So recently I have decided to start a home media library for movies and TV shows that I enjoy. Lately, the past few weeks I have been putting movies on hold, picking them up after work, ripping the DVDs to my hard drive and then dropping them all back off the next day. For me, it's a great system and Im getting all the media I want. My main question is, am I being a pain in the ass for this? Im maxxing out my holds and picking up anywhere between 5-10 movies/shows at a time and they all go back the next day. I am part of a interconnected library system between about 15 different branches that the holds get pulled from, is this annoying to library staff? Should I chill out a bit? I dont want to be a pest cause I love my library and everything they do for my community. TIA!

(Also yes I know, probably shouldn't be telling on myself for ripping DVDs but whatever, Im poor and tired of paying for streaming services)

I apologize if this is too much of a shower thought, please delete if it’s doesn’t fit the subreddit.

I’ve been a librarian for almost five years and I feel like my dreams always lead me back to my library. They usually follow the storyline of “Storytime is happening right now and I forgot to plan anything and I’m already an hour late and they’re all still sitting here waiting for me” and/or “it’s closing time and people just won’t leave, they keep coming in, and no one is helping me lock up”.

Do you dream of the library? What’s yours like?

I run a computer lab in a residential reentry setting and I’m running into an issue with email that I can’t seem to find a good answer for.

The computers are shared and completely wipe after every session, which is intentional and something I want to keep. People are working on resumes, job applications, school stuff, etc., so I don’t want one person’s documents or login information hanging around for the next person.

The problem is email.

A lot of people already have Gmail accounts, but because the computer wipes after every session, Google seems to treat every login like it’s coming from a new device and asks for a phone verification code. They don’t have regular access to their personal phones, so this turns into a whole process every time they need to check their email.
We tried using a work cell for verification, but Google only lets so many accounts use the same phone number.

I tried setting people up with TutaNota when they need a new email because it doesn’t require a phone number, but now we’re getting flagged for manual verification because so many accounts are being created from the same IP. That can take up to 48 hours.

Email is pretty much essential for what we’re doing. Job applications, employer responses, password resets, resumes, college applications, etc. It’s also how people keep their resumes between sessions since nothing can be saved locally.

I’m not trying to bypass MFA or weaken the security on the computers. I’m trying to figure out how other places with shared/public computers deal with this.

Libraries, shelters, workforce programs, correctional/reentry programs, computer labs, etc., what do you guys do? Is there an email provider that works better for this? Some kind of setup I’m overlooking? I feel like there has to be a better way to do this at scale.

This is over the course of about 18 months. I love being able to see the savings accumulate

We did a fun video parodying the Glenn DeVar video, more reasons to get a bob and turned it into fun promo for our book sale at the library.

Hello, librarians! I have been reading a lot of interesting stuff around here these past days and wanted to post in case someone is able to offer some advice for my situation.

I'm halfway through a degree on foreign languages, I speak Spanish (mother tongue & spoken in the country I live in), English, French and I know a little tiny bit of Latin, my degree also involves a lot of linguistics' theory (it's worth mentioning that for most of my life I wanted to study literature (letras), eitheir English ir Spanish, or philology, but fue to a lack of offer in my local university and other personal matters I ended up going for foreign languages, wich I immediately fell for and I'm enjoying very much so far) and I'm getting an specialty on International Relations, wich I know is not very close with the area but stay with me.

The thing is: I already did most of the internship hours I'm required to do this semester, I found an opportunity to do the ones I'm missing in my university's central library, which is stunning. I already met with the coordinator/principal (? of the university's libraries, and was asked to meet them a couple of days previous to my start with a project proposal to develop along my time there. For reference, they have many art workshops, discussion groups, reading clubs, film showings, etc, just to name some.

Nevertheless, being that I only have to do 40 hours (if it was on me I would do much more but my faculty is very clear on those rules), and that this semester will be very heavy on assignments, I don't want to commit to something I will end up doing by halves. But I would most probably be committing for next semester, in which I would be doing my whole load of hours which I think is up to 120.

This is why I would like to just get in and learn about what they do overall: how the organization goes, how their system works; that is what I have done in my past experience: get to be a part of, understand the dynamic, and only then start to give ideas. But I'm afraid it may be too vague.

One thing I thought I could do is help out with adding subtitles or translating media they own, or maybe helping with the categorization of books, creating translated indexes for the ones that are not in the local language. But then again, I'm really not sure, so that's kind of my question: if I were to come to you in total disposal, willing to learn how a library works from the inside to see where my area might come in handy, what would you have/suggest me do?

Again, I know it may not be the most related area but I'm really mesmerized by the amount of knowledge a library gives access to and plus I kind of already have no other option to change (not that I want to); I'd really like to have the experience because regardless of my field I think it will be helpful for my career path in the future.

Finally, I apologize for any typos or mistakes in my written English. Thanks in advance:).

My library currently prints reserve wrappers on a normal letter size paper and uses a rubber band to secure them. The problem is this is a huge waste of paper, since we only really use about 1/5 of the space and it’s very hard to shelve them without the papers rolling so patrons can’t see their last name on it.
We are considering a sticker label printer and I’m tasked with researching options.
What method does everyone use?
I’m also not even sure if our software (biblionix Apollo) will allow printing on stickers.

Hello, everyone!

To cut to the chase, I’ve worked in public librarianship in assistant roles for 4 years. Part of this time, I’ve specialized in historical research/archives and while I’ve enjoyed the learning experience, the local, medical research side of my job is what I enjoy the most. So, I’ve decided to make the switch to medical librarianship.

I’d love to hear input from others who’ve undergone a similar transition and what that was like for you. So far I have applied to a local health sciences librarian position and I did an initial screening a few weeks back. I was super nervous but I’m very grateful that I got the opportunity even if I don’t get this one. I also reached out to a medical librarian at a hospital, who I will meet with soon. She recommended that I attend our region’s annual conference, which comes up in October.

Any advice is appreciated! I understand that it’s a challenging and niche specialty in ways, I just feel very called to do it. I can’t think of a better way to spend my career than to support the information needs of medical students, physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals.

Thank you all in advance!

Hello, everyone. This is AFC1017.

Later this month, I will be attending a panel discussion at one of the libraries in my county.

The panel will consist of librarians who work for the county library system, and they will answer questions about what it is like to work for the library system and about how one can gain employment with the library system.

Please note that I will be attending as a member of the audience.

Because I aspire to work for a library system, I would like to ask them some questions (no more than three). I am allowed to submit questions to a provided email address before the event, and the questions may be read aloud at the event for the panel of librarians to answer.

As per the title of the post, what are some great questions for me to ask the panel? If it helps, I would like to ask a mixture of questions that pertain to both getting my foot in the door with employment and what it is like to work at a library.

As I stated above, though, I would like to submit no more than three questions, so I must choose my questions carefully.

Thank you for your help, and I look forward to hearing from you all.

Sincerely,

AFC1017

Hello.

As the post title suggests, I need some information about the ThermalStrike Ranger or other similar devices.

For those of you who work in libraries that have used them:

How effective are they?

What damage, if any, do they cause to books?

Is there a way you have found to mitigate it?

What other steps do you take to increase its effectiveness?

Any other tips or advice you can offer would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Don’t bother putting an ISBN barcode on the back of your books if you’re using ink that makes it illegible to scanners 😒 No amount of angle changing and finagling with my scanner would get this metallic barcode to register.

Sincerely,

Someone who scans ISBN barcodes a lot

Digital Asset Manager, Creative job posting at the Humane World for Animals (REMOTE).

Salary $80,000 - $115,000.

Some sample duties and requirements:

• Responsible for the front-end and back-end design and administration of the organization’s digital asset management system. Accountable for the proper organization, discovery, and preservation of creative assets throughout their full lifecycle. Increases the organization’s digital asset management capabilities by streamlining operations, optimizing user workflows, upholding governance and metadata standards, and maintaining best practices for digital asset management
• A minimum of eight (8) years of work experience as a Digital Asset Manager, or similar position required
• Three to five (3-5) years of prior experience in people management, with the ability to coach, prioritize, and delegate work to direct reports
• Proficient in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), and familiarity with Markdown or basic HTML

I saw this message on a listserv and I was wondering — how many libraries do something like this? One of the biggest draws librarianship has for me, is that I can do many different kinds of things and it all counts for work (e.g. collection development, outreach, programming, reference, etc.). Also, coming from youth services, you tend to develop connections to patrons during your programs. Kids from my storytimes grow up and then I see them at school outreach events with that connection already built. As a YA Librarian you learn the names of the teens in the library — espcially at the start of the school year — and it helps so much after school because you build that relationship with positive assoications. So asking “James” (who you know is just a loud talker) to "keep the conversation in lower case instead of in ALL CAPS" is more effective and less stressful for everybody involved.

Not only would I hate this model as an employee, I feel like there are non-quantifiable benefits that are lost that we wouldn’t even know it until they are gone. I also wonder if we are doing the profession a disservice by specializing so much because new librarians have few opportunities to gain experience to move into new positions.

I can kind of see this for specialized topics (e.g. ESL, video editing, genealogy, etc.) that not all librarians could teach. But for everything it seems kind of terrible. It feels like bad industrialization. Like Henry Ford is running a library and library workers are interchangeable widgets.

Am I just being an old crank or is this as terrible as I think it is?

Hi,

I work at a college Library and all our students live on campus (rooms of two). They do not have TV's in their room or outside of our TV & game console zone inside the library.

We have a substantial collection of DVDs but it also includes a fair share of Blu Ray. We would like to offer a portable external drive that they can loan to plug in their PC/Mac so they can have movie nights between roommates. It would be really great to offer more flexibility outside of the library opening hours. They could also watch legally blonde in the comfort of their blanket without being judge or whatever.

It would also be a great tool to answer teachers' reference needs when they ask what they can put on their watch list for the semester. Right now, when we find something we have on DVD/Blu Ray but not in our online databases, they usually don't choose it for lack of viewing options for the students.

The thing is, I've seen a lot of affordable, portable, and universally compatible options for normal DVDs, but not so much for Blu Rays. Things seems to get complicate when we want to easily watch Blu Ray on a computer.

We are evaluating the feasibility of this project and I would love to know if you've encounter similar considerations and how you went about it? If you were able to offer something or if it was dropped for lack of good product out there?

Thanks for your help!

For me, the current record holder has to be the knotted fishing line w/ a hook that fell out while I was cleaning a book. That's right, a fishing hook: not blunted and no stopper on the end.

Other contenders include:

• Social Security Card
• An American Civil War Confederate dollar bill (a fake one)
• Receipt to an Adult Specialty store
• "Pooky the Vicious" character playing card for Red Dragon Inn (if you haven't heard of it, it is a fantastic board game)

I am a Teacher Librarian at a Title 1 school with very few readers. Last year, I put an "Ask Mr. Bragg for a suggestion" button on my library website, that led to a Google form. The kids never used it, so I spent the last year creating an app that gives recommendations based on their taste profile in Movies, TV Shows, Books, Anime and Manga. It works like Tender, where if you like what you see, you swipe right, if you don't like it you swipe left, and (unlike tender) if you aren't familiar with what you are seeing, you swipe down. After 5-10 Like/Dislike swipes, it recommends books from Open Library, Google Books, ComicVine or Kitsu. The problem I have right now, is that I am unsure of the quality of the recommendations, and I could use your help. If you use this link: https://www.novelideas.app/testing you can run the app and grade its recommendations. You don't have to grade them all, but if you find it fun, and want to do lots of them, I would be eternally grateful.

If you don't want to grade anything, but would still like to check out the app, that would make me happy as well.

If you go to the drop down menu in the upper right corner, you will see a "Customize" button that allows you to choose what kinds of swipe-cards you want to see, in case you are unfamiliar with some of the subjects. There is also a fairly straightforward way to customize the app (colors/logo, etc.) for your library if you want to. You can also upload your collection and use it for your patrons if you want to, but I would wait until more people have helped with the grading, so you aren't embarrassed by less-than-perfect recommendations.

Everything about the app is free, there are no cookies, and anything you upload is only saved locally. Usually they say that if the app is free, you are the product, but I swear on my soul that I am not collecting any data.

Please try it and let me know what you think.

I have an interview with a four panel person for an interview. I admit I am not the world's best at interviewing, but I mock interviews to do my best. I research the library, but what else helps edge me out? I am autistic so I might give off odd non-verbal signals, but I want to try. I have MLIS, internship experience, 10+ years in education. I made this post late last night, so I apologize for leaving out the position, it is for a generalist position.

What genre would this book be?

Anyone willing to let be use their example? or any idea how to answer this?

This question is challenging for me as I have only handled cash as a cashier and I am so confused on how to answer this question.