The library is like a hospital. OK, so the library doesn’t take insurance, and library workers aren’t doing surgery in the stacks. Still, there are some parallels between the two environments, especially when viewed from the eyes of the patients and patrons. Consider the following similarities in the hospital and library environments.- Patients and patrons bring their problems, issues, and life struggles through the doors.
Hospitals and libraries can’t pick their customers; they get who walks in the door. People coming into an emergency room and into a library may have a lot of the same life struggles: homelessness, mental health issues, substance use addictions, hunger, pain, illness, and hopelessness. They come into our medical and library buildings because they want help, support, comfort, information, and/or a cure, or at least a solution, for what ails them.
- Patients and patrons may not be there by choice.
The guy with the pain that radiates across the left side of his lower back can’t figure out what’s going on and doesn’t want to go to the doctor. He waits until he is in agony to stagger into the hospital building. One hospital admittance and one kidney stone later, he wishes he were home.
“Go do your homework at the library, and don’t come home until it’s finished!” says the working and frazzled mom to her teenager. So, the kid trudges from her school into the library, drops her backpack on a table, and grudgingly pulls out her assignments. She’d rather be at the mall with her friends.
- Patients and patrons may have never been to the facility before.
“I’m here for a medical test they said I need. The parking garage was huge, I’m late, and I don’t know where to go. Should I talk to the person at the information desk in the main lobby or go to try to find the check-in desk for my doctor? Where are the elevators? Am I even in the right building? There are either no signs, or they’re just really confusing. Maybe I should just go back home and try this on another day.”
The first time for everything can be nerve-wracking. Libraries can be bright, vibrant, energizing places, with a lot for the eyes and ears to take in. “Which floor do I need to go to get help for my questions about my government benefits? Everyone looks busy and is moving with a purpose. Who can I talk to? Will they even want to help me? I don’t want to bother the employees, but I’m confused.”
- Patients and patrons don’t know how the facility operates.
“What does my insurance cover, and how come I still have to pay so much of a copay? What do you mean you don’t accept my insurance? Can you still treat me if I don’t have insurance?”
“What’s free? What costs? Should I even care how my tax dollars are being used? Does the library still charge for overdue books? How much does it cost to get a library card? Can I use the internet for free? Will the computers keep track of the sites I go to? How come they charge me to make copies? Can I really check out a laptop, a tablet, or a video game controller for free?”
- Patients and patrons may not always get the positive outcome or the solutions to the answers they seek.
“What do you mean I have high blood pressure and need to take medication? I feel fine! I’m not taking any stupid pills.”
“Why won’t you help me file my income taxes? Why can’t you give me free legal advice so I can sue the local government here? What do you mean you don’t have any eclipse glasses? The local TV news said you could get them here and that there were plenty.”
- Patients and patrons are not always satisfied with the quality of the product or the services they received.
“The doctor was very rude to me. No bedside manner whatsoever. She told me I was prediabetic and I needed to lose weight. She’s not the boss of me. I’ll eat whatever I want!”
“Those people at the library kicked my kid out for supposedly starting a fight with another kid from his school. It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t start the fight; he just finished it. No one tells my little angel what to do.”
- Patients and patrons are not always right.
“I read on Google that I can treat my migraine headaches with these special minerals from Australia.”
“The librarian told me I didn’t have to pay my long list of overdue fines and that I could still check out these 10 books. No, I don’t remember her name, and I don’t see her working today.”
- Patients and patrons may not appreciate the little things that are done for them on their behalf.
People coming into healthcare environments, either as patients or as family members of patients, are often under a lot of stress. They can forget that the people providing medical services are doing the best they possibly can on their behalf.
Library employees are not paid the same as medical doctors and nurses, and yet they contribute to the good of their communities in important and different ways. A little courtesy for the efforts of both would be greatly appreciated. Sometimes, you have to give yourself your own praise if it didn’t come from the person you just helped.
