Customer?!?
Patron or Customer
I was shocked to login to my favourite online dictionaries and find the word patron’s definition so closely linked to the definition of customer. This is not a new blog topic, there is no shortage of blog entries on this topic http://www.librarybytes.com/2008/01/patron-customer-in-us-us-world-does.html; http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6457205.html. These two links remind me at least I am not a crazy librarian with these random thoughts.
This train of thought started when I read about the latest program at my local public library inviting customers in for an evening program. And I thought – customer! I am a customer of the Keg, Tommy Hilfiger, GM [it was the only car I could afford out of library school], my mortgage company and bank. But I am not and do not want to be a customer of my public library. Part of it comes from the fact that I feel my taxes [one of the highest rates in the Canada] should cover the costs of my library use. Of course I would pay for some special programs, but to join a book club – absolutely not.
I like what Bartleby says online. “A patron is of course a benefactor, as in a patron of the arts, but the word also means a regular customer. A customer is someone who is buying goods, or sometimes services”. I would rather be a patron of the library then someone who is expected to be buying something. With a customer definition the next thing I would expect to see at the library is a no loitering sign on a rainy Sunday afternoon as I browse the international papers or 745s.


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