reserved for those causing grievious bodily harm to another person in the library, or an offense that would result in time in the penitentary.

    Thankfully there are very, very few people banned for life!

    Not returning things does not get people permanently banned. They just can't take more items out.

    I hope that JenV doesn't think she is permanently banned from premisess because of a book or two that were misplaced!

    Posted 3 years ago #         

39. Jerald
    Member Profile

    Gina's got me kind of freaked about those chairs. I sit in them a lot -- am I in danger?....of what?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

40. angelescrest
    Member Profile

    

    This is odd: "Nobody goes to the library to check out books anymore." What in the world are you talking about? Don't you see the people lining up at the checkout counter (we would be among them)? Books are jewels! Books rock! Getting a bag full of books at the library is always a joy.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

41. Crowe
    Member Profile

    

    The "nobody checks books out anymore" comment got me almost more than the idea of not supporting libraries.. Any way. PLEASE go to the downtown library, go upstairs and look at the very cool reader board they have listing all the books and number of books that are checked out by the hour, day, minute.Educate yourself. There are thousands of books checked out EVERYDAY. Good grief I can't imagine not having a library. Free books for my kiddo to read. Free movies. I haven't paid a penny for a movie in over 2 years. Ok, the money I have spent is for over due movies. That's it.
    We don't have TV so being able to watch movies is a nice treat. And doing so for free fits my meager budget. Sorry the Librarian was crabby. But Let's not come down on Libraries. They are awesome resources for A LOT of peeps.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

42. Jeannie
    Member Profile

    I check out about a book a week from the library. I download books for my MP3 player from the library's Web site. I check out books on CD to listen to while I'm driving. I love curling up with a good novel (and perhaps some dessert or tea). I feel sad for anyone who doesn't enjoy books. Something important and enriching is missing from their lives.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

43. Gina
    Member Profile

    

    Ah, Jerald. I was making a dry remark about chairs, meaning that someone might have sat there after taking off shoes.

    I figure I use about 5k+ a year in library materials, including the Interlibrary Loan resource that allows use of books and scans from periodicals from all around the country.

    If you live in the city limits of Seattle, look on your property tax statement. There is a blank space by library levy. The Seattle budget comes from other sources, including the councilmatic bonds that were voted on in a public election 10 years ago. I think it was estimated that the cost was under $50 per year per household, diminishing as the bonds matured.

    A single hardback book retails for @$25. Most books I only want to visit with, not house.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

44. Gina
    Member Profile

    

    One more thing--if you don't return what you checked out of the library? You won't be sent to jail. http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=info_card_recovery

    Posted 3 years ago #         

45. Anonymous
    Member Profile

    Yea he is a big jerk alright.
    Here I am at the high point library,shoes off and nobody bothering me.

    Oh well....

    Posted 3 years ago #         

46. ellenater
    Member Profile

    

    This is sort of on subject but, libraries irritate me. I also don't think Seattle's libraries are that great. They don't have enough copies of things and there are many obscure things they don't have. I don't think they're useless but I personally don't use them much. Whenever I'm browsing for a new book at a branch, I never find anything. My husband does but he has always been strange;) The difference between going into Square One Books and going into the library is night and day for me. I like burning CDs from the library sometimes but that's about it. Also, libraries always feel uptight to me. I don't think you should have to whisper if you're not in a study area. They are not places of worship. I like the idea of libraries but not the the actual libraries. Librarians are often uptight, also. I can totally picture this librarian. They come across as holier than though. In fact, I am surprised there aren't more spoofs on SNL about librarians.

    Lastly, I think growingjade has a point. I wear slip on shoes almost exclusively and almost always slip my shoes off when seated. I have a really hard time believing this librarian had any other point than being on a really sad little power trip. THOSE librarians can be worse than bill collectors. Give. me. a break.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

47. datamuse
    Member Profile

    

    Also, libraries always feel uptight to me. I don't think you should have to whisper if you're not in a study area. They are not places of worship.

    Actually, good luck finding a quiet place of worship, these days.

    The library where I work is mostly quiet because most of the people who use it (college students, by the way) want it that way. What on earth is wrong with letting people work in peace? You have the rest of the world to be noisy in.

    Librarians are often uptight, also.

    Boy would you be surprised.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

48. cruiser
    Member Profile

    

    Emmm, methinks a lot of posters are being had here.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

49. GenHillOne
    Member Profile

    meagrees

    Posted 3 years ago #         

50. JenV
    Member Profile

    

    is this just an advertisement for your website, jade??

    Posted 3 years ago #         

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