Silent Library

Oh yay! Some of my favorite things in the world: boys getting hurt, Japan and a library.

The Ethicist

If a librarian suspects a patron is being conned by mail-order brides, what should s/he do? The NYT Ethicist column tackles this with the answer I would like to give: respect the patron's confidentiality, see if you can slip him some resources to protect him from scams.

So a few other lil ethical questions came to mind:

An eleven year old patron asks what year he would be born in to be thirteen, and you see he is trying to register for a game site that is 13 up thanks to CIPA.

An eleven year old patron with a Juvenile Restricted card cannot check out Young Adult comics. Should you tell him he's allowed to read them in the library?

Adult patron is trying to find information on home forclosures and is increasingly frustrated that all the sites want to charge money for this information. The sites look like scams to you. (Similar to the Russian brides, and if anyone has good resources on home forclosures I'd like to know).

Adult patron is spending lots of time filling out surveys that promise a free computer/iPod etc. She can barely type and demands a lot of help with forms, and you know completing the offer means test driving cars, signing up for NetFlix and other fun stuff. How much time can you spend helping her?