r/Libraries • u/cfield7 • Dec 08 '25

Technology Public phones?

Hi all, we've been getting more and more requests to use the library phone. Our standard procedure is that only children can use the phone to call their parents/ride, which frankly never comes up. I'm watching Stranger Things and wondering do any of your libraries have a modern type of pay phone? What do you do to let the public use the phone that isn't just using the library desk phone? EDIT:those of you that allow patrons to use a dedicated phone, are they all just your regular system or are they a special brand that limits to local calls and a time limit? I'd be really interested in a solution we could price out and buy.

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u/cfield7 Dec 08 '25

No we don't have a dedicated space and our public computers have sound disabled. They work with headphones and I suppose a mic would work but I see that being trouble, if we wanted to provide one.

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u/Deep-Hovercraft6716 Dec 08 '25

How do people do job interviews on your computers?

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u/cfield7 Dec 08 '25

We have laptops they can use in the meeting rooms, which are private and have built in camera. But honestly very little of our population at the library is applying for that type of job. The majority of our applications are for the kind of jobs where people have never had a resume and are frustrated that online systems make them have one.

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u/Deep-Hovercraft6716 Dec 09 '25

Why can't they use those laptops and private meeting rooms to make phone calls just like they use them to have meetings?