“It's ideally suited for that purpose, so we won't be using it that way”

The purpose of this paper is to examine possible reasons behind apparent absurdities in the library.

The paper looks at a renovation project at Daniel Library, Charleston, South Carolina and the problems encountered because of its previous history.

The paper finds that some changes are unavoidable as cost‐saving measures; some might be due to the sort of person who enters library work.

The paper highlights personality types in library work and the history of library security systems.

The paper reveals that not all planning decisions are as stupid as they look.

The paper encourages readers to think about why they make the decisions they do.