On a much smaller scale, I had something similar happen to my home library a few months ago when our new cleaners wanted to start their service with what they called a one-time "deep cleaning." I came home to bookshelves upon which the books were universally dust-free - but some of them were upside down, others backwards, and almost all of them were out of order. It too me several hours to put things right, and I've now banned the cleaners from even touching the bookshelves.
According to this BBC News link, the Newmarket library's cleaner performed a deep clean of her own and decided that the books would look a whole lot better on the shelves if they were arranged by height. (At least they seem to be right side up and facing the correct direction, and that's a definite plus.)
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| A Sample of the Cleaners' Work |
"James Powell, of Suffolk Libraries, said staff "saw the funny side" but it would take a "bit of time" to correct."It looks like libraries will be closed for a while so we'll have plenty of time to sort the books out", he said."The cleaner is lovely and does a great job in the library. It was an honest mistake and just one of those things so we would never want her to feel bad about it," he added."
Mr. Powell is obviously a lot more sensitive a guy than I am if he's worried about hurting the cleaner's feelings at this point. And he has a much gentler sense of humor than mine, at least when it comes to anyone manhandling the books I've acquired over a lifetime. My cleaner, I hope, learned a valuable lesson about properly handling books - just as I learned a valuable one about giving complete instructions in lieu of assuming that everyone understands that books are where they are on a shelf because that is precisely where they belong. (I do realize that books are mere decorations for some people, but don't even get me started on that whole selling books by the yard or by color thing.)
Oh my gosh! It is hard to believe anyone would know so little about a library!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the truth? At least it looks like all the books were placed back on the same shelves they started out on. In my case, that wasn't the way it was done. They must have dumped the books up to four shelves at a time and then just randomly shoved them back on until they were all off the floor. Luckily, there was almost no real damage, but it was frustrating, to say the least.
DeleteHad to smile... not wanting to hurt someone's feelings is a British thing. We're terrified of doing it. LOL!
ReplyDeleteCath, that is an understatement. LOL
DeleteI remember several different times during my London years where I accidentally bumped into someone, not always gently, only to have them profusely apologize to ME! It all seemed so reflexive on their part that it made me wish everyone behaved the same.
I have never had a cleaner, though it is harder for me to do it all than it used to be. I think I would be horribly uncomfortable having a stranger or more than one, moving around amongst my personal stuff. And I would have fired your cleaners. What a nerve!
ReplyDeleteIt's our first experience with a cleaning service, Nan, and neither one of us particularly like it. We are both uncomfortable having them rush around the house the way they do, and they've already broken things in the process of cleaning. We resorted to cleaners only because my wife's back condition has worsened and my knees make it a bit difficult to get up and down. We've made do these last 7 weeks on our own, but I don't think we're doing the job that the cleaners do - and that's kind of sad.
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