I spend a lot of time on Flickr and every so often I come across something that just really bothers me. No, I’m not talking about someone’s tasteless photograph; I’m referring to mean library signs. Many of the worst ones target cell phone users. Of course, if your sign can be addressed to teen use of cell phones, well then you’ve hit the daily double of nasty. One library I came across the other day even threatens you with a hundred dollar fine if you’re caught talking on a cell phone in the library. Let’s set aside for a moment the fact that bad cell phone policies and unfriendly signs send a message to these customers that we don’t want you in our libraries. These practices are also out of step with the services libraries are already offering or moving towards in the near future.
You’re phone is getting smarter.
Remarkably given the state of the economy, cell phone sales are booming, especially smart phones like the iPhone, and the Blackberry pearl. Formerly the domain of techies and executives, these smart phones are now coming into the mainstream, and that represents a great opportunity for libraries. In the past several years more and more libraries have begun offering downloadable content such as audio books, music, video and eBooks all of which are compatible with many smart phones.
One of the big hurdles for widespread acceptance of this downloadable content has been the issue of incompatibility with the iPod. Now that OverDrive has announced it will later this summer be releasing DRM free audio books that will work with iPods-look for more details at ALA-can the announcement that these same materials will also be compatible with the iPhone as well, be far off? Downloads still have some issues, notably the learning curve for first time users, but soon libraries will finally offer them to the vast majority of customers who have been up to now, shut out from these materials.
Kindle the new iPod?
I want to be a fan of eBooks, but I just can’t warm up to them. But like a lot of things I buy for the library whether I personally enjoy them or not is irrelevant, I buy them because our customers expect the library to have them. And the Kindle has the potential to do for eBooks what the iPod did for digital music. Should that happen, library customers are going to expect that the library offer the latest bestseller in eBook format as well. Two of the largest selling points of the Kindle seem to be convenience and an improved experience for the reader. You can already read an eBook on your smart phone and many are, as the success of Harlequin’s eBook program has shown, so the audience for eBooks is there, it’s the experience that has to improve and perhaps only slightly.
Forget about email, texting is where it’s at.
My library is considering moving to another ILS vendor. And as part of our conversation we’ve been asking about the possibility of offering texting of holds notices to patrons. So far none of them have promised anything other than it’s in the purgatory known as development. But all of them admit that they’re hearing this request from other library systems as well.
I love the idea of text message notifications because it reflects the fact that texting is the preferred method of communicating over email, and voice calls for many tech savvy users. Why Library Elf can handle texting me my holds and overdue notices so eloquently, but ILS vendors cannot is perhaps only explicable by the commitment of their resources to adding tags and reviews which seem to be the current innovations they’re all trying to offer in one form or another.
What I find very, very strange is that we’re still talking about cell phones in such negative terms when the technological trends are all moving these devices towards a much greater integration with current and emerging library services. Yes, cell phone conversations can be annoying, and yes, libraries need to try and offer some spaces for quiet study. But cell phones can be used in a quiet manner, texting and soft phone conversations are no more disruptive to the library than any other patron conversation.
Libraries should separate the patron behavior that is disruptive away from these devices which are now ubiquitous. To allocate resources to collections like eBooks, downloadable music, video and audio books and to move towards developing services like texting hold notifications while at the same time treating cell phone users as pariahs is ridiculous in the short term and dangerous in the long term.
This post originally appeared in Shelf Space (Foreword Magazine’s blog)
3 Comments
I have to say that there are two reasons we don’t allow cell phones to be used in our library.
#1. Not all people use cell phones in a quiet manner, and in fact, I would say that most people tend to talk loudly on their cell phones. Just our patrons? Maybe they have poor service? I don’t know, but I do know that when someone is using a cell phone in the library, no matter where we are, we can hear them talking. And so can everyone else.
#2. Cell phone ring tones. Okay, some people do remember to at least put their cell phone on vibrate, but most use these loud, annoying rings. And they tend to keep their cell phones in hard to reach places, so the ringers go on and on. After the third verse of some hip-hop tune, we’ve had enough. It’s disruptive, plain and simple.
I don’t know how to get around these problems in order to be able to promote using cell phones for various services, but for now, we are forced to limit the use to our front hallway, if necessary.
I agree not everyone uses the kind of courtesy to others in the library that we’d like to see. I think it’s possible though, to provide a friendly message to cell phone users that asks them to be courteous by silencing ringers, asks them to make calls in designated areas, and to watch their voice levels. In other words, to treat them as we would any other customer whose voice level was carrying.
I think we run a danger of looking hypocritical if we hassle someone about their cellphone use and then stand by and let mothers stand near the check out desk and talk loudly after storytime–a behavior I’ve observed many, many times. Voice levels that would be unacceptable for teens, cell phone users and most others, staff will let pass without a second thought.
If we want to be the noise police then we ought to try and treat everyone the same.
Some good points made here on the noise factor of people in general. Really makes you think about why we are keeping libraries noise free in general. Thanks.