Library Etiquette

I always use the self service machines when I'm borrowing or returning books. If there is a member of the library staff free at the desk when I use the machines they will tut at me. Is that an unwritten rule of the library? If the librarian is free borrow your books at the desk? Life is so complicated. I find I have to wait till the librarian is busy with another customer before I use the machines or sometimes I just return home bookless and exhausted.

  • ElephantInThe Room.  You think one day we'll have machines to do our Tutting for us?   :D

  • I think most of the staff in my library are unpaid volunteers who possibly do this to improve their social life by chatting with the customers(?)

  • The Grand Tut us certainly more impactful that a mutter under the breath and neither helpful or welcome...

    in a few years AI will probably kick in on the old self service desk anyway and it will be programmed to tut without a human presence being needed. Until then look after yourself and stay tut free.

  • Thank you everybody for your helpful comments. I've no immediate plans to return to the library for further adventures as I'm in a bad way at the moment. But when I'm feeling a lot stronger I will continue to use the self service machines and will keep all your advice in mind. Thanks again.

    The great British Tut is a powerful thing.  :D

  • At our library we are encouraged to use the self service machines. If you were to ask a librarian to borrow books , they would take you to the machine and show you how to use it rather than doing it for you. They also have a strange rule about reserving books. If you use the self service computers to reserve a book then it is free. If you ask a member of staff to reserve a book then it costs £1. The lady failed to tell me this until after she had reserved it for me! 

  • Laughing I just love that kind of humour!

    However, given the topic, I'm surprised you didn't mention Inconsolable Weeping In Libraries Vol.1.

    There are more here <link>.

  • On a serious note the library set up has afforded you the choice of accessing staff and non-staffed service access. You chose the latter. I think you made the right choice.

  • I was referring to my addiction to buying and eating unhealthy junk food.  Crisps, whole litre of fruit juice etc.

  • don't make the classic mistake when buying any "age appropriate...ahem" products of thinking it will be more discreet using the self service tills....and then it having to require a member of staff to come and ask you what you are buying so they can confirm you are over 18!

  • Random question...

    at the self service till when you scan your books does the machine make a noise so as not to breach library rules. I’d like to  think that it omits a quiet ekectronic tutting sound..

    https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2016/12/bbc-sound-effects-records-early-1970s.html

    Records such as 'British Tutting' (1970) allowed the disgruntled listener to listen to a variety of legally sanctioned tuts as a sort of surrogate expression of displeasure. 

    Best mixed with one of my favourites... uncomfortable silences..
  • I don't use libraries that often, but as far as I am aware the only rules are, Don't make too much Noise & Return the books in good condition & on time. If the Librarians are being snooty, just ignore them & do whatever suits you best. Possibly they think the machines are slowly doing them out of a job, but the gradual switch to digital media will do that soon enough anyway, so why take it out on the customers.

    People are weird, especially the ones that are allegedly normal. As long as I am still being polite, I try to only worry about the opinions of those I care about. If someone had tutted at me, I would probably have asked them if they had a problem, since I see that as being blatently rude.

  • That does beg the question of what you are buying... and they still have problems when you're using your own bags.

  • Agree, you should not be subjected to 'tutting' for your choice of how you use the library.

  • I don't understand this behaviour.  In my experience, library staff prefer people to use the self-service machines, because it means they don't get interrupted from any other jobs they might be doing.  Quite a few library staff that I know, too, are the kind of people I'd judge to be on the spectrum!  At my local library, there are two female staff members who don't make eye contact or even look up at the person they're dealing with.  I did some voluntary work there once, and most of the staff said they preferred the 'downstairs' duties (mainly clerical and computer-based, plus repairing book jackets, cataloguing, etc) because it took them off of the public desk and meant they could be working alone.  The job has always appealed to me in that respect and I've had many interviews over the years - but never managed to get a job.

  • Don't worry about it. If you are polite and courteous you really have nothing to worry about. It's not a question of etiquette. They are paid to do the job and you are a customer, library or not, the fact that people visit the library keeps them paid. I wouldn't let it make you anxious. It's not like they are important to you and they you are to them. Knowing most people in service they will have forgotten about it within minutes if not sooner.

    Maybe the self-service machines will make their jobs obsolete. That's what they need to consider when they are acting rude. Less people will want to deal with them.

  • Interesting question on etiquette.  I'm not sure what the answer is????

    I was recently wondering about a similar etiquette question in supermarkets where there are both self service machines and human servers.  I personally prefer the self service machines.  They don't judge what you're buying and I trust the machine to give the right change.

  • I am sorry you experienced this discomfort. I have experienced anxiety at my library also. I don’t think there is anything wrong with using the self service machines even if there is someone free at the desk; and they shouldn’t make any patrons feel uncomfortable for using a provided service. Perhaps you could leave a polite feedback card briefly explaining this situation anonymously next time you visit? They may take it on board and be more accommodating and aware; and if it happens again then you can rule out the particular librarian just having a bad day! Please let us know what happens.