Temper, temper.

Our library system (which usually I adore) has a request system where you can suggest books for purchase. I sent a request yesterday for a book that will be published this upcoming April, and I got this response:

A request you have placed:
      
Title: About Face
Author: Donna Leon

TN: 474473
 
has been cancelled for the following reason:

This item is too new to purchase or borrow.

We can't order this yet.

Please check the catalog again in January or Feb 2009.

Please do not use 'request it' to ask for titles that are not published yet.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Collection Development

So, maybe I'm overreacting, but the "Please do not use 'request it' to ask for titles that are not published yet." really rubbed me the wrong way. So I got back on the website and sent them this reply:

I used Request It to ask that a book be purchased when it is published in a few months, and I received a very snippy reply that I wasn't to use Request It for books that haven't been published yet. How DO you request them, then?????? I have a hold on a book that won't be published until February, so obviously it's possible to request them somehow. It would help a lot if Request It responses were politer, for one thing, and more informative, for another. I know it's possible to request not-yet-published books. Would it kill Request It to include that info when they're bawling you out for not using the system correctly???

Maybe I just shouldn't use the Internet when I'm in a bad temper.