Dulwich Library

[Bluerevolution]

We had scarecrows up and that didn't work !!!

[bookstamper]

I think it's disgusting that the lovely staff have to put up with it and they feel very intimidated.

[tomskip]

So ... what did happen? Are we going to be told? Must have been a bit much if police were called.

[bookstamper]

Lots of teenagers being very abusive they were asked not to sit on the stairs to the study area and things just got worst,I thought I stepped into hell,lots if little children were very frightened

[Lynne]

I was there yesteday, very noisy with people sitting in the aisles so you couldn't get at the shelves. Apart from stopping borrowers finding books, surely this is against Health and Safety? Was in my day. And yes, they're back to their old practices of having more books piled up that on the shelves. 5 trollies full of books, at least 4 bins overflowing and books just piled up around the terminals.

If we can't find the books, we can't borrow them!!!

And sorry to hear about the troubles. Being a librarian is not the nice quiet job you see on the TV. It's easier to control if you don't let the situations develop, may I say

Lynne

[intexasatthe moment]

I don't know if there's a connection ( with self service ) but I was recently verbally abused by an extremely aggressive woman at Peckham library who was threatening to slap me if I looked at her .

She had just finished directing an astonishingly unpleasant tirade towards a member of staff .

Fortunately the intervention of another member of staff who from her tact and handling of situation had obviously had training in skills not normally required by librarians .

[the-e-dealer]

How can this possibly be to do with self service?

[StraferJack]

if you are minded to cause aggro, knowing there are fewer staff on the premises is a bonus, no?

[JohnL]

You'd think that would mean revocation of library card ....

Library members must agree to abide by the rules and regulations of the library service.

Please tick the box below to indicate that you agree to this ...

intexasatthe moment Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don't know if there's a connection ( with self

> service ) but I was recently verbally abused by

> an extremely aggressive woman at Peckham library

> who was threatening to slap me if I looked at her

> .

>

> She had just finished directing an astonishingly

> unpleasant tirade towards a member of staff .

>

> Fortunately the intervention of another member of

> staff who from her tact and handling of situation

> had obviously had training in skills not normally

> required by librarians .

[JohnL]

the-e-dealer Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> How can this possibly be to do with self service?

maybe the self service is like a Southwark bus queue

or maybe it just doesn't work very well

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8757606/Self-service-libraries-can-leave-you-long-overdue.html

[bookstamper]

Awful

[intexasatthe moment]

Sorry ,I'm didn't mean to give impression that there was a link between intro of self service and aggro from customers .

I agree removal of library card and priveleges would have been way forward with customer I saw ,or calling the police .

But I think deflecting it and moving the lady on probably meant a swifter and less complicated resolution .

Both Peckham and Dulwich libraries seem terribly overcrowded ,not enough space for people . Not enough desk/seating .

People sitting on floor .

Umemployment ,exam revision ,other libraries closed ?

[the-e-dealer]

Get the Wicker out!

[bookstamper]

Yes I saw that too what a mess

[Lynne]

just a personal view, but I'd rather have had the money that was spent on automatic doors etc spent on staff

Lynne

[Cloud99]

This message is to the-e-dealer and Bluerevolution.

I will be reporting your comments to the Forum administration as I believe it is one thing to discuss the behaviour of the teenagers at the library but making racist remarks is in itself disgusting, I think you need to check your own behaviour before you start judging others.

[StraferJack]

What did the e dealer say that was racist or disgusting?

[the-e-dealer]

I agree blues remarks were near the mark, not exactly racist but.. That's why I ridiculed them. Best to laugh at such idiots. As the father of a highly responsible black teen I know how damaging stereotyping can be.

[Bluerevolution]

Racist ? WTF ? Give your head a wobble and get it out of the clouds pal.

[Bluerevolution]

so reporting a FACT is considered near the knuckle here- mind boggles

[Sue]

Cloud99 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

making racist remarks is in itself

> disgusting

xxxxxx

What has been said that you consider "racist", and why?

[bookstamper]

This is an issue of the teenagers very bad behaviour maybe the staff should try and contact there school

[intexasatthe moment]

Good point bookstamper .

[bookstamper]

Maybe it's worth looking into

[Bic Basher]

I've finally visited the library today. The area for the self service machines is excellent and staff were on hand to assist customers with using the machines, in particular with those who were borrowing CD's and DVD's.

It's already been mentioned that the downstairs photocopier is too close to the books, so is a very cramped area to look at books while the upstairs 'quiet' study area is too popular and was hot, but there were spare PC's to use.

The upstairs security guard was busy hovering around outside the study area, I have no idea why Southwark are now spending money on it when they didn't require it before.

I needed some help using the new scanner/photocopier and staff were happy to assist and also let me borrow a USB stick to save my document to transfer to a PC.