Friday, May 21, 2010

Recently I’ve been fielding questions from patrons about what goes on in library land. Below you will find Q and A to our most frequent asked questions. Consider this “Everything you ever wanted to know about libraries but were afraid to ask" 

Q: Why do you permit cell phones?
A: Smart cell phones work just like a computer. It would be unfair to restrict this important information tool while allowing people to use their laptops on our Wi-Fi network. We don't permit noisy activities and do ask people to engaged in lengthy conversations on their cells to take it outside.

Q: Isn't the e-book thing going to put libraries out of business?
A: Most of our customers still prefer to read print books; however the library has 2,000 e-books and 3,000 audio books that can be downloaded to your home PC and transferred from there to a Sony Reader, an MP3 player, or an I-Pod.  These digital materials check out just like the “real” thing and are becoming increasingly popular.  

Q: My Yahoo won't "send".  
A:  Because you still are using "classic" yahoo instead of "New" yahoo.

Q: Are you Volunteers?
A: No, we are a paid staff. I of course let the patron or person asking know about our great volunteer program that they are more than welcome to join.

Q: Do you have any books that I would like to read?
A: What kind of things interest you? Do you like to watch movies about Adventure or action? Do you like to read stories about dogs, cats, aminals, fairies? Let's see what kind of books we have on that topic.

Q: For our patrons that have small children that end up using the teen computers before we catch them logging on:
A: I see you are already logged onto the computer, but - just so you know for the future - for our patrons with small children we have computers through the doors on the main floor of the children's department for you to use. This is now our teen area. There are computers for the children and we also have toys for them to play with while you are on the computer.

Q: What makes a book a classic?
A: Classics are usually regarded as books with an enduring appeal for various reasons which might include touching upon desires of themes that are important to diverse readers accross time and place, strength of writing, and originality in terms of factors such as style and topic. (http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/emiert/cskbookawards/docs/INeverKnew-2008Fall.pdf).

Q: Why is this trilogy (or series) missing (a) book(s)? I want to read them all in order.
A: Please let us know ( we have a request form) which books you would like to see us add to our collection. Often, books are lost and we are not notified of the need for or popularity of a tittle without this assistance from you.

Q: I saw a new, bestselling book at Walmart, Barnes & Nobel, ect. Why don't you have it here at the Library?
A: We buy books from a different book seller.

Q: I just paid for a water damaged book. Why can't I have the damaged book since i paid for it?
A: The book technically belongs to the Village of Ruidoso. You just paid a replacement fee.

Q: Why can't the Library be open more hours?
A: After budget cuts last year, we are open as much as we can.


*If you have any questions please email the Library @ library@ruidoso-nm.gov
  
For immediate assistance please call (575)-258-3704