Comments on: Reference Question of the Week – 5/15/11 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/05/21/reference-question-of-the-week-51511/ or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:29:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Brian Herzog http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/05/21/reference-question-of-the-week-51511/#comment-2759 Brian Herzog Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:48:55 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=1977#comment-2759 @Sara: The only law-breaking I think I’ve actually witnessed is copyright infringement, which we do try to quell. Interestingly though, we also get the people who play up some impairment – mental, hearing, eyesight, physical movement, whatever – to get away with whatever they can.

@Geek Girl: thank you – I was especially happy with how the bank handled it. I’m still curious about which one he went to.

@Liz: Maybe it’s only a higher ethical requirement, being a government employee, to support and defend laws (luckily, I’m highly ethical anyways). I don’t know which crimes are bad enough that prior knowledge+inaction constitutes guilt – identity theft? Terrorism? Rape? Any actual liability does seem pretty hard to enforce.

]]> By: Liz http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/05/21/reference-question-of-the-week-51511/#comment-2750 Liz Tue, 31 May 2011 03:05:13 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=1977#comment-2750 What I’ve learned so far of the law (very little) leads me to think that, as a librarian, you have no legal liability for what your patrons do outside the library’s doors.

However, I agree with Geek Girl above – I think you handled it very nicely.

I’m curious now, though, if keeping mum on the topic would have made you at all liable had his cashing been successful – again, I don’t think so, but my grasp on all this is tenuous at best, so I will have to defer to the experts on this one.

]]> By: Geek Girl http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/05/21/reference-question-of-the-week-51511/#comment-2707 Geek Girl Sat, 21 May 2011 17:39:21 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=1977#comment-2707 I have no idea what I would do in such a situation, but I think it was handled quite well here, on your part and on the bank’s part.

]]> By: Sara http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/05/21/reference-question-of-the-week-51511/#comment-2705 Sara Sat, 21 May 2011 14:06:30 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=1977#comment-2705 I’ve had similar problems. For example, what if someone is asking you to borrow glue and scissors when you can clearly see them altering copies of checks, doctor’s notes, and insurance stubs? (I’ve seen all of those being done before – often clumsily, so I’m curious if they get caught.)

Usually I just lend the stuff out and don’t ask, but it bothers me.

We also have a mentally challenged patron who has clearly used the perception of his disability to get off the hook for stealing. From us, no less.

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