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Original poster

would you leave dirty nappies in a library?

245 replies

starlover · 30/03/2006 19:02

kind of following on from the restaurant thread!

My mum works in our local library and they have a baby jiggle and rhyme time on a friday morning.

Due to persistent requests they got a changing mat so that babies could be changed if necessary and people have now started LEAVING their dirty nappies beside it! for library staff to remove and bin....

I was Shock when I heard it

OP posts:
Caligula · 31/03/2006 22:04

Interesting this, because it has almost turned into a debate about what libraries are for.

The current propaganda from most of them appears to be that it is a place to go and have fun (bloody irritating when you're trying to do some quiet referencing) and some of them even have cafes.

I think philippat puts it well, in that it seems that they're trying to do something they can't do because they don't have the funds or commercial expertise to do it. If they want to provide a commercial type service like cafe's, fun things etc. (my local libraries do exhibitions of art and jewellery which you can buy) then they need to provide the facilities for the service users. However, they don't have th funds to do that. But they're required to do it because otherwise they'll lose funding because they're not attracting users in... etc. Vicious circle.

oops · 31/03/2006 22:16

yes caligula, i see whaqt you are saying.
but there are plcaes with childrens' library areas...and they aen't meant to be quiet Smile
they provise seats for children and adults and some toys too...
and there is a quieter bit for you to do your reasearch. Smile

rickman · 31/03/2006 22:20

Have none of you never forgotten to take the nappy out of the bag and put it in the bin when you get home? It really is hideous when you discover it a few weeks later.

Caligula · 31/03/2006 22:21

yes in most libraries now there's a separate area between fun and study. But not in the old, small ones.

And so they're closing all those ones down because they don't function as they want modern libraries to function.

But it does seem to me that they're a bit confused about how they want modern libraries to function. They want all the trappings of the modern commercial type leisure venue, with all the different activity to make the library the hub of the community rather than the building no-one goes into which is threatened with closure, without any of the infrastructure (like nappy changing venues!) required to service the end-users they want to attract.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 31/03/2006 22:28

LOL Rickman. DP found one in the boot of the car the other day that must have been there (put there by me Blush) two weeks.....Shock

rickman · 31/03/2006 22:29

Mine had been left in dd's playschool bag, she then had a few weeks off for the holidays and I forgot all about it. Horrendous!

nooka · 31/03/2006 22:29

Oops, your library sounds a great place, and I can see why you feel that changing rooms etc wouldn't be out of place. Caligula you are right, the public sector doesn't usually do very well at these sort of hybrid things, because it doesn't (in general) have the right sort of expertise or drivers or freedom to operate. And Rickman that's too disgusting to imagine!!

Rhubarb · 31/03/2006 22:31

wtf??????????????? you leave dirty nappies in a fecking libray????????? you nappy xhore! actuallyif you put em in the art section they will think its a practrical!

SorenLorensen · 31/03/2006 22:39

You know I said about getting good at following your nose when you work in a library? A colleague of mine was at work one day and there were several complaints from users about a "funny smell" in the library. She set out to investigate and, sure enough, there was a funny smell which she tracked down to a shelf...then a book...and when she opened the book...there was a tropical fish in it. Deceased, obviously, and had been for some time.

Another colleague found a used condom in a book once too.

Still, you can't always lay your hands on a bookmark and no librarian would condone turning down a page corner...

rickman · 31/03/2006 22:39

What can I say Nooka - I am a dirty cow! :o

oops · 31/03/2006 22:45

Grinrickman!!!!

paolosgirl · 31/03/2006 22:57

"public sector doesn't usually do very well at these sort of hybrid things, because it doesn't (in general) have the right sort of expertise or drivers or freedom to operate"

What?????! Funding limitations perhaps, but I really take exception to the above. What exactly do you mean?

Rhubarb · 31/03/2006 22:58

I collect very old books and I always turn th page down, and I cannot believe i JUST admittde to coolecting cooks!

Rhubarb · 31/03/2006 22:59

books, not as bad as the girl who put cocks insted of cooks!

nulnulcat · 31/03/2006 23:00

used to work for an airline and was always finding dirty nappies left on / under seats dont know what was worse people expecting crew to clear up there nappies or the fact they were obviously changing there children on the seats that other people had to sit on and surrounded by other passengers!! really considerate not!

paolosgirl · 31/03/2006 23:02

So it's obviously not just the public sector that doesn't do very well at these sort of hybrid things, then nunnulcat Wink Grin

ToujoursMarine · 31/03/2006 23:09

Well don't blame librarians for what is being done to public libraries, because increasingly those cheapskate decisions about cutting stock, opening hours and additional facilities are usually made by people with alleged qualifications in leisure or hospitality management. A lot of councils don't bother considering qualified, experienced, "chalk-face" librarians for senior library service management positions any more.
SL - my best find in a library has to have been a fresh human turd in an AV carrel. Nice.

paolosgirl · 31/03/2006 23:13

Up here Toujours, you have to be qualified, have experience at senior level and be Chartered to be a Library Service Manager. The problem is that libraries are seen as luxuries, and so are the first to be cut back when Council's are looking for savings Angry Sad

muma3 · 31/03/2006 23:14

i would , i have left one in school bin before (outside gates.) i found it in changing bag i had been to town with friend for lunch and hadnt found anywhere for it til i got to the school to pick girls up !!!! Shock

paolosgirl · 31/03/2006 23:22

You'd leave it on the floor of the library for staff to pick up Muma? Shock

ToujoursMarine · 31/03/2006 23:23

I think the situation is better out of London than in it PG - I know my three local boroughs all have people with no career in libraries behind them as Directors of Sport (and er...libraries), Directors of Leisure (and er...etc). Good for your LA for at least ensuring the senior managers have relevant qualifications.
I am a music specialist and every month it seems to me we hear news of a colleague with years of experience being made redundant and their collection broken up...I totally agree we are a soft target :( Angry

paolosgirl · 31/03/2006 23:24

That is awful, Toujour Shock. It's maddening that this attitude exists, isn't it?

nooka · 31/03/2006 23:28

paolosgirl, libraries may be very different from the bits of the public sector that I know about (health, SS and education) but we are being very much pushed into operating in a semi-market type way, but with all the central control that you get in a politicised system (ie budgets being suddenly cut days before you have to produce annual plans, unrealistic targets that have to be met because of political pledges etc) and little experience of running commercial organisations. So we get it wrong sometimes. It's all very well to talk about responding to the needs of the user, but in the commercial world you don't have your local politician/Whitehall breathing down the back of your neck too. Oh, and responding to the needs of the user usually bring some benefit too, and that is not always the case in the public sector (ie do too many operations too quickly and instead of a nice fat profit, you get huge overspends and are told to resign).

philippat · 31/03/2006 23:32

soft target.. at least you're statuatory... Envy

paolosgirl · 31/03/2006 23:39

Nooka, agree with all your comments. I manage an NHS library that's open to the public as well, and I also work in partnership with public libraries so I'm very aware of the demands that are placed on libraries as a whole. However, what I would say is that the librarians in these sectors know their markets incredibly well, and drive and project manage complex areas of work (and I include myself in that), but sadly the librarians don't control the purse strings at the highest levels, which is why services are cut - not through lack of ability at ground level.