I am new to Somerville, TN. On July 23, I went to the Fayette County Library to donate books. These were antique (and some rare) books. Some of them were children's books, such as Raggedy Ann and Andy, which cannot be found today. Some of them were British literature and English Literature. They were books that any collector of such books would appreciate.
My first thought was to donate them to Goodwill so that they could be purchased by those who would appreciate them; however, my thought to donate them to the library won out. I had never been to that library before. I went through the front door with the first of two boxes. There were three ladies working at the front desk. Two of them met me with silence and never spoke to me (other than their silence). I went in and set the box down and told them I wanted to donate them. One of the ladies came over to me and told me there was another door to take them to. There was no sign whatsoever that that door was for donations. However, from the front entrance, that door led to a room that only a few feet away. The lady told me to move my car and take them to that other door. I told her my car was right at the front entrance and there was no need to move it. She put up such a fuss that I told her to show me the place to put them and I would take that box to the room. Remember that this was only the first of two boxes. She huffed and puffed about it and finally picked the box up and took it to that room and then opened the entry door to that room so that I could take the second box into that room. Both boxes had only a few books, so they were not heavy.
I got the second box in through the donation door (which had no indication that it was to deliver donations). During that entire encounter, the woman did not speak to me. As I was leaving, I introduced myself and told her I was new in town and didn't know many people. She said she had lived here since whatever year and didn't know anyone. By then, I had surmised already that she did not care to know anyone. I wondered why she was working where she was working, what with dealing with people. I told her my son lived here and told her the name of his company and suggested that she may have seen his work vans around town. "I told you," she said sternly, "that I don't know anyone."
Since I was there, I really wanted to get a library card and browse around through the books. After my encounter with these very hostile women (especially that one), I decided I had no inclination to ever go back there. I did inquire on behalf of my neighbor who is disabled, but loves to read, about what she had to do to get books from there. The woman said she has to have a TN driver's license. I told her again that the lady is disabled and does not drive and, therefore, has no license. I asked if she could produce something like a utility bill, etc. "No. She has to have a TN driver's license." There are so many disabled and elderly people in Somerville who don't drive and have no license because of that reason. Yet, they love to read, and it is one thing that would make their days and nights - their world - a better place in which to be.
I would say that all three of those women need to be dismissed from their positions at Fayette County Library and replaced with others who love books and enjoy getting to know people (especially other readers). By the way, that hateful woman never even thanked me for my donation. From now on, and as long as those hateful, hostile women are in their positions, Goodwill is where I will do all of my book business. read more