My library is on fire.. Is yours?

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What does this have to do with autism? Well I don't mean the book burners, I mean the useless staff.. I have experienced this in Downtown Van earlier in Covid and North Van like 15 mins ago..

What concerns me and brings this on topic is both instances involved public computer terminals, which likely get a lot of visits from ADHD/ASD, as we tend to be poor and into computers!

The second one just now and was my first time trying to use a public computer in north van. I kind of forgot it was a different library system from downtown and saved a computer before getting a card. I didnt want to leave my whole bag so I left my waterbottle, which is not allowed.. I mean no water not no saving seats. First library in ages I’ve seen where you can’t have covered drinks, in fact lately I’ve seen more libraries with cafes inside than ones that ban drinks entirely.

So of course I cant get a card WITH a valid DL cuz Im homeless, [that is not unique to North VAn] so I get a guest pass.

I get back to my terminal and a staff member is sitting at it. I felt funny saying I left a water bottle on it to save it cuz were not allowed water.. and he didnt want to give it up the terminal, I think he only did finally cuz the woman he was helping wanted to give it to me.

Then I try to sign on as a guest, and the forum will only take 6 digits out of the 14 on my guest pass.

So I go back to the computer stealing staff guy cuz his desk is closest to the computers, he tells me to sing in as a cardholder, which I had already looked at and didnt try cuz it had a password, and I hadnt been asigned a password afaiknew.. Im thinking at this point they could have a sticky note at least at the terminal telling guests not to sign in as a guest.

He tells me the pass is the last four digits of my phone number, and I said I hadnt givin my phone number downstairs when I got my guest pass, then remembered about 2 seconds later I had, and this is key cuz it is evidence he was gaslighting me,

So that does not work, I go back to his desk, and he says its the last four digits on my card.

Shocker, that does not work, and Ive hadit with this guy, so go back downstairs to where I got my card, to make sure they had my right phone number.

Downstairs She says the guest pass is "1234"

I said quite loudly the guy upstairs doesn't have a clue, [he likely heard me from upstairs as its open building] but by the time I for real logged in I was thinking has probably gassing me up, headgames, offended by the water bottle.

Well there is no bottle cage on my TK2, and I didnt see the no water rule till I got in.. and it just seemed a good non valuable item to save a seat, I wasn't drinking it..

I first wanted to write a slamming google review and link it to every email addy on the librarys site, but I only have an hour, well 36:15 now, not long enough to slam like this guy needs it.

So this is the rough copy of the slamming review. Any other libraries outside Van going to crap?

ps, whether incompetence or gaslighting, it is a very quiet library and he caused a lot of ruckus, why,, WHY!

ok it is real quiet, even this modern keyboard is noizy and Im ADHD and cant type quiet.. gotta go..

Last edited by The_Znof on 16 May 2021, 3:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Our library closed because of COVID. Then then they reopened but you could only order books on-line then pick them up at the library, but you could not stay. Last I heard you could browse for 30 minutes. In my mind browsing takes MUCH more than 30 minutes - like 3 hours minimum. I actually haven't been to the library since COVID started about March 2020.
Our library staff is mostly volunteers so they are giving their time for free to keep the library open. Only a few of of the staff are paid positions. I always try to make friends with the people working at the library and learn the names.

Does "Van" mean "Vancouver, British Columbia"?

Edit, thanks for replying, it helped my mood to find your reply when I got “home”.

Ok I’m back in my tent with an iPhone

Oops yes Vancouver bc, not the Van next to my Vans twin city, Portland Oregon.

I’m not sure what the browsing Situation is in north van, but last time I used the down town library you could not browse at all, but could use a computer terminal and order a book, and they would fetch it in 20 mins max

They also had one floor with a lot of computers open, [no browsing books though] and that’s where the other incident took place.

That one was more a straight up homeless bash, and I didn’t even look homeless till I tried charging 3 or 4 things. A phone and or a laptop, and one or two bike lights.

I only plugged 2 things into a tower and one or two more into AC outlets, but the first 2 towers I tried had dead USB jacks

I’m thinking if they were on the ball they could throw a sticky note on the towers, and getting a bit cranky by the 3rd tower.

At this time I overhear a staff member saying “he’s been here 10 mins and not signed in yet, and he’s used 3 computers.

I say back “the USB ports don’t work”

She says to me “you are breaking them with too many devices, it uses too much memory”

I was only putting 2 devices on each tower, and at least one was a bike light.

And how does this not translate into “you homeless guys are breaking them with your lights and phones”

Furthermore, how is either event not narcissistic abuse?

I bet the volunteers at your joint are far nicer than the pros here in Portland north!

Ps, the first incident downtown was in a Far, far noisier library, but I still got very dirty looks from another Patron for fumbling around with USB ports

Last edited by The_Znof on 16 May 2021, 5:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I have been fond of libraries and librarians most of my life. As far as I know, the library here is much as I found it, as the staff has not changed. In Victoria, I learned engineering from the library, and even found an obscure Russian paper at the UVic facility. Here in Saskatchewan, I wouldn't have been able to get started. However, when BC quit enforcing the tenancy laws to make room for Olympic visitors, I became homeless, and too traumatized by the illegal eviction to ever sleep adequately in another BC rental. Living in my car, I put gas in the tank until I found a house I could buy in the boondocks.
When I first came to this town, I was relying on ethernet cables for my email and internet, getting an occasional fix at a computer store. The library had ethernet, but nobody had ever plugged in their own device. I assured Joyce that it was just like plugging in a 'phone, and she gave me a look that assured an eternal curse if I was wrong, but let me proceed. My laptop was an extremely disreputable looking thing by then, with a big chunk of wood holding the power cable on.
I eventually found the house through making friends with another librarian nearby, who only worked four hours a week.

However, there's no real intelligence in the system. I can go to the city and borrow a movie, and then return it here, but it goes straight back to the city instead of being shelved for a while here to provide some variety. Many volumes are just unavailable on inter-library loans, as no copy is in the system.

FWIW, my MD got thrown out of Walmart for charging his 'phone while his wife shopped. They'd probably never seen a guy in a formal coat who had bought it new before.

Wild, I usually do well in library’s too, besides these two events during Covid -with the 2 tech challenged staff here in van / nv, I’ve only had 3 problems 2 with security guards any one with a patron, about 2015 for the patron problem

If you sit next to this patron, after a few minutes he hits his tower real hard and it’s loud, then when you jump and look he threatens you - but denies it with legalism. Probably the closest I’ve been to a fight since grade 3 Triggered!



The two non patrons were down town screws. (Security guards) One incident Was before COVID, a guy was yelling into his cell phone 20 feet from security while security did nothing. After a good 2 to 5 mins of this guy yelling, another patron Complained out loud to security, and when he was done I took the complaints to a new level, but apologized weeks later.

The other screw incident was in The Dt lobby while Waiting for the library itself to open, winter 2021

I was waiting in line on the 6 foot mark, and sat cross legged [to go through my bag easier] for about one or two Mins before security aproached and politely informed me that sitting is not allowed in the lobby

I was fine with the screw, it’s not his rule and he was polite - but I left before it opened, as I was pissed at the library to the point of being triggered And talking out loud about nanny state bs.. ya I said out loud “ I better leave before I make it worse“ and left

Btw The no sitting screw was not a homeless bash, i wasn’t plugging in devices to blow my cover and was very healthy and only a little scruffy at the time, it could have been anyone.

You are an inspiration to me, I want to live in the woods, roof part time, and save for a sailboat.

My best friend here spent his best years on the outer coast. Some of his haunts show up in https://www.shelterpub.com/building/bui ... ific-coast His first boat was just a canoe, which later got a lateen sail and bilge keels. With it, he could access dozens of deserted beaches, and some with a few kindred spirits. He even had a place on Vachon Is. However, another guy trying to copy the lifestyle drowned on his first day.

Thanks, I’ll read that after supper

Check this out, as my Rule breaking water bottle may Become an issue again

https://www.google.ca/search?q=water+an ... ent=safari

Oh, to add to the issues with mean library guy, he moved my bottle,.. almost like picking up a random mask..

Sorry to side jack my thread, but have you ever thought perhaps the engineers running traffic lights Lack intelligence in their system?



They thought he was a hobo with good luck in thrift stores?

Because of the pandemic, the majority of libraries in Portland's library system will remain closed.

However, a few will reopen on June 1st with the nearest one about fifteen minutes
away from my house using public transportation.

bummer, I guess I took it for granted ours have been sort of open for months now.

Funny, a few things have happened since I started this thread, or maybe I would have chilled out anyway, but I dont want to bother them anymore.


I once heard somebody say they were afraid of the women in Portland, because they were a caricature of all the worst male qualities.