Who ever is complaining about mentally handicapped adults being dropped off needs to get over that. For one they always have someone with them and two they have every right to be there! And to complain that they are making odd noises? Give me a break! I can't stand when people chew with their mouths full, smack their gum, or bite their nails but that is life and I have to deal with it. If you don't like to don't go!

Does Beale Library have a rent a cop or some other security? For awhile, it used to be a hangout for street bums to shave in the restroom, snooze, and get out of the heat or cold. Not so much since I've been there. Boisterous children have never bothered me; kids are supposed to make noise. I can see how others would regard them as incorrigible hellions.

Just look at bakersfield.craigslist.org/m4m once in awhile for a list of how wholesome our libraries are.  If I find someone advertising (usually in the SW, Beale and most especially CSUB) libraries I have learned to call their service desk, politely tell them someone is soliciting "lewd" behavior online, and after describing what lewd means I silently chuckle in amusement at their horror that such things occur where they work.

No, it happens!  The sad thing is, aside from the fact people engage in this type of behavior, is that  law enforcement is seldom interested in such cases.  Last year when I called the CSUB police no less than three times to report these occurences they kept telling me to come down in person and "file a report", and an email about the goings-on at the CSUB library to their police chief, Claudia Neal, went unanswered.

Kids are supposed to make noise...............................outside! NOT in a library (handicaped excluded). The library was initially set up for people to be able to have some peace and quiet to study, look things up and learn - not running around and jabbering. They used to have a childrens area where the little one could engage in conversation about books, do they no longer offer that?

Last week my two young children and I went to the Northeast library by Greenfrog market. As we walked up to the door, a teenage boy, who outweighed me by at least 100lbs, walked up to me and asked if I had any string.  I asked him what he needed string for and he said his dog had followed him there from home and I assumed he wanted to tie him up.  I didn't have any string to give him, apologized, and went into the library with my children.  As he walked away I saw that he had his shoelace hidden in his hand behind his back.  About 10 minutes later I see the teenager come into the kids section where we were sitting at a table and walk through the stacks.  He had both shoelaces in his shoes.  Then he asks if he can sit with us at our table (even though there was more than one table that was empty) and he proceeds to ask me personal questions about my pregnancy (I am 8 months pregnant).  When am I due? What am I having? Do I have any more children? Not uncommon questions but it struck me as odd that he was so interested and it put me on alert.  I asked him if he found something to tie his dog up and he said he had used his shoelace.  Wierd because I had already noticed that he had both of them.  As he was talking he was unloading his backpack on the table like he was going to be there for a while.  I listened to my intuition and got my kids and left right away.  We started walking next door to Greenfrog market and I was about halfway there when I look behind me and the teenager is following me and trying to catch up with us.  It scared the living daylights out of me! I basically grabbed my kids and ran into the market and as soon as I did, he turned around and jogged the other way.  I went straight to the manager but by then the kid was gone.  Wierd...

I've never had a weird experience at a local library, but I had a really nice experience last summer.  My then-3-year-old son was really into army stuff--GI Joe and toy tanks and little green army men.  We were checking our books out at the Rathburn library in Oildale when two of North High's ROTC students came up to stand behind us at the desk.  Well, my son took one look at them and was bowled over.  Real army guys!  One was dressed in fatigues and the other one was dressed in formal dress.  Anyway, they were so sweet to my son.  My son kept staring at them so I told them that he loved all things army, so they knelt down and talked to him for a long time.  One of them gave him their recruiting officer's card as a souvenir.

I was impressed that two teenage boys would take the time to talk to my son in such a sweet way, and my son was impressed that two real, live army guys actually talked to him.  Proof that there are good teenagers out there, and that good, positive experiences can happen--even at the library!