Normally I'd save this for my linkspam, but it amused me too much, and knowing the internet, it will all be over in a few hours.
Newsflash: Oprah breaks libraries!
The short version of the story: Oprah recommended a website for getting a coupon for free grilled chicken at KFC. People who don't have a computer/printer at home (or who don't have a home - the homeless are big library users) use the library to print the coupon.
CHAOS ENSUES.
Yes, really
Really really
And of course Twitter folks have their own take on the whole thing
And it's all fun and games until somebody loses their privacy (this part makes things particularly difficult for libraries. Trust me, downloading software onto our PCs is NOT going to happen...)
Fortunately, the cartoonists are already on top of things
Skipping from post to post, I've seen 3 types of comment on this:
#1. From librarians who've been tearing their hair out/struggling with this/found a way round it/not had too many problems. They know what they're talking about, and are sympathetic to those who are stressed and/or immensely relieved that they haven't had these problems.
#2. From librarians who haven't had these problems and are saying it's 'non front-line librarians' who are making a big fuss about nothing. Good for them that they haven't had any problems. By the sound of what other people are saying, they've been lucky. No, seriously, other people are having problems. Just because you didn't, doesn't mean they're not allowed to be frustrated at the long queues and endless technical difficulties.
#3. From non-librarians saying that librarians are making a fuss about nothing. I invite them to take over the job for a day, on a day like that again. Public librarians can and do handle all kinds of truly ridiculous and SOBAR* situations every day. If they're saying this was bad, it was bad.
As you can imagine, one of these things is not like the others, and is not doing bad things to my blood pressure...
*Stressed Out Beyond All Recognition. The version of FUBAR that you can explain to your mother
