Last week I found a 7-year-old using one of the unfiltered computers in the adult department.
I approached him and said, “Hi there. Can I ask you a question? How old are you?”
He said, “Seven.”
I shook my head knowingly and said, “I’m sorry, but you have to be 14 to use the computers here. You can use the computers in the youth area, though, even if you don’t have a library card with you.”
He said, “Aw hell! I can’t just use this computer?”
“No, sorry. When you’re 14 you can.”
“Shiiiiiiiiiit.”
This was when I noticed he had a tattoo. Seriously, a big black anchor tattooed on his neck. It started at the bottom of his neck, spread out down across his collarbones, and the tip dipped down into his little-boy chest. This was no lick-on tattoo, nor was it a sketch with a Sharpie. It was perfect, and a professional did it, and it actually was drawn so that the tiny lumps of his collarbones didn’t distort the image. I was in disbelief: this boy had a fucking tattoo on his neck, and on top of that, he used language as bad as my own.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that he was with a group of teens and not a parent. The teens were so irritating to me that I was considering kicking them out, even though they hadn’t done anything truly disruptive or dangerous. One girl had a horrible habit of laughing in this explosive way. It seemed she’d start off biting her lips to try to keep from making the outburst, but it would burst out anyway, and sound like BUH-haaaaaaaaaaah! Each time she did it, I asked her to keep her voice down and she would look right at me and deny doing it, even though I watched her do it. And they were runners. Excitable kids who felt the need to constantly run from one to the other, and when I told them to walk, they’d slow down to a walk, and on the return, would be sprinting past again. It was nothing overtly belligerent, just extremely irritating, and I could feel my blood pressure rising.
Not long after I announced to my partner that I was about to throw the group out, they started screaming threats to fight with another group of teens, who were quietly sitting at a computer, holding a baby. My partner called the police and I made sure the obnoxious group with the tattooed little boy left the building and did not return.
Teens with babies in the library. Other teens with a younger sibling, tattooed on his neck. Fights. Police. And it’s still summer vacation.
How do you prevent the school year from starting?
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2 comments:
I don't want it to be the same way it was last school year with all of our patrons having to walk through a mob of foul-mouthed teenagers hanging out in front of the library. I don't want to deal with non-resident, foul-mouthed parents complaining we "done their kids wrong" when we bounce their spawn out for acting like hooligans.
I don't wanna, but I'm gonna have to, so it's time to gird my loins and prepare for it--sigh.
The school year just started here and this is a high school/public library. They've already called the cops today and yesterday security had to escort a few people out. There is no stopping the hell-spawn.
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