What you have told us
Here you can search through numerous patron comments and the corresponding AADL replies. Search by the type of comment, in general by what the comment is regarding, or by a particular issue.
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Type: complaint
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Please stop posting covid cases and mask requirements on the front door. We can make our own decisions. The ann arbor library is the only place left that is still pushing masks. Its getting old.
AADL Reply: This comment was submitted anonymously.
Date Received: 2022-08-14
Type: other
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Hi! My girlfriend doesn’t live in Ann Arbor, but she’ll be visiting a lot over the school year and she loves books so I was wondering if there was a way to add her to my library card? She wants to be able to read while she visits and my schedule doesn’t always allow me to be with her when she runs errands because I am in the Michigan Marching Band. Thank you!
AADL Reply: Hi there, thanks for asking! While only people who live at an Ann Arbor address are eligible for their own library card, you can decide who uses your library card. So she can make her own login for aadl.org and add your card number (and verify your name as the name on the account), and she can place holds through that account, as more than one aadl.org account can use the same library card number. She can log in to that account on her mobile device, and she'll have a copy of the barcode at the top of the my account page she can use to pick up holds at the self check. You can also just let her use the physical card or existing aadl.org account if that's easier. But the bottom line is that you decide who has access to and can use your account, and that's the easiest way for her as a nonresident to use AADL. Let us know if you need any help with this or have any other questions, and go blue! -eli Eli Neiburger Director Ann Arbor District Library
Date Received: 2022-08-04
Type: general suggestion
Regarding: other
Patron Comment: I LOVE AADL and the Pittsfield branch in particular. :) With that said, the one thing that frustrates me is how my two young kids (3 and 5) immediately gravitate to the iPads/Tablets as soon as we walk in. It's like pulling teeth to get them away to look at books! While I understand that tablets can be educational, we rarely use them at home and the ones in the children's area of the Pittsfield branch always appear to just have cartoon-type games on them. Why are these needed in the library? Have they been contentious with other parents since they were put in? It has always bothered me, but this is the first time I'm contacting you about it, as I've noticed that it deters our family from visiting more often. Again, thank you for all you do to maintain and awesome library branch near us!
AADL Reply: Hello there, thank you for your comment, we're so glad you love the library. We're sorry that the presence of iPads in the kids area has been an issue for your family. All of the software on these iPads is educational in nature. We understand that access to iPads and educational software at the public library is particularly important for families who are unable to provide their children with access to technology in the home, especially when considering how central interface literacy and device familiarity has become to K-12 education. We do occasionally hear comments like yours from families who have chosen to limit use of screens in the home, and we're sorry for the conflict that it causes for your family. However, providing open access to hardware and software for all ages is a critical role for libraries in this century, and we do not plan to discontinue public access to these resources. We hope that your family will continue to visit the library, and that this situation improves as your children grow. Best wishes to you and your family, and thank you for using your library! -eli Eli Neiburger (he/him) Director Ann Arbor District Library
Date Received: 2022-07-30
Type: Summer Game
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Hi! We absolutely love the summer game in this house, so thank you for consistently providing this diversion! We've been wondering about your decision to switch to a heat map this year. Last year, we had fun trying to hit as many houses as we could and being able to see which houses we still hadn't visited. With the heat map, however, this isn't possible. We're sure there was a reason you all decided to change to a different presentation, and we'd be curious to know about a bit more about why this decision was made. Keep up the great work! Thanks!
AADL Reply: Hi there, thanks for asking about this! The situation is that last year, we had a number of conflicts between players and homeowners as highly motivated players were trying to find the last few codes they were missing, often looking for signs that had gone missing or were never there, and it led to some situations we simply had to minimize the risk of recurring. Some players were tromping through backyards at night, shining flashlights in windows of people who didn't even know what the game is. We always try to avoid changing things to address the behavior of a few, but this was trending in a direction where someone was going to get hurt, and we needed to decrease the pressure to collect all the home codes. So, we decided to make the map more about where you'd be more likely to find codes and less of a checklist. It was always supposed to be a serendipitous experience, and getting all the the lawn codes, or getting all the badges, have never been design goals for the game. We're sorry this has made your experience playing less fun, but we did make a change to the heatmap just on Friday to make the dots more precise and much easier to see. You still can't tell which you've gotten and which you haven't, but no new codes will be able to be created for the last two weeks of the game, so you'll have two weeks to try to strategize your routes to get as many as you'd like. I will say we have had some relieved feedback from players who feel freed of the pressure to get them all, so that part of our design goal has been accomplished. We're continuing to tweak this approach and will certainly make more changes for next summer, but I hope you understand why we could not allow what was happening to continue. The fact is that the data that drives the lawn codes map is highly questionable and cannot be counted on. That unresolvable uncertainty is a poor match for a checklist that encourages players to complete it. We'll never be able to make sure all the codes are actually where players say they are, so we don't have many options beyond decreasing the perception that the last one is right around the corner. I hope this is helpful information; if you have any other suggestions, we'd love to hear them. Thanks again for your feedback, and thanks for playing! -eli Eli Neiburger (he/him) Director Ann Arbor District Library
Date Received: 2022-07-25
Type: general suggestion
Regarding: holds
Patron Comment: Hello, I've noticed that MelCat requests don't have the sticker with my name stuck on the book's spine. It's just put in between the pages. Since the stickers can't be recycled why can't the name info for MelCat holds be printed on regular paper? I would think that you could do that with all holds. I don't see how they could fall out unless you riffle the pages. Sorry if you get asked about this a lot. It just seems like a lot of waste. Thanks.
AADL Reply: Hi there, thanks for asking about this. MelCat items are not shelved for self-pickup, and they don't travel in our delivery system the same way, so these aren't comparable processes. Every time you check out a book from the library you're saving a lot more paper than any waste involved in the hold sticker, and the environmental impact of MeLCat is much greater than the sticker because the items are moved on trucks across the state. We've looked at other options for hold labeling, and there's really nothing that is as reliable, manageable, and low-impact as the hold stickers we currently use. If you're looking to minimize the impact of your use of the library, you could check out items from the AADL shelves, and skip the MeLCat and request processes entirely. Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns, and thank you for using your library! -eli Eli Neiburger (he/him) Director Ann Arbor District Library
Date Received: 2022-07-20
Type: catalog problem
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: I would like to borrow the book Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan on the Libby app but, although there are 9 hardcopies in the AADL catalog, this book doesn't seem be avaialbe on the Libby app? Is there some explanation why not?
AADL Reply: Hi, Yes, there's an explanation! Our physical book collection is completely disconnected from what is available as an ebook (or e-audiobook) from Libby. We have much less control over what is in our digital collection, for a couple of reasons. One reason is that not all publishers license all their titles with every library ebook vendor. Our vendor is OverDrive (maker of the Libby app), but there are several other companies providing similar services, and they all have different agreements, pricing structures, and access rules with the various publishing companies. I just confirmed that "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" by Mark Sullivan is not available to license as an ebook through OverDrive, so in this case, it's a matter of license availability. Another reason why we might not have a title in digital format is that we are not in direct control of our selection decisions. We are part of a consortium of libraries, MLCS, and we pool our resources to offer a broad range of titles and to centralize selection and maintenance work. So we can request titles that OverDrive has available to license for our consortium selector to consider, but we aren't in a position to guarantee it will be added, as the selector is considering the demand across the group as a whole. Finally, ebooks are a pretty raw deal for public libraries, unfortunately. Most publishers won't deal directly with libraries, and that includes the Big Five publishers who are responsible for most of the bestselling titles/authors out there. Companies like OverDrive have emerged as go-betweens, which isn't ideal but is at least an avenue to offering our users the ebook content they want and expect. Then, of course, there's pricing and that's not great either! Markups on ebook licenses are many times more than the price to an individual to license an ebook. The licenses also expire, so public libraries must buy licenses for the same ebooks over and over again, either after a set timeframe has elapsed or after a set number of checkouts. The public library model - buy once, lend many times - just doesn't exist for ebooks, which makes it not just frustrating, but unreasonably costly for libraries. That said, we are grateful for our consortium so that we are able to provide what we can to our userbase in the most cost-effective manner available to us. We also continue to add ebooks that we have licensed directly with the rightsholders whenever possible - publishers like Sleeping Bear Press have been wonderful partners. Here's a list of ebooks available as real downloads - not timed checkouts - through our catalog: https://aadl.org/search/catalog/*?mat_code=zb&page=0&sort=bib_created Unfortunately, it's unlikely publishing will shift toward making in-demand authors like John Grisham or Mark Sullivan available in this category any time soon. I hope this wasn't too much explanation, and I hope it was helpful. Thanks, Sara Wedell Collections Manager | Ann Arbor District Library
Date Received: 2022-07-13
Type: compliment
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the availability of outdoor locker pickup at Westgate. I'm currently contagious and wouldn't be comfortable coming into the library to get my book and potentially exposing people but I'm thrilled to be able to get it in a way that keeps everyone safe. Thank you!
AADL Reply: Hello, thank you so much for your note! We're so glad this service has enabled you to continue to safely use the library while you're under the weather. Thank you for showing this concern for our staff and your community, and thank you for using your library! -eli Eli Neiburger (he/him) Director Ann Arbor District Library
Date Received: 2022-06-26
Type: complaint
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: grounds keeping I was vert shocked this morning to see the little flags signifying pesticides had been applied in and around the Mallet's Creek library parking lot. I told the librarian and she said she would pas it on. She came out to see and yes , the little flags WARNING people and pets ot o stay off were right there. Ann Arbor has had a no mow May policy in order to protect bees, etc. So I just don't understand how the AADL is allowing pesticides to be sprayed, put, however, on sections of the library lot. Please stop using pesticides! I aslo have a compliment. I am glad to see the check out librarians finally have seats instead of having to stand there for hours.
AADL Reply: Hi there, thanks for your comment. While the required signage does say pesticide, we have never applied pesticide at any of our locations. We use spot applications of herbicides to deal with invasives. The signage that the vendors are required to use says both pesticide and herbicide, even though no pesticide has been applied. We're sorry for the confusion, and we thank you for your comment. Best wishes, and thank you for using your library. -eli Eli Neiburger Director Ann Arbor District Library
Date Received: 2022-06-22
Type: programs and events
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Pls consider CO2 Monitor Lending Program in Ann Arbor District Library / AADL . Toronto Public Library plans lending CO2 monitors beginning in mid-July: Toronto Public Library @torontolibrary | 12:46 PM · Jun 20, 2022: ...Hello - We will introduce a CO2 Monitor Lending Program in mid-July as a pandemic response. Look for more info in the coming weeks. -HF https://twitter.com/torontolibrary/status/1538926354871341058 A2's sister city, Peterborough, ON, has lent CO2 monitors through its library (since April 2022?): Carbon Dioxide Monitors You can now borrow a C02 Monitor from the library! https://www.ptbolibrary.ca/en/browse/carbon-dioxide-monitors.aspx Peterborough Library to lend carbon dioxide monitoring devices Posted on March 29, 2022 https://www.peterborough.ca/en/news/peterborough-library-to-lend-carbon-dioxide-monitoring-devices.aspx
AADL Reply: Thank you for your question. The library does circulate indoor air quality meters that measure carbon dioxide (as well as temperature, humidity and ventilation). You'll find a link to the catalog record here: https://aadl.org/catalog/record/10260025 I hope this helps! Best, Sherlonya Turner Zobel Associate Director, Public Experience and Desk Service
Date Received: 2022-06-21
Type: programs and events
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Dear staff of AADL, I was wondering if your library was going to host A2CAF (Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival) in the future again? I understand that you had to take a few years off due to the pandemic. I just haven’t been hearing any news about if you’re bringing the event back anytime soon. Thank you for your time and have a good summer.
AADL Reply: Thank you for the question. The library does plan to host A2CAF again in the future. This year, we will have a few comic related events on July 16, but expect to return to a fuller experience next year. Thank you for your interest in this event!! Best, Sherlonya Turner Zobel Associate Director, Public Experience and Desk Service