the tale of a throne

28Apr08

Over the course of my years at the public library, I’ve had plenty of issues with the way some patrons use the bathroom i.e. making a mess that the librarians have to clean up, passing out on the toilet, remaining in there so long that the library closes with no one realizing that you haven’t emerged yet, drinking, drugs, sex, stealing parts of the toilet to use for making drug paraphanelia, boys in the girls’ room, adults in the childrens’ room, water splash-fight– I could go on.

The Roxbury Free Library, Roxbury, VT doesn’t have any of those problems because it doesn’t have a bathroom, actually, it doesn’t have any running water.  The library patrons and staff rely upon the kindness of a church located across the parking lot, and the article notes that one four-year-old barely makes the trek before wetting himself along the way. The library has been operating this way for 74 years, which, I think, further proves the point that libraries are here to stay.

Now the library has a sewer pipe installed and ready to be graced with a bowl and all the problems that come with it.  Although, even without actually having an installed toilet, the library has already had problems: “Oh, and when library trustees tried to raise money to add a bathroom someday, vandals — yep, Roxbury has those, too — stole the ceramic toilet bowl on the front lawn to publicize the fundraiser and smashed it down the street.”

I wonder how long it will take before some people start to long for the simpler life before bathroom.

 

 

Filed under: A Day in the Life, By: The Librarienne, libraries   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: 4-year-olds, bathroom facilities, Roxbury Free Library, running water