Library Sherpa

Someone asked me if I have not updated my blog because I’m too consumed with reading the latest Harry Potter book.  No, that’s not the case.  I’m afraid I am not a Potter aficionado, just a little lazy and unfocused lately. 

I saw this blog posting and wanted to share.  “Does Self-Checkout Make Libraries Less Friendly?”  I’m kind of torn.  Perhaps these are a necessary evil.  While I agree that they do make libraries seem less friendly, some people (myself included) don’t always want that personal touch and just want to get in and out of the library quickly.  One of the comments to this original post made the connection to the self-check out at the supermarket, and that it was along the lines of having a personal choice.  What agitates me the most about self check-out, either in a supermarket or library, are those people who cannot use the equipment and then tie up the line for the rest of us.  Sounds a little cocky, I know.  We need more common sense in this world.  If you eye up a contraption and don’t feel confident that you can use it properly, then swing on over to the human at check-out to help you.  While I’m ranting, same goes for E-Z Pass on the highways.  If you see an “E-Z Pass Only” sign and you don’t know what “E-Z Pass” is….then don’t get in that lane! 

Ahem.  Anyway, back to books.  Self-checkout in libraries.  Necessarily evil is my official response.  I do get impatient when the 6 year old in front of my has 30 books to check out to my one at my local public library.  I would embrace a self-checkout machine at those moments.  The machines just can’t replace the humans entirely…like the plot of many sci-fi books and films.  We librarians might wind up like this….

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