The past month we've had problems with someone smoking in our library building. This is a new experience for me. In all my years of working in libraries (and this goes back to my first job as a shelver at a branch of the St. Louis Public Library), I've never encountered a patron smoking in the library.
This is another example of why you never say never, especially in libraries.
Anyway, my staff have been alerting me to the smell of smoke in our stairwell and in the ladies room. I consulted with Police Services and suggested installing smoke detectors in the bathrooms and the hallway. The smoke detectors were installed sometime this week. This morning our reference librarian, Rachel, asked me if I'd seen the sign in the ladies room. After she told me about the sign, I did what any reasonable person would. I grabbed my camera and went to take a picture of "the sign". Despite my urge to change "Whoever" to "Whomever", I am glad to see the community announcing their displeasure with our female smoker. I'm also happy students are taking ownership of their library. It will allow me to be more effective in my role as the head librarian.
I couldn't have said it any better.
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