Shiny happy signs
Fri 25 Aug 2006, 4:24 pm
Sorry I can’t talk right now; I’m in the library!
Chas says… Tutt Library keeps you afloat in a flood of homework!
I don’t know that I have written about it here, or if I have just commented on other people’s blogs, but I’m not very fond of the practice of posting signs from libraries in order to criticize them. I just think that if someone personally pointed out to me a sign in my library that they found objectionable, I’d be willing to listen and maybe explain, and maybe change the sign. But if someone came into my library, took photos of our signs, and posted them to Flickr with the intent of saying how bad they are, I’d want to punch him or her in the nose.
And yet, the discussion around signs has certainly got me thinking. We want to discourage cell phone use in our library because our students (the ones who aren’t talking on the phone, anyway) have told us how distracting and rude they find it when cell phones are ringing and people are talking on their phones in study areas. But there is no need to be snarky or abrupt about it in our signs.
So, as I posted before, we are taking a cue from Regis University Library and trying some one-on-one signage for cell phone users. We ripped them off wholesale, though we did change one of their slogans to “‘I’m sorry, I can’t talk right now; a librarian just handed me this card…’”
I was also fond of the phrase “promoting a research-friendly atmosphere.” After all, that’s the point, right? Nobody expects this library to be monastery quiet. So I made up a new wall sign, too, incorporating that wording and using a Creative Commons-licensed image from Flickr.
For other sign-like objects, some of my colleagues have designed the “Tutt Library keeps you afloat” image for magnets that we’ll be handing out with our contact info.
They have also come up with a nifty door hanger for new students with “Do not disturb / I’m connected to the Library!” on one side and “If my parents call, I’m at the Library!” on the other (along with our contact info, of course). Illustrations are photos of CC students from the 50s or 60s from the archives. I seem to remember the main reason to hang something on the dorm room doorknob was to send the signal to one’s roommate that he or she should get lost for a little while. So maybe “I’m connected to the Library!” will become CC slang for “I’m getting some action.”
Tags:
library,
coloradocollege,
signs,
cellphones
- License:
- File under: Public relations
- Comments? 4
Thank you for saying what I’ve been thinking for quite some time. Wouldn’t it be nicer to scrap most of what’s in the Flickr group and replace it with examples of GOOD signs so that we can all see what works for other people (possibly with explanations saying why the sign is there)?
Personally, I wouldn’t be likely to go up to people and hand them a card… but I’m a wimp. And besides, our fourth floor is anything but quiet, so I’m not likely to hear if people on lower floors are being too noisy. Still, if our reference area were quiet, I’d be willing to try the card approach, especially the card about “…because a librarian just handed me this card….” That’s awesome!
Comment by Iris — August 26, 2006 @ 10:34 am
Iris, I guess we are hoping that the cards will give us a little courage, and be nicer than having to interrupt someone when they are on the phone.
I forgot to mention in this post that my colleague, Debra, gave out the first card. The recipient read it and said (with her phone still pressed to her ear) “that’s so cute!” The guy I gave a card to later seemed less impressed.
Comment by Steve Lawson — August 26, 2006 @ 12:50 pm
As the guy who started the Flickr group I guess I feel I should defend the practice. Please realize that I’ve posted just as many (if not more) good examples than bad. In one case (http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/124453103/in/pool-librarysignage/) the “bad sign” was from the library that I’m on the board of, so I’ll take it as well as I can give it out.
As for just talking to the person in charge of the sign, I’ve tried that and it doesn’t always work. In most cases, I’m just some joe off the street who doesn’t even live in town, so why should my opnion be considered. Posting my comments in the group and on my blog, gets the attention necessary to get a policy change considered.
I’m sorry that it needs to come to that some times, but I’m trying to do it in the most postive, yet effective way I can thnk of.
Comment by Michael Sauers — September 1, 2006 @ 7:46 am
Thanks for commenting, Michael. I submitted our “Sorry, I can’t talk right now” sign to the pool, and I’m interested to see how it grows.
I think we just differ in that you think it “needs to come to that sometimes” and I don’t.
Comment by Steve Lawson — September 1, 2006 @ 10:54 am