Eight Ways Why Your Library is Like a Hospital
The similarities are fascinating.
Okay, so the library doesn’t take insurance and we aren’t doing surgery in the stacks, but there are some parallels between the two environments, especially when viewed from the eyes of the patients and patrons. Consider these 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, hopelessness. They come into our medical and library buildings because they want help, support, comfort, information, a cure, or at least a solution, as to what ails them.
Patients and patrons may not be there by choice.
The guys 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 waits until he is agony to stagger in the building. One hospital admit and one kidney stone later, he is wishing he was 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 the school into the library and 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, ever.
“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. Information Desk? Check In Desk? 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 question about my government benefits? Everyone looks busy and 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 co-pay? 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 they 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? What can’t you give me free legal advice and help me 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.”
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 pre-diabetic 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 staring 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 dangerously high cholesterol with these special minerals from Australia.”
“The lady from the library told me I didn’t have to pay any way, way overdue fines and I that I could still check out these ten 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 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, yet they contribute to the good of their communities in important, if 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.
(This content was originally published on January 1, 2025 in Information Today. https://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/Eight-Ways-Your-Library-Is-Like-a-Hospital-166690.asp)