What is wrong with people today?

She just wants to talk to her manager to cover her butt.

@Dutchess_III but she’s the branch manager! If she can’t make a pretty basic decision like that, she probably shouldn’t be the manager. I understand the whole CYA thing – I do it plenty of times myself. But even as just a church adminstrator, I wouldn’t hesitate to do that sort of thing.

Maybe there’s no excuse why she couldn’t do it, but since it’s an unusual request, she needed to think about it. Maybe, even though she’s the Branch Mgr, she wanted to confer with her coworkers just to see what they thought. Sometimes those at the top do consult with those lower down (hence, why jobs have meetings – so everyone can consult and confer and put their heads together on issues).

It is logical the library document the person signed and gave the email and phone number says – – - “information will ONLY be used to contact for past due items” !

There probably is a higher up administrator that s/he feels they need to consult with but it does seem to show a singular lack of initiative. I will say that being branch manager in a county system may still be relatively low on the totem pole of administration but it is a step I certainly would have been willing to take.

Now days everybody has the It’s NOT my job man syndrome. She didn’t want to take the time nor make the effort to look up the information. That would have required an effort on her part.

The job I had when I retired…I was called into the manager’s office & told that I was giving too much customer service to our customers & I was making the other girls look bad & I was to cease & desist…just do the minimal needed to keep them from leaving.

It’s ridiculous, unless she has a manager who is a pain in the neck and extremely controlling. Of course she should call and help out.

@Tropical_Willie I don’t even know if our forms have that specification on them, but I’m pretty sure that somebody’s library card being lost would be an appropriate reason to contact them. If somebody dropped it in the library, wouldn’t it be right of them to contact the person? So essentially this is the same issue.

The obvious question to ask is what harm would be caused by telling the person that their key had been found.
Let us know if the branch manager gets back to you and, if so, what they finally decided.

@LostInParadise I will. In a way, it even seems strange that they would need to call me back, although that would be a courtesy. But if you’re going to show me the courtesy of calling me back, then why can’t you show the courtesy of calling the person in the first place.

If they don’t call back, I would call and ask to speak to an administrator and check with them why that was an issue. It wouldn’t have been in any library I have worked in. But try not to judge until you have more info.

Confidentiality. You’re asking the branch manager to use locally stored PII (Personally Identifiable Information) to call the person for something which is distinctly non-library related. One signs up for a library card with the express understanding that one’s identity is confidential and will not be breached. you’re asking for the branch manager to break one of the explicit rules of the library.

I’d suggest getting off your high horse. The keys were found at the church. Why involve the library in the first place? Wouldn’t the church office be the logical p-lace?

@LifeQuestioner you wrote that “if the keys were found in the library, they would call” and “it’s the same issue”.

But it isn’t the same issue. One is in the purview of the library and the other is a random act.

If I were the library system director, given all the legal shit being thrown at libraries, I wouldn’t want to take the risk of breaking confidentiality.

(written as someone who worked in and with public libraries for 45 years)

@elbanditoroso why don’t you get off your high horse before you make assumptions? There wasn’t a name or number on the library card, only the account number. Only the library can access the account information. And you would think they wouldn’t want some random person using somebody’s library card. There’s no need to be rude, although that seems to be the norm nowadays online.

And it’s not a random act because it’s a library card, which is under the ownership of the library and that person. So for that reason alone, they should contact the person to let them know. In fact, if I ever find out who the person is and they come to pick up the key, I’m going to let them know that the library was unwilling to help them find their keys. How’s that?

I have worked in branch libraries too and if some random person had called me asking me to use library records to call some other random person about keys that had allegedly been found in a church office I would have been suspicious.

@flutherother Really? What’s the harm? “Hey, Ms Smith. I’m calling you because your library card, along with a set of keys, was found at the Life Questioner church. If they’re yours, you can call the church and arrange to pick them up.” Where’s the liability in that?

I didn’t read the above answers, but my guess is people are afraid of getting sued.

When I left my purse in a bathroom in a welcome center alone I75 they went in my wallet, got my name, and called my home number.

When I worked at Bloomingdale’s and customers left their wallets on our counter, we went in their wallet, and looked up their information in our database, and called them.

If I lose my phone, I hope someone thinks to click the emergency icon and call my husband. Sure there is a risk if the spouse was lying yo their spouse about where they were. Too bad, worth the risk. Most of the time the person will be thrilled to get their property back.

WTH help people out.

As the OP pointed out it is actually a lost library card.

@flutherother I also can’t see the harm. Someone calls me and says my library card was found and I either say thank you I didn’t know where I left it, or if it was a prank (weird prank) I say I have my card right here.

@janbb I’m not saying I wouldn’t help but there’s a lot of unknowns from the librarian’s point of view. Do the keys actually belong to the same person as the library card? How do I know who is calling? If they are from the church why doesn’t the church or the ESOL group have Ms Smith’s number. From a practical point of view, how will Ms Smith get in to her home to answer the phone call?

Hopefully, the owner of the keys and library card retraces their steps and figures out that the keys are at the church.

Oh yeah. What’s wrong “those people”?

Public librarians have a legal and professional duty to safeguard all borrowers personal information, and we should all be glad they take it seriously :

“The American Library Association affirms that rights of privacy are necessary for intellectual freedom and are fundamental to the ethical practice of librarianship. The rapid pace of information collection and changes in technology means that users’ personally identifiable information and library-use data are at increased risk of exposure. The use of new technologies in libraries that rely on the collection, use, sharing, monitoring and/or tracking of user data may come into direct conflict with the Library Bill of Rights and librarians’ ethical responsibilities.”

https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/privacy

You work in a church office. So you should know Deuteronomy 22:3–1 right ?

“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 2 And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him.”

So try this: Stop griping about what someone else should do, and just take the damn keys to the library and leave them there for the owner.

@JLoon is the library won’t call them now, why would they call them with the keys in hand? This person obviously came to a church event at our church so they’ve been in the building. It’s not like it’s going to hurt them too come pick up the keys. But I’ll talk to my boss and see if I’m allowed to use company time to go return the keys.

I’m starting to remember why I left this site for a while.

@JLoon HIPPA also is a very big deal for protecting information, but if a hospital found a set of keys with a name on it in a patient’s room I would hope they would call the patient. The OP is not asking for any private information. She is asking an employee of the library who has permission to have access to the information to make the call.

@LifeQuestioner I am so 100% with you on this. This thread is completely baffling to me.

@jca2 I thought that too, and I think it’s likely, but it’s pretty stressful to lose keys, especially if it’s a house key. Car key fobs are very expensive for some cars. If the person doesn’t figure it out and someone easily could have called, it’s just really frustrating.

@LifeQuestioner Stick around. We need you here.

@JLoon by the way, dropping them off at the library would be a bad idea. We probably have about four libraries within a 5 to 10 mile radius of here. So how do I know that the person goes to a particular library over another. Plus, what if they don’t have transportation? They may get a ride when they come to our classes.

Another idea, if you’re on Facebook, post in a local group that there were keys found at the church and if someone can describe them, they’re theirs. I see that sometimes in my local FB groups, people will post that they found or lost keys or a piece of jewelry or a dog or cat if it doesn’t have a collar.

Can you send an email to members?

Plus, @jca2 made me realize your church might have a facebook page or group to let people know keys were found. Her idea to post in a community group is good too.

I’m assuming it’s not a church member, but might be the friend of a church member.

Obviously, ask for ID when they pick the keys up.

What is confusing me is why y’all want him to take the keys to the library when she left them at the church.

@jca2 we don’t really have a Facebook group to post and then I would hesitate to post it on Facebook in general because you don’t know if you are going to get some creep showing up pretending they’re his keys.

@LifeQuestioner In my area, there are FB groups for the town. If there’s one like that, you could post it where someone has to describe the keys to you, in order to get them. That’s what I’ve seen, for example, “found charm in _____ Park. If you can describe it, it’s yours.”

@LifeQuestioner That’s why you say ID must match the name on the keys or as @jca2 said they need to describe the keys.

My concern would be wanting to get the keys to their rightfull owner asap. Since the owner has not considered that the keys might be at the church, they might need some prompting to send the word out about where the keys are.

Just an update. The branch manager called back from the library and she is going to contact the person and let them know that their keys are at the church.

@Dutchess_III You must have missed the part that a library card was the only thing left with the keys.

@LifeQuestioner Good! That was the sensible thing to do. Many librarians – despite their representation in movies – are looking to help people.

@LifeQuestioner Great! Thanks for the update. I guess the librarian in the end saw it how we did.

@janbb I hadn’t noticed that in movies. I believe you, I need to watch for it. My parents love going to the library, I went often as a child and they still always go to my local libraries no matter where I live when they visit, so overall I have positive feelings, but like anywhere I have had a negative encounter once or twice. My aunt has her masters in library science. The irony of course is I very rarely read a book.

I’m amazed that it’s been a day and the owner hasn’t called every last place that he or she has been to figure out where the keys are.

@jca2 yeah, you would think, but if it’s somebody attending our esol classes, which stands for English as a second language for anybody who might not know, then they may not speak very good English yet and they may hesitate to call. Or, they may not have the church’s number and figure they’ll just check when they come the next week.

Or, which is terrible to say, the person may not think anyone would hold the items for them.

When I left my purse in a bathroom on the highway I was over an hour away when I realized it. I’ll cut the story short and say the police contacted the person in charge of the area, and she had my purse. My husband insisted on driving back that night, I didn’t want to. The supervisor said she would mail it to me. We did what my husband wanted and drove back, and the supervisor drove to meet us after hours in the dark of night. Truly above and beyond.

Later, I realized it was possibly partly because in my husband’s country he would never trust that we would ever see it again. My purse had over $400 and Prada sunglasses inside. Everything was in my purse.

I once left my handbag on the sidewalk in NYC outside of Beth Israel Hospital. When we came back an hour later, they had it at the info desk and everything was in it!

A year ago or more I was at the grocery store and using the self checkout. Somehow my stupid self left my little wallet with my bank card and my charge card and other forms of ID sitting at that kiosk. I didn’t realize until I got home about 15 minutes later but when I called the store, they immediately went down and found it sitting there. I came and picked it up and not a thing was missing from it.

I really don’t think that there’s a valid excuse for the librarian to not notify the person who lost the keys. There are all kinds of people. Good, bad and ugly.

Yesterday (May 11, 2023) a guy on Craigslist tried to scam me for $650 in the morning. Then in the afternoon yesterday (May 11, 2023) I left my wallet in a shopping cart at the Home Depot. A young man “Chris” (another shopper) found my wallet wedged in a corner of a shopping cart. Chris didn’t want to leave my wallet at the Home Depot customer service because he didn’t trust them. Chris drove to my house to return my wallet (completely intact including cash). I tried to give Chris a reward but he refused.

@gondwanalon how nice that guy was willing to do that! Yeah, I’ve heard mixed things about Craigslist. But of course you have to be careful wherever you go these days.

What’s the update on this? Did the person ever get their keys back?

@JLeslie no, they’ve never even contacted the church office. I also asked the lady in charge of the ESOL group to ask around, but no such luck. Now I’m starting to wonder if the library even really bothered to call.

@LifeQuestioner Wow. I don’t remember, did you try googling an address?

@JLeslie She didn’t have an address.

@JLeslie yes, as I saw @janbb just responded, I didn’t have an address. All I had was a library card with an account number on it and nothing else. It was one of those key fob ones.

I think it’s weird that whoever owns the keys never retraced their steps.

I would go with the keys to the library and talk to someone in charge. Explain and show them the keys so they see it’s a legitimate request. Get a name of who you talk to so if you follow up, you can contact that person.

@LifeQuestioner I didn’t remember you tried googling the name.

I’d go to the library and stand right in front of them and have then call. Asking nicely of course.

If it were me, at this point I would figure I’d done what I could and if the keys were that important to someone they would retrace their steps. Put them in a drawer in case someone does eventually come back for them.

@janbb that’s exactly what I ended up doing. I don’t go the library anymore really. I just end up checking out books that ultimately I don’t have time to read, and I have way too many books of my own that I’ve not even read yet. And the library near me is at a horrible intersection, so it’s hard to motivate myself to go. I feel I followed due diligence in trying to get the keys back to the person.