Bad Mothers

The people that cause the most trouble in storytime are often not the little squirming children but the mothers. Some treat storytime not as a concert hall but as an open air performance where they can chat and socialize all they want.

The mothers don't seem to realize that there is a librarian/performer who spent time preparing the material they are presenting and is working extra hard to get the children's attention and doesn't need further distractions.

I heard a story of one mother who brought her cell phone into the storytime, left it on and when it rang she picked it up and began talking loudly in it. Other mothers disrupt storytime by letting their kids roam free, scream loudly and pull the cord out from the CD player.

I am blessed with good mothers (for the most part) in my storytimes but I hear tales of terror from other librarians. The trend seems to be that the more upper-class neighborhood the library resides in, the worse the mothers are. Maybe because these mothers are blessed with more amenities in life they are less appreciative for free public services.

A Sad Departure

Adieu Susan!

Monday was our beloved Susan's last day of work. She had done so much for our library and we will miss her. The teens will especially miss her because she touched many of their lives. This picture is Susan hugging our manager on her last day.

I found the teen's behavior interesting on her last day of work. They found out and signed the card we bought and gave her hugs. Even though Susan had poured her heart out to some of the teens they seemed too preoccupied with their lives to be noticeably shaken over her departure. They laughed and joked as always. In fact, two of the teens most closest to Susan came to me crying afterwards upset over the other teens not being "sad enough" over Susan leaving. I thought about this and determined it must be one or both of two things: Either they don't want to show their emotions, or they are too self absorbed to notice the departure of a someone important in their lives. Teens are remarkably self centered, it is just part of being a teen.

Whatever the case was I was upset with Susan leaving and will miss her stories and enthusiasm.

Racism in the Library

This week a group of Pacific Islander teen girls told me I was a "racist bitch" when I kicked them out of the library for misbehavior. Now teens have called me "racist" and teenage girls who I tell to leave love to throw the "b" word at me but I had never had the two words strung together before.

I have given some thought to why teens might call me, a white individual, racist when I discipline them. I have kicked out plenty of white people in my time. Even though the teens know the rules of the library they don't make the connection between their disruptive actions and the consequences. They simply see a white person punishing them, a person of color. Race supersedes all other factors in the situation.

Perhaps this is due to a process of over-generationalization/stereotyping of white people. They might have been mistreated before and they assume all white people are racist. The media or their families might be an influence.

I'm wondering how I can relate to these teens that I am not picking on them because they are of a different race. If they see that white teens are being kicked out too will that help? Perhaps if I explain more to them the rules and the consequences of those rules they will see that it is not a matter of race. However, if they are telling adult figures in authority that they are "racist bitches" it might already be too inbred in them.

Age is just a (Big) Number

Teens seem to have no conception of people's age. Two incidents this week have confirmed this in my mind.

First, I had one teen, a regular, ask me: Do you have a kid that my friend can date? I am 25 and I know I look 25. I asked the teen "how old do you think I am?" He went..."uh..." and stared at me with confusion. I told him, "I'm 25; do the math." (And by the way if I had a child there was no way I would let this kid knock at my door.)

Also, this week my coworker kicked out two giggly and overexcited middle school girls. They were not pleased to be booted out and on their way to the exit one shouted, "Grandma!" My coworker is not a grandma and does not even look like a grandma.

It appears that teens think that anyone over the age of adulthood has arthritis and are carting around their grand kids. No wonder they think we're horribly uncool: they think we all lived during the 50s.