Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page...For the regular library patrons among us: do you have your own idea of what constitutes proper library etiquette? Is there anything you always try to do? Anything you hate when others do?
A lack of library etiquette (and that includes how you treat the books you borrow) is one of the reasons why I don't use the library. When I go to the library, I don't want to hear your children screaming and running around (while you ignore them). I don't want to hear your cell phone ringing, and then you answering (loudly), "I'm in the library!" I don't want to smell your continual farts or your pungent body odour. (And yes, I am speaking from experience here. Unfortunately.)
When I'm in a library, I try to be quiet. When I borrow books, I try to treat them as I'd treat my own books (i.e., very carefully and respectfully). I don't dog-ear pages or tear instructions out of books because I'm too lazy to use a photocopier. But I won't inform the librarians of any damage, either (since the last time someone in our family did that, they got blamed for it).
Just because a library is free doesn't mean that it's a respect-free zone. If more people realized that, I might actually use the library.
Oh, I hate reading a magazine with a page ripped out. I hate unruly unsupervised children hanging around until a parent picks them up. I try to be considerate too with borrowed books.
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