like, u know there is a degree of moderation there, right? someone has to order the books to stock in the library. a library that lets any old creep stash their hastily scribbled shota pwp in between the shelves is a library that’s going to be shut down p quick. by the police. for providing ppl with child porn. (and yes if a picture of a tree or a description of a tree can make someone experience a tree, then the same can be said about a picture or description of a child in a sexual situation ffs)
I mean there’s like a million other logistical differences, and idk who checks erotica out of a library, but hey ppl can be wild abt these things
Hooboy. Well, as a librarian who has worked in many varieties of libraries, let me… try to… respond to this from a library and librarian perspective.
1) It is true that libraries have a process to go through for accepting materials, and that there is a degree of selectivity involved–this is because libraries have limited budgets, limited physical space, and limited staff to process and manage materials.
So, yes, any random junk written and left in the library would be thrown out. Not because the library would be concerned about its liability if anyone should see it; because we like to keep the library clean and organized, and leaving stuff on the shelf is not how we add things to the collection (how would they get CATALOGUED and LABELED???) And, of course, any adult attempting to show pornography (or, say, themselves) to actual children would be Removed From The Library because this would involve actual children being harmed by an actual adult in direct contact with them. Police do not shut down the libraries where this happens. They arrest the people harming the children.
Meanwhile, libraries spend VAST SUMS OF MONEY and ENDLESS STAFF HOURS to keep copies of Fifty Shades of Gray on the shelves where children actually can find them quite readily (and have them checked out on their library cards if mom’s has too many fines). Same with Last Tango in Paris and Flowers in the Attic and Year’s Best Erotica collections. (And Bibles, which get stolen at a ridiculous pace. I don’t know why, we were just forever having to order more of them.)
In an online space, which has effectively unlimited space, where adding new material costs nothing, and where the process of organizing that material and making it available is fully automated and what labor is involved is taken on by the contributing author, literally none of those constraints apply, so more content is more content! It’s catalogued and labeled as soon as it’s posted! It cannot be misshelved. Perfect!
2) This is not to say that no physical library has handwritten erotica in its collection somewhere. Many, many libraries collect rare local works such as self-published zines, and unique items like the personal papers of notable people (San Jose State University, for instance, holds the papers of the Kensington Ladies’ Erotica Society; The University of Iowa Zine Collection includes fanfic zines with erotic content; UCLA has the personal papers of Anais Nin), and doubtless some of these zines and personal papers include erotica. Because this handwritten material would be unique and its value would be presumed to lie mainly in the fact of its authorship, it would be properly collected, not in a library, but in an archive or special collection, where some archivist would dutifully folder it and make a note of what it was so future visitors to the collection could readily access it.
The main goal there would be to protect the material, not the person who might potentially view the material.
I worked in a public library which had an extensive collection of Playboy on microfilm, for instance. We kept it behind a desk where it had to be requested and checked out with a library card before it could be viewed. This was partly to prevent children viewing material inappropriate for their age–just as, say, the AO3 clearly marks adult material as such–but mainly to prevent vandalism of the material by people who disapproved of it. Several of the images on the film had been damaged by people trying to scratch them out; for the safety of the microfilm, we restricted access to it. This is also why the AO3 doesn’t allow people who dislike a fic to force it to be taken down.
This is also why most libraries celebrate Banned Books Week by eagerly higlighting works which people have ATTEMPTED to force to be removed from libraries–including work like Lolita, which is read by many as a titillating pedophile love affair. Librarians are not celebrating Lolita. They are celebrating the principle that they will not be stopped from collecting materials of interest and making them available to readers.
3) From your description of a library where children can freely access anything on the shelves, you seem to have only one conception of a library–a public library with open stacks, or perhaps a school library. There are, in fact, many kinds of libraries, with academic libraries being the most obvious foil to your description.
In an academic or university library, all authorized users of the library are adults who take adult responsibility for what they find in the library, much like when adult internet users indicate on a website that they are choosing to view adult content.
When I worked in a university library, I asked one of the librarians what do when a guy was sitting at a computer very obviously watching porn while a young woman, sitting next to him doing something text-based, seemed like she might be uncomfortable. I was told in no uncertain terms that the library’s policy was to relocate the person who was uncomfortable. The library was a repository of information and a place to access information: any kind of information, including the erotic. Under no circumstances would we curtail a library user’s access to that information.
(Unless he got his own actual dick out where people could see it, then we could call the campus police. Because, again: actual humans directly involved.)
Duke University Library Erotica Collection, 1940s-1960s (”An archive of original illustrations, sketchbooks, and erotic stories, depicting transgressive sex acts including (but not limited to) lesbian and heterosexual sex, incest, pedophilia, sadomassochistic behavior, and copulation with objects as varied as sex toys, produce, and household appliances. The stories and illustrations appear to be the work of a single individual, with nearly all narrative told from a female’s point of view. Also includes some amateur pornographic photography and magazine clippings.”)
I was hoping someone would bring up Duke’s collection because that’s my library and that’s where it’s at. So, fuck the haters and go get you some rare books library porn.
Can we figure out a way to do this to student loan debt.
I would read Ayn Rand to pay down my student loans
Our library ran the expenses and realized we spent about 3,000$ MORE than what we got back in trying to collect late fees. So? We dropped them completely. No late fees. Period.
If you keep a book, it auto renews two times. Then it comes up as overdue. If your overdue items exceed a certain amount, your account freezes. You can’t use any of the local libraries anymore until you return the items or claim them lost and pay for them. If someone else is waiting for the book, you can’t renew. Its that simple.
And guess what. Not only did we save money, but we /got more materials back/. More materials were turned in than declared lost as compared to before. There was no stigma to it. If you had already paid for the item, the money was credited back to you.
Because the people late fees actually affected were children and elderly adults – people unable to regularly get to the library. And the stigma of late items was dropped. Attitude and mindset are important.
we still have no late fees. And we are considered to be one of the top public systems in our state. People from out of state PAY to get library cards for a year because our online Overdrive system is amazing, and we have a ton of partnerships and interlibrary loan systems in place. AND we suffer less losses of both materials and patrons due to our “no late fee” policy.
I see a lot of posts on tumblr that imply borrowing a book from a library is less supportive of the author than buying it outright and I would like to offer a few unsolicited thoughts as to why that’s not true:
Every book in a public library has to earn its spot on the shelf. If no one checks it out, then it will be weeded from the collection to make way for a book that will circulate. So, if you check out a book, you’ve just given it a much a better chance at being there for someone else to discover!
A recently returned book is more likely to be propped up as a display in the tiny nooks around the library. Every shelver loves an empty display space because it means they can quickly get rid of several books. A book on display is more likely to catch someone’s eye and on and on!
You might not be able to tell this just by looking at the shelves, but when a book first comes out from an author, the library often buys several copies and based on how many people have reserved the title and how heavily it circulates, they might buy even more copies! Also, when purchasing a new title from an established author, many librarians will look at the circ stats of the author’s other books and will use that as a guide for how many copies to buy of the new book. In case you didn’t know, libraries buy a lot of books – we make up a huge portion of the book sales market.
Many people use the library as a way to discover new authors. It’s a risk-free investment and helps them experiment with a lot of different titles that they wouldn’t be able to if they had to buy all of them. And if they really love an author, they might become a life-long fan who will buy their books for years to come, all because of kismet at the library.
If you check out the book at the library, your librarian can make a better case for inviting the author to come to the library for an event for which they can get paid! This is especially true for lesser-known authors.
In conclusion, borrowing a book from the library is a wonderful thing to do. It helps make sure other people have access to that book in the future, creating an ever-wider audience for the author.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy books, I’m just saying, borrowing books from the library has just as many positive effects and you don’t ever have to feel bad that you’re somehow not supporting an author by borrowing their book instead of buying it. 🙂
Also: library prices for books are often MUCH HIGHER than regular book prices, because the publishers expect them to be borrowed multiple times. Fun fact: if your favourite book or author is more frequently checked out, they’re likely to buy extra copies, usually at double-or-more the MSRP.
Also, I don’t know about you, but the authors I fell in love with in the library? Their books are on my shelves now.
Go to libraries. Check out books. Support your libraries. Vote for people who support your libraries. Authors will be okay. We promise.
ive discovered a lot of authors and series through the library, including discworld which has profoundly affected my life and personality. i buy some authors books as soon as they come out because i have enjoyed their previous works from the library.
and also like. some people dont have the money to buy books at all and the idea that authors dont want them as readers is absurd. like yes authors absolutely want to be able to support themselves! but shunning broke readers isnt going to magically create more paying ones.
meanwhile some broke people who read library books have friends with money who dont go to the library and discover books through the recommendations of their library going broke friends.
I think a lot of people forget that a library is a giant room filled with free awesome shit that you can take home and play with, no questions asked. just as long as you tell them you’re gonna, and remind them if you want to spend more time with the stuff.
I think the US library system should have a once a year advertising spree where they just have the phrase
“Libraries. Don’t forget: Things are free in here.”
Posted literally everywhere.
No. If ordinary people start going into libraries, libraries are going to get robbed. They’ll spend tons of money trying to replace missing books and they’ll be loud as hell. This is a terrible idea.
First: there’s no such thing as “ordinary”. People from all walks of life have always used libraries. The system I work for has ALWAYS had missing lists, and always will. It’s human nature: a certain percentage of items are always going to go missing. Most libraries take that into consideration when ordering materials.
We use strategies to curb things from walking off, of course: put video games and DVDs in locked cases, for example. But you’d be surprised how many people dont even know how that we have video games! Also, we have a SUPER EXTENSIVE digital collection, accessed for free with a library card. You dont even need the physical items! We also have a toy collection. That’s right, TOYS. For free with a library card. And they ALWAYS come back. We have access to makerspaces, audiovisual recording studios, and much more, all for free with a library card.
Still, we get patrons who walk off with things, improperly check things out (which adds to the missing list), and guess what we do? We constantly try to help patrons regain access to being able to check things out. We do a lot of fine forgiveness so that patrons can continue to take things home. We know a lot of people might not be able to pay their fines at the moment. So we try to work with them because life happens. We don’t judge or try to limit patrons. We try to help them to clear their cards.
Fuck outta here with that “going to get robbed” mindset. Libraries are free, and always will be. They stock way more things than youd ever imagine. Try walking in one some time. I bet it’s changed a lot since youve last been there.
^^^
Also, fuck the idea that libraries have to be quiet. In half an hour, I’ll be teaching kids how to make their own intruments from vardboard and a MakeyMakey set and they will play piano, bongos and a synthesizer that does fart sounds (they’re 8-10 years old…) and we’ll be doing it right in the library. The children’s library is never quiet.
There ARE quiet corner and there always will be, for people who want to work here. But on the whole, I prefer a library where people are not talking in hushed tones and walk around on tiptoes. I want them to feel at home and that bring a certain amount of noise with it.
Also, what is ordinary in your mind? What are these ordinary people you are talking about because I don’t think I have seen such a person in my life.
Seems to me that SOMEONE is well off enough to not need to use the services of a library, and not coincidentally, they believe poor people don’t deserve access to those same resources that, in owning them, SOMEONE feels superior.
I have an infinite love for libraries and it took some time to realize they offer so much more than “just” a huge treasure of books even though I visited libraries daily for years.
I didn’t expect them to offer other stuff like guided tours, public talks and discussions, workshops, help with research and computer software, etc, so I didn’t really see it at first. But libraries have a very important social role for people of ANY background! I can’t even be mad at library fees because I see them as a donation to a wonderful service that is otherwise free or almost completely free!
Libraries are for everyone
We also have AC in the summer and heat in the winter and comfortable places to sit. We have tables to work at and (sometimes) outlets to plug things into. We have a lawn and sometimes we put lawn games out on it. We have literacy services and free wifi and programs where you can play with LEGO or see a medieval weapons demonstration (we had a trebuchet on our lawn once – we launched water balloons with it) or learn about local history or geology or wine or dozens of other topics. We run video game nights and board game afternoons and computer classes and storytimes and we just started running trivia nights at a local pub. We have a display space local artists can apply to exhibit their work in and we host art shows from the local high schools once a year. And that’s just where I work. Some libraries can offer more, some can offer less, but we all do what we can.
Why do we do it all? Because EVERYONE DESERVES ACCESS. Every single ordinary person out there? They have the right to access information. Libraries aren’t for the elite. They’re for anyone who wants to use them. Hell, we have tons of material available online now. Stream it for free! Movies, shows, music, audio books, text, databases, newspapers. You don’t even have to physically come in the building again once you get a library card and you STILL get access to all of that. That’s why we fucking exist. For ordinary people and extraordinary people. For the people who can get it elsewhere and the people who can’t. We offer it free. Because you deserve it.
^ THIS
LIBRARIES ARE FOR ALL PEOPLE TO USE
this is why i love libraries and love working for one
and yes sometimes people steal things, but the vast majority of them do not
and even when people do steal things, we replace them and move on
because we are dedicated to providing access to all people
I would LOVE to work in a library…but I would probably get distracted by all the books! <3_<3
I do work in a library, and I do get distracted by all the books (and DVDs). My “to-read” lists are insane.
“If ordinary people start going into libraries…”
EXCUSE ME BUT WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK LIBRARIES ARE FOR????
Signed,
A Librarian
I have spent over thirty years working in libraries. They are the most radical and anarchist of institutions because we are so completely focused on making sure YOU find what you need – or even stuff you didn’t know you needed.
We figure out what there is a demand for and do our best to meet it. Good example: I love that when it became obvious that people were going to need to charge their phones, libraries put in charging stations and/or started to loan cables.
We are out there fighting against things like the PATRIOT act and DRM and things that threaten how information and media is used.
We are refuge for children who have nowhere else to go after school.
We help people learn basic skills and find jobs
We provide access to computers and the internet for those who do not have their own.
We enrich people’s lives EVERY SINGLE DAY because even when the doors aren’t open, the online resources are there.
And yes, @thefingerfuckingfemalefury there are many days when I have been distracted by the books but you know what I do? I stack them in a little pile and at the end of the day I check them out and take them home. If I don’t read them, I’ve lost nothing but the energy it took to carry them home.
I love how libraries are for the people in all of the above ways, but in this one town I lived in, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, the people are for the library. The city asked for a grant from Andrew Carnegie, but, as he was only willing to give half of the requested sum of $50,000, the little town with a population of 14,000 raised the money themselves. In fact, they came up with $100,000 (in 1913 money) to include a marble interior and a stained glass dome. It’s a gorgeous, enormous library with fabulous services and it’s one of the things I miss most about that city.
Y’all are so lucky to have access to actual public libraries, those too with such cool events and stuff!!
We don’t exactly have public libraries. Colleges and universities have libraries, the uni I just started attending has three, but I haven’t been able to explore as yet because they haven’t arranged for cards for freshmen rn, but I’m hoping there will be more options than just subject based books you know?
Storybooks or novels are usually so expensive here and i really wish we had our own public libraries that were accessible to the general citizens.. there is one public library everyone knows about but they only allow specific people to go in and stuff…
To the people who have libraries in their towns and cities that offer great books and other amazing features, I’m happie for you and i hope you’ll always know how lucky you all are for such a privilege.
Here’s to hoping that libraries become a trend in my country soon!
I take my clients to the public library all the time. They have stuff to do and things they might want to learn. Our local library offers children’s events like safe trick or treat, dress up days, reading to dogs, giving public info and sessions on how to clean Up your Cori (which will help improve underemployed peoples employment rate). Like, kids are in school all day, they don’t want to go back to school once out to do the work. Also many libraries offer and provide technology schools can’t afford. Color printing, copying, laptop usage, often for free or very low cost. White men are so arrogant. He does think those people are nobodies.
if it happened at all, it happened like that 
