Proud to Be Loud
I’m Frieda Toth, and have been for years known as the Loud Librarian. Most of us in the profession know that the whole “shh” thing is an annoying cliche, but I’m proud to go wayy behind smashing it.
I’m the first Teen Services Librarian in the 100-year history of Crandall Public Library. That means nobody can say, “But that’s not the way the previous librarian did it!” So our Teen Group has done a Murder Mystery, a boffering demo…you get the idea.
The thing I’ve worked hardest on so far is my Hot Topics collection. Remembering that being a teen was feeling a constant state of embarrassment, I selected a couple hundred books on dating, STDs, alcohol, gender ID, religion, lack of religion, politics, cutting and other things teens don’t want to ask the middle-aged lady with the bun about. I put all the books in a discreet place behind the Teen Center couch, so they can browse in private. The books are popular enough to get strewn about but rarely appear on someone’s library card, which is just the way I hoped they’d be used.
Category: S&M Winners, 2009 5 comments »
April 9th, 2009 at 3:02 am
That is really cool – and sensitive. Loud, proud, and very understanding. This is just what having those kinds of books in libraries is all about – and why this kind of empowering access upsets some people. I’m touched and happy for these kids that you’re there for them.
April 10th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Precisely why many old folks don’t read in libraries any more. They just get books–no newspapers or magazines to read–and leave. Why stay and have to put up with noisy adolescents (they spent much of their lives doing that). Now, they just go home and are more lonely than ever. Congratulations.
April 12th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
As long as they’re checking things out, I’m OK with them not staying because they think the library is too loud. And for those of us who don’t like quiet, the library is a better place to hang out now. The Library as Quiet Place may have been a tradition, but being quiet (or being loud) really has nothing to do with the Library’s mission. There’s nothing inherently quiet about the Library.
Be proud to be loud!
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Mr. Ives,
Whoops–I forgot to put his part in. The Teen Center was designed to give privacy both to the teens and to the older patrons who want to browse in peace and quiet. The Teen Center is an enclosed, __soundproof__ room a full floor away from the adult fiction center. So don’t worry; the long-time patrons can and do read, play chess, and browse.
And the teens still get to be loud!
Frieda
January 19th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Hi Frieda!
If you’re the person I think you are, you may remember me from your time in Potsdam. If so, hello! I’ve been hearing good things about Crandall lately, and it makes me smile to know that you’re involved.
Your idea about the Hot Topics section is a great one, and I applaud your understanding that circulation numbers are not the only measure of success. I wish our library had had a section like that when I was a kid!
To respond to Peter, given that many of the same “old people” complain vigorously about the demise of reading ability among “those kids”, shouldn’t the geezers be glad of anything that convinces younger people to voluntarily interact with printed text? Or, given their longer experience with participatory democracy, should we not expect them to interact and ask that their needs be met, rather than picking up their metaphorical balls and going home?
As both a computer scientist and an analog nut, I believe in the value of physical books and am committed to supporting libraries to house them. Having access to a boundless trove of Kindle files is not the same. That said, the world is changing, and if the lieberry can’t adapt to the new order, we’re going to have Trouble right here in River City.
Besides, I doubt that the kids are very loud when they’re sneaking off with books about puberty. Loudness and sneaking aren’t traditional bedfellows.