Grumble Rules Moan Regulations Bitch Bureaucrats
June 14th, 2008 by erb
From earlier New Champaign Public Library (and Idle 2 A.M. Ramblings) post:
Oh! And perhaps I’ll pick up a book, while I’m there?!?
Maybe so — but I won’t be checking it out with a library card. CPL loses points with me on obstinate bureaucratic obtuseness. I duly followed their online directions for getting a library card at Getting a Library Card:
Stop in and we‘ll make a card for you right away. Get a head start by filling in a registration form PDF ahead of time. To get a card, you‘ll need to show us:
- A photo ID such as a driver‘s license
- Proof of your Champaign address, printed on a check or a piece of official mail such as a bill
I thought I had (literally) all the bases covered. I brought with me:
- My drivers license;
- My first pay stub, with my Champaign employer’s address, complete with my temporary Champaign mailing address (same as employer);
- My Busey Bank first printed checks, with my Champaign temporary (employer) address on it;
- My Busey Bank Debit Card mailing, with my Champaign temporary (employer) address on it;
- My Champaign post office box information;
- My “Residential Sales Contract” for our new home, closing on July 7th (approx. three weeks from now), at our new Champaign address;
- My assurance that I am subletting an apartment on First and Springfield, at a Champaign address
To misquote Kennedy, I chose to bring all these things with me, not because it would be difficult, but because I thought it would be easy. I had no idea…
So to make a long story short, I was declined.
Between the rules at work, and this, I’m starting to feel like the laid-back atmosphere and vibe of Seattle has had a lasting effect on me, and that I’ve done a 180 landing here — and it’s rubbing me the wrong way. Time will tell.
I freely admitted that I have not yet received any mail at the sublet apartment, nor will I in the short two months I will stay there until I am a tax paying gainfully employed home owning Illinois resident contributing to the local economy, since it hardly makes sense to change all of my addresses to be sent there when my wife and family are still living in Seattle, and I will be moving to my new home in only three weeks. Ok, I didn’t actually say all that! But I did explain my situation very well, I think, and expressed my dumbfoundedness that they would refuse my request for a library card. Their (stubborn?) rationale was based on my being a tax-paying resident, and that the library is funded by these taxes — so they basically could care less where I worked, who I worked for, or what the address on my paycheck was, if I wasn’t sleeping at that address. And if I wasn’t living at the home I’m buying, they’re not interested in that either. Basically all they cared about was the sublet apartment, and without a stupid piece of mail from there, they weren’t interested in anything.
Anyone that knows me well, knows my blood pressure was simmering slightly at this point. But I must be mellowing in my old age, ’cause I gave up (after a couple back-and-forths) without too much of a fight. Perhaps I’m learning that you simply can’t fight city hall.
On a positive note, the library is very nice inside. Alhough the “cafe” disappointed greatly, to be perfectly honest. I’ve seen hot dog stands there were larger. Oh well!
P.S. Oh. There are no hot dog stands in CU, either, as far as I know. Sigh.
One Response to “Grumble Rules Moan Regulations Bitch Bureaucrats”
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Rob
wrote on 06/23/08 at 4:00 pm :
Wow. It shouldn’t ever be that hard to obtain a library card!