Life achievement unlocked: Uncrumpling dollar bills

I am constantly amazed at some of the requests we get at the circulation desk for:

• Paperclips
• Scissors
• Glue sticks
• Poster board
• Markers
• Tape
• Note cards

Students seem to be unaware that the bookstore and the library are not one in the same. I am amazed by these requests, because when I was in school, the thought never crossed my mind that supplying these items was no ones responsibility other my own. I remember being a little too excited when I found a mini stapler that would easily fit in my pencil pouch. The independence, the self-reliance, the utter cuteness of small office supplies!

These simple requests got me thinking, "Why don't our students think the same way I did? Why do they not plan ahead and realize these are things they might need to bring from home or buy from the bookstore?" However, yesterday there was an incident that made me think this all comes down to the possibility that there is a generation that doesn't know how to problem solve.

I was sitting at the reference desk, and out of the corner of my eye, saw a youngish student walk up to the circulation desk. Since there was a student worker there, I turned my attention back to what I was doing, but not before hearing the words "change" and "copier" being uttered, and information about where to get change on campus being shared.  A minute or two passed, and the student worker walked over to me at the reference desk. I expected them to be holding a $5, or something larger, hence, the need to involve me, since our copier takes dollar bills. Imagine my confusion when they showed me a crumpled dollar bill and said, "The copier won't take it." I swooped in to save the day, and took the dollar bill, walked over to the copier, used the edge of a table to smooth the bill out, inserted it into the machine, and viola, copies!

"Thanks, I didn't even think of doing that!"

Didn't think of doing that?! So, the knowledge was there, but they didn't think about applying it? That's the FIRST thing I do when a machine won't take my dollar. The last thing I would think of doing was walking over to a service desk that doesn't have a cash register, and see if they have a nicer dollar bill I could swap.

Both the student, and student worker are in their early 20's, and were, presumably, educated in a system that teaches to pass a test, rather than encourage critical thinking skills. Is this incident indicative of a generation that, when posed with a problem, immediately looks for an answer from an external source? Maybe it isn't that they think the world should provide them with everything, but that they lack the skills to find the answer within themselves? Should I just be happy that they asked rather than left?

I know some students are looking for free stuff. But my hope is that thinking about these interactions in a different way means I'm more helpful, than annoyed, when presented with them in the future. Granted, another part of me wants to make business card sized maps with directions to the bookstore.