As much as librarians want to make the library a welcoming place, sometimes patrons need to remember the library is not their home. This sounds old and fuddy-duddy-ish, but it's true. The library deserves respect, just as one's home does.
A bunch of teens have divested of shoes and dumped their backpacks, leaving trash and bottles, coats and hats all over the place. Makes getting around a bit difficult. They are relatively well-behaved, but it would be nice if they would be just a bit neater. Perhaps I'm asking too much of teenagers. It would be even nicer if we had the space to allow them to stretch out. I wish we did. Sadly, we don't. So far it hasn't been too much of a problem (other than noise) so we'll see how it goes.
Moments like these make me feel like an awful librarian.
At least they're here, I remind myself, instead of outside in the cold, or in trouble somewhere else.