The problem with working in a public library as a bookworm

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As the title suggests, I love to read. I also work at a public library. The problem I have is that right next to the staff exit, there is a bin for books and other items to be thrown away (either outdated materials, grubby items, or donations that probably wouldn't sell for one reason or another).

It seems like at least once a week, I see something in that bin that intrigues me, and since it is destined for the dumpster anyways, I grab it. I always make sure to put a dollar into the sales box every time I do it, but the books and other items have added up. Right now, I have a storage unit that is halfway filled with boxes of books.

In fairness, I have found some interesting items in the bin. For example, I found a large box filled to the brim with brand new, factory sealed 8-track and reel-to-reel tapes. I've also found some early editions of really popular items.

Anyone else have a similar problem with their jobs or hobbies?

I would like to work in a library but I find them too noisy these days, as people bring their kids in and let them run around screaming, and they hold a day care session in the mornings for babies and toddlers in libraries of all places. So libraries being quiet places seem to be a thing of the past around where I come from. I'm sure kids were easier to control years ago than what they are today.

Yeah, they are definitely different from when I was a kid. Have you thought about an academic library, like one in a college, government organization, or law school, rather than a public library? Those are usually much quieter, though they might require more experience to get your foot in the door.

I have tons of books because of the same habits but since I have bouts of homelessness, I never keep them that long. I have been collecting all my life.

When I went back to work on my PhD (before my committee chairman left and I was stuck with a very controlling committee chairman who thought I should only work on what she was interested in), the two main college libraries were much noisier than in the 1970s. It was really hard to concentrate. The only times they were tolerable was between semesters when almost nobody was in them.

There was one college library that was usually quiet -- the second floor of the medical school library that had their collections. The medical and vet school students had private study rooms assigned to them on the second floor and every once in a while three or four medical students would gather in one and be noisy. It also had much more comfortable chairs. In general, it was a very pleasant place to study.

I found the "BZZT" of a cattle prod gets instant silence from a corridor full of babbling soldiers.

My mum the librarian was fond of the expression "Speak softly and carry a big stick"

I propose "Say nothing and carry a cattle prod."

I don't think I could work in a library. It'd be like trusting a crackhead with a warehouse full of crack, I'd be too busy consuming the product to focus on anything else.