Ongoing investigations and other mysteries

As you may or may not recall, all the way back in May, I reported on the graffiti issue of the women's bathroom at the Carnegie Library. Not long after that, this sign popped up in the lobby:

(This is where an amateur would say something smug like "Well, well, well", but as a professional, I'll just move on and let that speak for itself.)

All summer long, library patrons had to schlep themselves and their full bladders up to the second floor bathrooms. This is an example of how sometimes life is hard. However, life got even harder as the first floor bathrooms weren't open until AFTER the August 15 deadline. Somehow citizens kept from rioting and I can confirm that the library has not been turned into book burning pit.

Let's be honest, I'm not entirely sure most people know what books are, much less go to the library, so here are some visual evidence of the improvements.

As you can see, the walls are now this slate rock grey and the doors are black with little white flecks. I'm not sure exactly sure what the grey rock stuff is made of, but it makes the bathroom feel like a doctor's office. (This might be shocking news, but I am not an interior designer, so don't look here for technical terms.)

Will this cut down on graffiti? Or will people turn elsewhere and scribble on the walls of other parts of the library? As those on the television news have said while holding giant microphones: "We will keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds."

But that wasn't the only change for library patrons. Meet the new parking meter.

The first time I used this parking meter, it elicited two emotions which can best be described as !!! and ???. They accept credit cards (!!!) but not dollar bills (???). With a credit card, time blocks must be purchased in hour increments (????). Most maddening of all, the car license plate number must be entered first (????????), preventing individuals from giving their passes to a stranger if there is extra time left, thus killing good citizenship. 

As you can see, it's quite an emotional experience.

However, not as emotional as the notes left for the mayor on the previous meter:

No word on whether the individual born in 1955 lived to see the new meters. This story is still developing.

And finally, I'm not saying that I'm a library journalist, but if questioned, I would say that I prefer the term "librarnalist" (emphasis on the "rar").

I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger

This morning, half the grand steps in front of the Carnegie Library were blocked off by yellow caution tape. Two men worked, bent over cement equipment. They both wore white t-shirts and deep tans. It wasn't even noon and the heat hung heavy on the shadeless steps.

A mother with young children stopped for a few moments to watch. The toddler, a boy, was especially interested in what was happening. The baby on her hip yawned.

"You do well in school and go to college so you won't end up doing what I do, okay?" said one of the men to the little boy. The man wiped his forehead and chuckled a bit, the kind of laugh that's meant to make serious statements light hearted. His voice was the sound of a thousand cigarettes.

"Hard work," said the mother. "Hard, hard work."

Battle In The Bathroom: The People Vs. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

For years, there has been a war in the women's bathroom of the Carnegie Library, main branch. Women, girls, ladies, chicks, gals, whatever we're being called these days, have been writing, drawing, ranting, scribbling, scrawling, doodling and defacing the walls of the bathroom. These walls have been painted on a weekly basis back to basic shades of beige or pea soup green. Unlike the New York City Clean Train Movement, the spotless walls have not slowed down the scribblers in the slightest.

About a year ago or so, the library began posting a single 8 x 11" paper in each stall, asking people to write on the paper instead of the walls. Few obliged, but more mocked the paper, writing on the wall right beside it. Others ranted that asking people not to write on walls is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.

What's the big deal? Who cares? Why does this matter?

One, the library system is not rolling in money. Two and a half years ago, multiple branches were voted to close by the board and it was only by adding a referendum this past November which allocates a small percentage of property taxes to the library system that those branches were able to stay open. Late fees were raised and other services have been cut. Repainting the stalls and dealing with this crap kills up valuable money and time. The words and drawings are also sometimes inappropriate in an all-ages library, if you know what I mean.

Two, the library recently changed tatics. They painted the stalls black.

Unfortunately for them, silver Sharpies exist.

 

The black is not popular.

Three, I'm torn on this issue. I love the library and I hate to see it defaced. It's senseless. If these people were so concerned with free speech, they'd get on a computer and start a blog or hell, even a tumblr if they're too lazy to type. On the other hand, I kind of love it.

The stuff they write ranges from passionate and thoughtful to immature and dumb to nonsensical and insane. They write quotes, song lyrics, poems. They have conversations.

And even though blogging works for me, I understand how it wouldn't for someone else. I've written before about how the internet is much less anonymous than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Everything has become yourfullname.com or facebook/therealwhateveryournameis when at one time that was really discouraged. Writing on a wall would feel much freer in comparison.

The only true solution to this problem would be stainless steel stalls, like the ones in the Squirrel Hill library. They have a few scratches, but are otherwise flawless. They could also do what's done in some bathrooms at CMU, which are "Share and Support" walls with notes written on paper and taped up including space for people to leave their advice back.

Curiously, this problem is almost exclusively in the second and fourth stalls. Evens, not the odds.

The situation in the men's bathroom is a mystery, as I am not permitted inside.