I make no secret that issuing library cards is probably my least favorite desk task. It has some nice, social elements if one wants to make a production of it, and it has a beauty in its partaking of ancient library traditions, but it is too rote and data entry heavy to really be satisfying. And anything with data entry feels increasingly dated to me these days anyway. There has got to be another way! Also, I would maybe feel more tolerant of library card registrations if people treated them with more gravity. Why would someone drive 40 miles across the metro area to try and get their first library card here? And I suspect that many people also get library cards just to get a library card, and not because they want check out a book or use a service that requires a library card.
Honestly, if library cards weren't so tedious to issue, these little peculiarities wouldn't get to me at all. Library cards for everyone! Open the floodgates! Let flow a river of library cards!
But after explaining all the library card... stuff, and typing in:
Location
Patron type
Name
Birthday
Scanning a barcode
Address line 1
City, State
Zip code
Check email
Check preoverdue
Email address
Phone
Type
Stat class
Pin
A few dozen times, my mind wanders down darker paths. And here is the horrible policy I've come up with:
If a person gets a library card and in the next week does not check anything out or access any of our services, their account will be locked and they will be denied all future library service forever!
Not that they'll care. Let's face it, we're never seeing any of these people ever again.
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