Camping Out

My boss informed me that a small group of psychology students want to perform an experiment observing people's reactions to things in unfamiliar locations, basically they want to set up a tent in the library and see how students react.

I don't know why he didn't tell them how people reacted when some students pitched a tent last year. No one said a thing. The big boss was the only one really annoyed by it. I thought it was funny. My co-vampire shrugged and said they just better not start a campfire. We didn't see the big deal. The kids took it down everyday when they weren't using it, and none of the other students complained. Kids sleep here all the time. This bunch was just better prepared.

So Thursday night, the Library Campground will reopen.

My new motto.

Get it on T-shirts, tote bags, or thongs at The Curmudgeony Librarian.

And no, I am not affiliated with this store in anyway.

The Danger of Knowing Too Much About Your Patrons.

This was strange. I'd just come on shift. When my shift begins, Library X closes to the public. All non-university people must leave the building, and they can't come back in till 7:30am. We call these people community members. I saw one of our newer community members stroll in at a quarter after midnight. He was just part of a herd of students that arrived. I was busy at the desk, but tracked him to see if he went downstairs.

The student who was showing me his ID, noticed who I was tracking and said, "He's a registered sex offender."

I didn't know if the student was even talking about the same man I was keeping tabs on or if he was ragging on a friend. A girl who was with the student, looked at him in doubt.

"No, he really is. I saw him in the database." To the female student, he added, "He was the guy harassing Jamie."

Well, if the guy were a student, I wasn't going to worry about his sex offender status. In fact, if he showed me proper university ID, I think I would've expunged the sex offender info from my head because that's something I really don't want to know about a student I have to help and be courteous to, but it is something I want to know about a community member. I'd know to watch him in case he began to break library policy (and/or state law) and call UPD on him. Is it a double standard? Yes. Do I feel guilty? No. Well, to qualify that, I would assume a student's criminal record would be known by the university, and the possibility of whether or not he or she would pose a risk to the university community would be decided by the proper authorities. So a student, who was a registered sex offender, would assumedly be someone who has been deemed a non-risk. That's no guarantee but I'd trust in the university's judgment. A community member has had no such risk assessment.

But none of that really matters to this story. When I approached the individual and asked him if he were a student, he didn't prevaricate. He just said no. I informed him that the library closed to the public at midnight, and he would have to leave. He was easy-going about it. He asked if this was posted anywhere. I pointed out the ID requirement sign, the general hours sign on the outside doors, and that the website also had this information. He left without further comment, but the student's sex offender comment nagged at me. I knew there were databases, but I'd never looked at one. I googled my state and "sex offender database" and found the appropriate website. I put in the university's zip code and got a half page list of registered sex offenders. I clicked through the names. There are pictures of each offender and a list of their convictions.

I found our community member in the database. There was no mistaking him. He'd been convicted of taking indecent liberties with children in 1995 and forcible sodomy in 1998. Oh, I did not need to know this.

I know that we're supposed to forgive and forget, but I don't know if I can forget this with the heebie jeebies marching up and down my spine. Plus, I've mentioned this before, kids come here a lot. I don't want to assume the guy's a pedophile that poses a risk to these kids, but that's a concern.

I looked up the state code for these types of crimes. There are multiple scenarios that fit either crime that range in vileness. The indecent liberties charge is applied when the minor is under the age of 15 and encompasses genital fondling by either party, exposing minor to pornographic material, or someone 18 or over proposes sexual act with child (i.e. guy on internet tries to hook-up with 13 year-old for sex, but minor is actually an undercover cop). The other charge is pretty straight forward, though the fact that they call the victim a "complaining witness" is disturbing. They use the same wording when discussing rape. That terminology seems too facile to me. But forcible sodomy is basically what it says though it encompasses many other sexual acts that are not sexual intercourse. (I'm not going to list them because this blog probably pops up in enough perverted web searches as it is.)

Because the guy was convicted before 2000, he has no restrictions concerning contact with children, so I don't have any clear reason to say anything to the administration, and the wording for "sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children" only indicates primary, secondary, and high schools as prohibited places. It looks like in the eyes of the law that he is to be viewed as any other person who enters the library with no special restrictions upon him. I'm unsure if I should mention this at all to my boss or not. I showed the guy's database record to two co-workers when I discovered it because I just could not believe it, but I don't know if I should take it any further than that.

These are the places my state notifies when a registered sex offender moves into the neighborhood:

Child Day Care or Child-Minding Services, elementary, secondary, public, parochial and denominational schools, STATE REGULATED or LICENSED child care institution, child day center, child day program, foster home or group home of the registration of a sex offender residing within the same or contiguous zip code as the entitled organization or entity.

It's a shame public libraries aren't included in the list. I know it's common for libraries to not allow unattended children under a certain age to remain in the library, but libraries are still a place where children go, and there's supposedly an air of safety there that parents assume, but I've heard and witnessed several horror stories because the bottom line is public libraries are open to anyone so that means anyone can come in.

Heesh, this whole subject is freaking me out. I'm really beginning to wonder how that student knew the community member was a registered sex offender. His throwaway comment to his friend leads me to believe the community member has been, at the least, making a nuisance of himself to others that would lead them to know about his criminal convictions. Don't want to imagine what he might have been trying to do.

I suppose if the community member requests library assistance, I will answer his questions and help him out but no chit chat. I'm still not sure how widely known I should make this revelation. It would be of interest to my co-workers, but I don't know if it would be constructive knowledge.

Drag Bingo

Drag Bingo…Okay, somebody’s gonna have to educate me. How does it work?

Fake eyelashes, rhinestone fingernails, 2’ hairdo, stiletto heels, goatee…BINGO?

My co-vampire says they played QUEER Bingo at her college, where instead of B-I-N-G-O, they used Q-U-E-E-R and shouted “QUEER!” when they won, but drag doesn’t have enough letters, so I’m perplexed.

Hee.

Here's an impressive list of library blogs and well, just about everything and anything else library related. I will be scrolling through it in depth, but I know the most important link is on there already. That's right. There's a link to little old me. Hee.

But the funny part is I'm next to Walt Crawford. Snerk. I know it's just alphabetic fate, but he's like erudite and stuff and well, you've read my entries. I've blogged about dirty thongs, streaking, and porn geezers. The fact that we're side by side just makes me giggle.

The Wireless Network is Down.

Let me repeat, the wireless network is down.

Student: Hi, I can't get onto the wireless network.

I point to the sign on the desk.

Me: The wireless network is down.

Student: No, I can't get onto the network at all.

I point at the sign again.

Me: No one can.

Student: No, I mean I've never gotten onto the network.

Me: You're trying to set up your wireless network account?

Student: Yes!

I stare at him a moment, hoping the situation will sink in, and he'll realize that he's being a little bit foolish. He just blinks at me.

Me: Well, the network's down right now, but you can't set up a wireless account through the wireless network. You have to use a network cable to do it.

Student looks slightly confused but nods his head anyway.

Student: Okay, can I get a network cable?

Me: No, they're all checked out.

Student: All of them?

Me: Yes, they're very popular tonight because the wireless network is down.

Student: Can you tell me when one will be back?

Me: No. They check out for 24hrs.

Student: Oh. Can I get a laptop?

Me: Yes.

Student: They're set up for wireless, right?

Me: Yes, but the wireless network is down.

Student: So I can't get on the internet on one of those?

Me: No.

Student: Oh, well...How am I supposed to get onto the internet?

Me: Well, there are a bunch of PC's right behind you...

Student turns and seems to see the twenty empty PC's behind him for the first time.

Student: Oh, right.

And he wanders away...

I've had this conversation about ten times in varying degrees tonight.

You know they say young people are very tech savvy, but this is a load of crock. They just accept that things work and don't ask why and then become very befuddled when stuff no longer works. They're the Harry Potter generation. Everything's magic!