I got a good laugh out of the recent comment on book trucks (carts). May I share my experience as a former library worker turned BYU student? I have some thoughts on why Lee Library’s book trucks are outdated and noisy.
First, I have worked in three libraries in Georgia, two in Tennessee and one in Utah (not the Lee Library). All of these libraries, small and large, had the same problem — libraries are typically underfunded.
I often had to push around book trucks that took Hercules to make them go around a corner when heavily loaded, and made all kinds of noises from grinding to whines.
It’s not the fault of Administration; they struggle to provide incomes for library employees that come close to private industry or even the other states’ salary norms, and come short.
Bottom line, libraries have always been frugal because need always exceeds money. At one library I worked at, we would put a fishbowl in the Reference office and beg people to deposit their extra change. At all the libraries I worked at, I was “just a staff.” I worked hard to try to make life easier for our students in every way possible. Service is a long-standing library tradition.
So, there’s the problem. What’s the solution? Talk to other students. Could a group do a fund-raiser to get one new book truck? If enough book truck drives popped up, maybe the library could retire those clunkers.
Dannis Cole
Provo
