Do those two words conjure dusty corners and musty smells? Do you think of lamplight and heavy drapes and threadbare cushions on antique furniture? Do you envision leather bound tomes, heavy as bricks, piled on every surface and crammed into shelves that reach to the ceiling? Do you picture bespectacled old women, peering at you from under steel gray buns when a book from your pile slips to the floor, causing a disruption? Do you conjure up card catalogs and rainy afternoons and periodicals enjoyed by a large potted plant? Perhaps you are remembering hours spent in your school library among books on spaceships and whales with rainbow posters on the creme colored cinder block walls. Maybe you remember being slumped in a plastic chair at a round table with a chipped veneer finish, #2 pencil in one hand, the other in a fist at your hairline as you tried to determine what the differences are between porpoises and dolphins for your research paper.

Or was it college, when you were there in your cubby, scratching out an outline to your thesis and some grad student was being helpful and surfing through ten weeks worth of newspapers from Chicago’s Great Fire on the microfiche to help you. You were taken into the archives by a lady who probably painted lines up the back of her legs during WWII. You’re tapping away on one of those newfangled Apple computers, the monitor the color of a cherry Lifesaver. And you hope you remembered to save your work on a floppy disk before you went to the bathroom in case some oblivious Freshman came in and closed your Word so they could connect to AOL and surf the chat rooms.

Or maybe now, you use the library and its daily programs for your family. There’s plenty going on. Maybe you’ve joined one of their book clubs. Maybe you’re there for a meeting with your sewing group or chess club or photography friends. Maybe you’re there to check out some movies or a TV series because you don’t have Netflix. Maybe you came to use the 3-D printer or make a commercial in the green room or you’re talking to the genealogist about your great-grandfather’s role with the CCC’s in the National Park when it was being established. Maybe you’re there to pick up the latest JD Robb book or dropping off the backpack that they loaned you for your hike over the weekend. Maybe you’re there for an interview with a local business that’s trying to keep everything neutral or hush-hush. Or maybe you needed to send a fax for a dime, or use a computer to update your resume, or you’re out of data so you just draped yourself in a hallway to use their WiFi. It’s kinda like church, where there’s always something going on. I get overwhelmed just looking at the weekly schedule of programs and scheduling for the meeting rooms. I don’t know what you do there, because it’s protected, like your vote. The records are private. It’s a public institution, funded by the government and private sector grants that the staff has to apply for and pray to win. The library is free to everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, whatever. Anyone can use it as long as they’re open. Which, according to their website, is 60 hours a week. https://www.sevierlibrary.org/?fbclid=IwAR2PbI4WiG4b5nvZT6QG4L_3VwN3JT39UA0EQvDV6UWGCqp03gS8pTs3HhY

Monday 9 am-8 pm
Tuesday 9 am-8 pm
Wednesday 9 am-8 pm
Thursday 10 am-8 pm
Friday 9 am-6 pm
Saturday 9 am-5 pm

You can also view all their program information there, or swing by and pick up a booklet to hang on your fridge so you don’t miss a thing. It also lists events the Friends of the Library are putting on. They frequently host speakers about local interest topics (like a historical aspect of the community or unsolved mysteries) and have bluegrass and barbecues for fundraising. There are book sales and bake sales and at our library we sell commemorative tiles and ornaments. The director would probably sell you the shirt off her back if it would bring some funding into the library.

Did you know you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your couch to enjoy benefits of the library? If you’ve got an e-reader and WiFi, simply visit https://reads.overdrive.com/ and enter your library card number and it will set you right up with the electronic library, complete with magazines.

In addition to all the programs the library constantly hosts—oh, I should mention they don’t do these programs just to make themselves feel run to death and a little extra crazy–so many programs are required by the State to ensure funding, and the grant money is typically earmarked for certain programs or technology. So if you say, “well, cut back on some programs so that more people can be helped on the floor,” that’s not really an option. I also happen to know that the employees are stretched very thin, currently due to two being out on extended leave for family illness. That doesn’t count the daily sick, vacations, flooding/ snowing issues, appointments, and what have you.

So it blows my mind that people find so much to bitch about in a FREE agency. The biggest complaint is that the kids are loud. Well, of course they are. They’ve been pent up at school all day. And their parents work, or in many cases, don’t care what their kids do after school, so they go to the library, where they are guaranteed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (at no cost, did I mention?), some time to do homework, or participate in a craft or activity. Or maybe they’re there to play games on their own device or a computer. Personally, I don’t care what they’re doing. If they’re at the library, they’re pretty much protected. Librarians aren’t babysitters, but there’s often an officer nearby and adults around. Yes, they’re annoying, screaming and running around, but if you want quiet time, I suggest you come before three or after 5. It’s as much their library as it is yours. And yes, they should be taught to be respectful. You go right ahead. I’ve schooled a few myself about door etiquette and nasty language. It may be the only lesson they ever get because clearly the parents aren’t teaching them and the library staff has a hard time enforcing it to the little hooligans while they’re trying to carry out their own responsibilities. I just hope they carry some fond memories of the library into adulthood. I hope they remember it as a fun place, where they learned a lot and felt happy. And I hope they give their time and invest some dollars into their library once they’re mature adults.

It never ceases to amaze me at the number of people who will take to social media after encountering an issue at a local business without speaking to a person in charge where the problem occurred. Everybody has a boss. Everybody answers to someone. The President of the United States answers to his cabinet, and essentially, the citizens, through the House and Senate. Maybe they’re self employed, but the Better Business Bureau will have an ear.

So it makes me very angry to open up Facebook to a community page and read a post by someone who felt unwelcome at the library. Someone who could have handled it right then at there when she felt slighted instead of getting on social media to spew her venom. What did she hope to accomplish? What do any of us hope to accomplish by doing this? If she had asked to speak to a person in charge she would have gotten the branch manager. I have no doubt that the issue would have been resolved right then and there. Had there been further argument, it would have been taken to the director immediately. If she wasn’t available, it would have been handled no later than the following afternoon. And guess what. Even if you didn’t feel capable with dealing with it right then, there are these great things called phones–you’re probably holding one right now–and you can dial seven or ten digits and get to talk to the person in charge. Or if that’s still too much for you, take to your keyboard. The director’s email is right there on the Facebook platform you’re using. I’m not saying the patron didn’t have a legitimate complaint. I’m saying that instead of getting behind your keyboard and blasting a government funded entity to a community at large, she should have taken it up with a person in charge at the time of the issue. And as for all the people that offered up their venom and rage, did any of them try to get it resolved? Or did they think it wouldn’t do any good and just kept it bottled up, changing libraries to avoid conflict? That’s not much of a solution in my opinion. I’m not going to start driving to the Subway on the other side of town because the one half a mile away has an employee who doesn’t wash her hands (just an example, this has not happened, I love Subway). The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Be the squeaky wheel. But squeak to the head honcho, not the trolls in internet land. They can’t help you.

You don’t know what these employees are going through. Did I mention we’re underfunded? The majority of the budget comes from the county, with some help on a State and very little Federal dollars. The rest comes through private donations and the aforementioned grants. Our library is Level 5. Our current population, per the Census, is 97,982. I thought I should share our circulation numbers just for awe factor. Total number of users for 2018 was 201,743. Total circulation for all resources was 430,914. That’s a whole bunch of people in and out of our library checking out a ton of materials. Just for summer reading there were 2,268 registered readers. 30,245 books were read by children. There were 165 programs attended by 6,587 people. But back to salaries. Several library staff salaries are not on par with other Level 5 libraries. How would that make you feel as an employee, knowing that someone with a third of your workload in another county is making the same (or more) as you do? You would leave, right? You would express your displeasure, as is your right, and you would find another job that hopefully pays better. And this happens every week. One day, less than a month ago, two quit in one day. And so here we are again, searching for a new qualified employee who can hopefully be depended on to show up for their schedule, to treat people with kindness, and to learn a new job, with constantly changing technology and evolving protocols, and to figure out how to quiet children without touching them or making them cry. And maybe your mom’s sick and that’s all you can think about. Or maybe your commute is stressful, but this is the best job you can find right now (and your check engine light came on a week ago). Or maybe you’ve found a lump in your breast but your insurance doesn’t kick in for another thirty days. Or maybe your roof is leaking and you just got a divorce and you don’t know who to call or have the money to pay someone to fix it, even if you did know who was trustworthy. Maybe your dog got ran over yesterday and you’ve had this dog since you were ten and you know he’s just a dog but he was YOUR DOG.

And while we’re here, lets talk about how blessed we are with our library. I recently visited one about an hour up the road. They are the ONLY place in town to send a fax. There is no Fedex, there is no Staples, there are no banks that have the capability for the public to use. They are one of two places in town with a free WiFi signal. The other is the hardware store. This library is staffed by one person, a few days a week. They don’t have the funding to be open for even 40 hours. This county has no McDonalds, no Wal-Mart, no industry of any kind, hardly. THIS IS IN TENNESSEE. IN 2020. I CAN’T SCREAM ANY LOUDER, PEOPLE!!!!! BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE!!!!!!!

You have to take the good with the bad when it comes to social media, I understand that. And there is no such thing as bad publicity. And I hope your library memories, whether they’re from this week or forty years ago, are fond ones. Now, go get your wallet and make out your check to Sevier County Public Library System. Thank you.

Love from Appalachia,

~Amy