Poor product placement - Let's get this fixed in ALL libraries!

If you are six years or so old then looking at tapes and books on the bottom shelves is just fine.  You might not be able to actually read them, but maybe you can look at the nice covers.

For the rest of the library patrons, particularly those past middle age, we wonder just what the thought process is for putting stuff on the bottom shelves?

Here is an example FYI and there is plenty of room to move those CD's from the bottom shelf higher up so people don't have to squat down to look at what is there:

Not quite as bad but still silly is this setup with 16 books down where only children and midgets can easily see what is there.

Just to help out a bit I moved those books higher up so people can see them.  

Note that there was plenty of room on those higher shelves and there is no need to put them so low.  Maybe it is more esthetically pleasing to distribute them like that, makes the shelf look pretty, but practically it is a pain in the ass to have to stoop down to see what is available.

1/29/17

Minor Update:  Board of Trustees Will Keep Speed Bumps Despite Patrons Wanting Them Removed!

The library originally had 8-9 of these speed bumps.  Complaints by myself and many others had them reduce the number to 5.  The Trustees decided to keep those 5.  That leaves 3-4 of them removed to some unknown fate.

The library to date, including the Trustees, has yet to acknowledge that they simply screwed up when installing this stupid speed bumps.

Getting any governmental organization to actually admit they goofed is impossible.  They won't do it.  This 'facility director' should have to pay for those removed speed bumps, take it out of his pay check.

The 3 humps right in front of the library remain, in the 2 other locations the speed bumps were reduced to 1 in the middle of the road rather than 3 across.

The money wasted on these un-needed reverse pot holes should have gone into buying BOOKS!

1/20/17

Library trustees vote to keep speed bumps
Cherokee Tribune  Emily Selby 1/13/17

Members of the Sequoyah Regional Library Board of Trustees put safety at the top of their list at their meeting Thursday as they voted to keep speed bumps located at the Woodstock Public Library.

Bill Harris, a resident of Holly Springs, sent several emails to the board regarding his concerns over the speed bumps and documented his correspondence in a blog post.

“The addition of these useless speed bumps was a mistake,” he said in an email in December. “It is the equivalent of a car dropping into a pot hole every time you go over one. I have a relatively new 2016 Explorer and I object to having to go over three to four of these useless devices on each visit.”

Library Director Anita Summers said other measures had been tried at the library to prevent accidents, but the speed bumps were installed for the safety of patrons, especially at the pedestrian crosswalk at the front of the building.

“The ones in front of the building are the most critical,” she said. “Our facilities manager said he saw a little kid almost get hit one day.”

Summers also said in an email to Harris that additional handicap spaces had been added in the adjacent parking lot, which created concerns for patrons walking to and from the library.

After receiving some complaints from library-goers, several speed bumps were removed and other sections were reduced, depending on their location.

“(Our facilities manager) believes that this adjustment will satisfy the complainants while at the same time provide a level of safety for all patrons in the crosswalks,” Summers said in the email.

At Thursday’s meeting, Summers asked the trustees if they felt they went overboard in installing the speed bumps.

“I don’t think we went overboard at all,” said trustee Thomas Hill. “I think the current configuration is acceptable.”

In his email, Harris complained that the three speed bumps located at the front of the library near the front entrance and a U-turn were unnecessary.

“The sightline is quite reasonable to see vehicles coming around the 180 degree curve in the front of the library … so any reasonable handicapped person or children should see approaching vehicles well in advance and be sensible enough not to step in front of them just to see if they are going to yield the right of way,” he said.

Summers said in the meeting that the Woodstock library has a “very challenging parking lot, and it is the busiest facility.” She also noted that the driveway comes right up to the front entrance.

After discussion, the board decided to keep the current configuration of speed bumps.

“I am not surprised with the trustees’ decision as it is always easier for those folks higher up the food chain to support decisions, even wrong ones, made at a lower level, than to come forward and say that an error was made and will be corrected,” Harris said in an email.

Trustee Deborah Fincher said the board appreciated Harris’ concerns, but felt this was the best method of safety.

“We have done our due diligence in taking care of the safety of our patrons,” she said. “We found that this is the most effective method in keeping our patrons safe and we feel sure that were it (his) child, (he) would want that concern addressed.”

-----------------------------------------------------

From: eselby@cherokeetribune.com
To: Harris2016@aol.com
Sent: 1/13/2017 12:58:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

Subj: Cherokee Tribune - Library Speed Bumps

Hi Mr. Harris, 

My name is Emily Selby and I am a reporter at the Cherokee Tribune. We received your email and saw your blog post and I actually attended the Library Board of Trustees meeting yesterday. 

The board decided to keep the current configuration of speed bumps for the safety of library patrons. I was wondering if you have a response to that and do you still believe the speed bumps need to be removed? 

If there is anything else you would like to add, please feel free. 

Thank you,

Emily Selby 
Reporter, Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News 
770-479-1441 ext.225

REPLY

From: bloggercentral@aol.com
To: eselby@cherokeetribune.com
Sent: 1/13/2017 3:53:13 P.M. Eastern Standard TimeSubj: Subj: Library Speed Bumps

Sent: 1/13/2017 12:56:09 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

Subj: Library Speed Bumps

I was wondering if you have a response to that and do you still believe the speed bumps need to be removed? 
======================================== 

Yes, they should ALL be removed they are a foolish waste of scarce library resources costing about $135 each. 

I am not surprised with the Trustees decision as it is always easier for those folks higher up the food chain to support decisions, even wrong ones, made at a lower level, than to come forward and say that an error was made and will be corrected. 

Consider that, if those reverse potholes were really needed then the library was asleep for the last 10-12 years and only woke up to a problem in December last year. If they were needed last December then clearly they were always needed and the library management was asleep at the switch for a decade. 

You might note that the set of photos on my blog site (before and after) show that complaints by many people, not just me, resulted in about half the speed bumps being removed before the Board of Trustees meeting. So clearly the library thought that at least half of them were not needed at all. (wonder what happened to those removed?) 

As I pointed out in my various emails, with what seems to have been one unverified complaint about 'speeding' and several dozen complaints about the speed bumps suddenly appearing, it seems to me that we have a situation here where the tail is wagging the dog. 

You may have already seen the attached article "The Continuing Problem With Speed Humps", but it is appended FYI. 

If you would care to provide a copy of the article you write I will add it to my blog site. 

I appreciate your publications interest in reporting on this issue. 

Bill Harris 
Citizen Journalist 
http://removespeedbumps.blogspot.com/