Filing a Complaint...

I visited the library again this morning.

The good news is that I was able to meet CPL librarian, Laura Morgan. I plan to write more about Ms. Morgan and all of the work that she has done in regards to the issue of pornography in the library - so stay tuned and check back! Ms. Morgan is a true warrior and I've been very impressed with a lot of the work she's done. It was an honor to meet her.

The not-so-good news was that it was incredibly difficult to file a formal written complaint. As readers of the blog know, I've made considerable effort to contact library officials through phone calls and letters. However, wise counsel suggested I file a formal written complaint with the library - leaving it officially on the record - and searchable in case of legal action.

A formal written complaint seemed like such an foreign concept to everyone. I asked the guard by the 3rd floor bag check. He used his walkie-talkie to signal over a supervisor. The supervisor asked what it was about. I told him. He replied "we can't do anything about that". I said, "I just want to formally file a complaint". He would have been happy to just leave it there, but another guard spoke up and was nice enough to take me up to the 4th floor. On the way up the escalator, that guard said "you know there's privacy screens, right?" Yes, I know there's screens. (Not that they stopped me from seeing anything).

On the 4th floor, the guard asked to speak with someone and we waited. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name, but he seemed genuinely nice. After some searching for a form, I was given a generic form for Comments and Opinions. There was some confusion about who I should send it too. And I was also given email addresses for Ms. Dempsey and Ms. Bever, even though I've reached out to both of them already regarding this issue. I wrote about my experience on Saturday, 9/28 and handed it in a sealed envelope to a librarian who helped us find the form. It was recommended that I send the official complaint to Ms. Bever, so I did.

Overall - it was such a weird experience. It seemed almost like there is either no system already in place for accepting formal, written complaints - or they were actively trying to dissuade me from doing so. Either way - I have no way of knowing if there will even be a record that I filed a complaint. {sigh}