Building open, library closed

I know this is a hard thing to comprehend...why is the building open, but the library closed?

Well, we are one of the lucky sites who gets to host Early Voting for an election that is going on right now. Early Voting is actually a super cool thing, and brings in hundreds of people who might not frequent the library (in fact, the other day alone we had 500 extra people here in the building just to vote early).

Early Voting opens to the public at 8:00 am. The library, however, doesn't open until 9:30 am. And on Fridays, the library isn't open at all! Hence the confusion.

We do our best to deter patrons from wandering around the building. We put up barriers and block pathways into the actual library part of the building. And, it's not like there is this big maze to get from the front door to the meeting room where the voting is held - it's a straight shot. It just seems that it would be obvious (especially considering there are signs EVERYWHERE that the library is closed until 9:30 Mondays through Thursdays and closed all day on Fridays - not to mention the barriers) that one is not supposed to be meandering through the stacks, browsing the DVD collection or picking up their holds.

Yesterday, I had a man shimmy past the barriers to the holdshelf where he wanted to check to see what he had on hold. When I told him (very nicely, I might add) that the library was closed, he got all up in my face (seriously) and told me that this is why he never comes here because we are SO rude.

Um, we're closed. CLOSED. That means NOT OPEN FOR BUSINESS. If the building were not open for early voting, you would not be able to check the holdshelf and see what came in for you. And even if I did let you check the holdshelf, you wouldn't be able to check these items out.

Once again, I am not here to piss you off, mess with your head or make your life a living hell. Though the way we get treated sometimes, that sounds like it might be a fun game...

haha... *wink*