One report said they knew each other, another report said they didn't know each other. That main library branch is located downtown and has always been a daytime haven for homeless people, so it's hard to know if it was personal or random.

That's how one of those jobs was for me, too. The insurance — what I could get, not what they "required" — was upwards of $1,200. The job paid $500. No thanks.

Great idea to carry disability. We really have no safety net beyond a spouse should something happen.

The only biz-related insurance I carry is disability. It's cheap, since we're in a low-risk field (aside from Paula's library-stabbing story, apparently!)

Anne, it's not an easy area to understand, so it's not uncommon to see bad advice. I was offered a BOP policy with E&O attached, but it was for so little coverage, I wondered why bother ($25K). The policy I'm considering has so many caveats (exclusions, they call them) that it sounds like they're saying "You're covered for this, except not really."

It takes an insurance company rep or a broker to really explain some of this stuff. And I've been writing about this for 15 years. They don't make it easy!

Keri, great point. An LLC does NOT protect you from loss. It protects you from possibly losing your house or your personal finances, but if you screw up or have to defend against such charges, you still have to find the money for that.

I forgot to add: Just a couple weeks ago, at the very same library, one patron stabbed another patron in the face. I sure hope no one signed that liability waiver for an event going on that day!

The library people sounded very excited. This was at the height of the recession, which struck our community particularly hard (we had one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation for a long time), and the idea to to focus on how to launch a freelance writing career.

When the paperwork arrived, it included a form asking me to show proof of $1M worth of liability insurance (or was it $2M?) or sign a waiver accepting responsibility for any and all injuries or damage that occurred on Library premises on that particular date – it even said, "including normal wear and tear."

First: Normal wear and tear? So if a library patron destroys a book I have to pay for it?

Second: Physical injuries? How does entering a room and sitting down cause injuries, unless the facilities are in total disrepair?

Third: My workshop was going to be two hours or so, at one location, but the form covered all library facilities for that entire day.

Forth: As a tax payer, I already financially support the public library. I told them I was shocked by the forms since I assumed some of my tax dollars went toward insurance premiums that should already cover all of those things.

I asked a prolific poet I know who gives frequent presentations and workshops for the library what she did about the liability forms. She said she'd never once been asked to sign one.

Even if I had that type of insurance I would have refused to sign their form. I told them to call me when they stop trying to shift the library's liabilities onto individuals.