So today, I have to pick up a book I have on hold at the Mulberry Street Library, the newest branch in the NYPL system. Isn't it pretty? If that weren't enough, someone in library school told me that the Mulberry branch employees make a concerted effort to be nice, and that customer service is their goal. This seems like it should be a given, but it is shocking to visit other branches within the system--namely the Tompkin Square Branch--and always be either summarily dismissed or visually apprehended in an irritated fashion by the adult services librarian who always seems to be on duty there.
Their childen's librarian also seems to be on the point of irritation; I've seen her throw out a group of loud teens in a way that embarrassed me. There is a teen space carved out of the corner on the main level of the Tompkin's Branch but it doesn't feel like their "own space," and the books that surround it don't scream out to be circulated. I don't think there is a teen librarian on staff there. At least, it's not apparent that there is.
The Mulberry Street Library boasts a lavish teen room, lined with a plethora of well-chosen current titles. It almost makes me want to be a teen.
