Patron Comments | Ann Arbor District Library

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Here you can search through numerous patron comments and the corresponding AADL replies. Search by the type of comment, in general by what the comment is regarding, or by a particular issue.

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Date Received: 2019-12-04
Type: branch expansion comments
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -

Patron Comment: I am writing about the four study rooms at Westgate. The policy of not having a time limit, eg., 90 minutes, is resulting in an inequitable situation. I am a tutor with Washtenaw Literacy and meet my learner at Westgate. Often , I am able to use a vacant study room. We meet for about 75 minutes for a session. More often however, the rooms are not available. As a result, we meet in the main area where we do not have any privacy. This results in a less meaningful session because of noise and traffic of people entering and leaving the library area. Meanwhile, often people bring their lunches, put on their headphones and stay for hours at a time. They do not require privacy. They do not require quiet setting. With headphones you are able to study at numerous places throughout the library and not be disturbed or distracted. This is not the case for a tutoring session. I have signed up to use your two large study areas. Sitting at a large table with 10 chairs is not an efficient use for two persons nor is it an efficient use of library space. My request: Please consider having sign up sheets attached each morning to each study room. Allow 90 minutes or less for each session. This will be an equitable solution to what I view as a solvable issue. Thank you for your consideration.

AADL Reply: Thank you for making your needs and concerns known, and for making a suggestion for how you feel we can make library spaces more equitably available. I do encourage you to continue to book the two spaces at Westgate for your tutoring sessions. The rooms are sized for a group, but we purposefully make no restrictions about how few persons can use the spaces. In addition, the Pittsfield Branch which is generally quieter than Westgate has three small study rooms, and will soon have two bookable spaces, too. That is another possibility for you to consider. Thank you for being a literacy tutor. I know how much that matters to those who need the services, and thank you for choosing to tutor at an AADL library location. Sincerely, Josie Parker

Date Received: 2019-12-03
Type: other
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -

Patron Comment: Wednesday, Nov 27 I went into the Westgate Library. Just right of the front door was a young man in a hoodie in a chair with his back to the front. He was watching porn. Anyone walking in the door would see what he was watching. I have near seen porn before and it was horrible. You just can't erase what you have seen. I told the two woman at the desk but in the time I was there, I didn't see anyone stop the man. There are several disturbing connections here. First, watching porn in public, second positioning himself so others would see the porn. Please be diligent about stopping this type of action. I can't imagine how it would affect a young person.

AADL Reply: I am so very sorry that you had a negative and disturbing visit to the Westgate Branch. Thank you for letting the staff know of the incident, and while you might not have seen staff interact with the patron viewing pornography, we do follow up on complaints. The AADL does prohibit the viewing of pornography in the libraries on AADL computers and on personal devices. When we see it happening, we ask people to close out what they are viewing. If a person refuses to close out of a pornographic site, we ask them to leave the library for the rest of that day. I regret that we cannot assure that you won't see pornography on a device at the Library, but I really do appreciate that you told the staff about the incident. Thank you for contacting me, and I hope that your next visit to the Westgate branch is pleasant and without incident. Sincerely, Josie Parker Director

Date Received: 2019-12-03
Type: other
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -

Patron Comment: You claim to be accessible to blind and physically handicapped. I do not believe this is entirely true. I am unable to walk any distance, but you have nothing to offer me except a manual wheelchair with no carrying ability. Can you get an electric cart with a basket like the grocery stores have? This would be most helpful to me. I mainly use the Westgate branch.

AADL Reply: I am sorry that the wheelchair that we provide is not adequate for your needs. Thank you for your question and suggestion. We will consider what type of cart would work in our environment. In the meantime, if you would like to speak with me directly about your needs, my number is 734.327.4263. Sincerely, Josie Parker Director

Date Received: 2019-12-02
Type: general suggestion
Regarding: parking

Patron Comment: I would like to suggest that the library add one or two short-term parking spots on 5th, similar to the ones that used to be on the William side of the building. Now that the book drop-off has been moved to the front of the building, it would be great to have space to leave my car just long enough to drop off books. Thanks for your consideration-

AADL Reply: Thank you very much for the feedback and the suggestion. We agree, and we have a request into the City of AA and the DDA for spaces to be marked free and short-term on Fifth in front of the Downtown Library. We have been assured that it will happen. Sincerely, Josie Parker Director

Date Received: 2019-12-01
Type: compliment
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -

Patron Comment: I read the book Dear America this weekend. Thank you for providing this book as part of Washtenaw Reads 2020.

AADL Reply: Thank you for passing along this appreciation. I will share it with the Washtenaw Reads team who worked so hard to find, select, and champion this book. Thank you for using your library! Sara AADL

Date Received: 2019-11-26
Type: complaint
Regarding: collections

Patron Comment: The organization of the children's fiction books is beyond ridiculous. My son was looking for Roald Dahl books. But could we just look under "D" like at most libraries? No! We had to know if it was a general, mystery, fantasy, classics, etc. And then some books are shelved by title, like Wrinkle in Time, and some are by author like Mark Twain. If I know the name and author of a book I shouldn't have to pull up the catalog to know how to look for it.