Yesterday a man and his two friends came in. He asked, "Where are the good movies?" I figured he wanted a particular movie, or to be pointed to the right section of DVDs (ours are separated into Mystery, Action, Comedy, etc.). Nope. Maybe he wants some recommendations. Well, what kind of movies does he like? What has he seen before and what did he think of it? Does he have any favorite actors? Nope. "Last time I came here I just asked and they picked out the movies for me." So I picked him out a semi-random selection of ten DVDs and he walked away happy.
Friends of the Library Board member with a 'service dog' comes in; dog immediately lunges for the children's section (I'm sure it smells fascinating). Coworker grumbles, "You can so tell that's not a real service dog."
Man buys a two-dollar pair of headphones, pays with a check.
Outreach librarian doing a tour: "This desk is where you come for help. You want to know the atomic weight of tungsten, your zip code, whatever, this is the place."
Can you tell me which cities are at least 40 miles away from [City the library is in]?
A. Most of them. B. Does this have anything to do with a restraining order?
Accidental eye contact with someone who is picking his nose. Eew.
Guy who needs help with a computer (the monitor is turned off) asks if me and coworker are sisters. Nope, we're not, but we get asked this on a regular basis because we have the same hair color and nerdy thick-rimmed glasses, and are both white.
Man needs to print some attachments from an email but doesn't know his password. Figuring out your password is not a service we provide, but fortunately his daughter had set up his account for him and had the sense to put in his phone number to get a text as a password recovery option.
Woman wants contact information to write to author Brad Meltzer about the Constitution.
Retired plumber: I was told I could bring my computer in here and maybe you could help me figure out what's wrong with it. (I could! Then he wants to know--do I have a business card?)
Is there somewhere in the library we can go if we need to be loud?
Guy who is coming off of something (?) and is really messed up: A guy back there pointed his fingers at me like a gun and said 'band bang, you dead.' I think he's going to rob me.
Me: Well, that is a threat and we can have security call the police.
Guy: No, I don't want them to get involved.
Teach two different patrons about Craigslist. A new world opens up.
An older couple makes copies of the tax instruction booklet (we weren't able to order copies from the IRS to give away this year; it's a nightmare) without complaining to us or needed assistance with the copier. I would like to thank them for how low-maintenance they are, but I'm so overwhelmed I might cry, which would be awkward.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Friday, April 3, 2015
Fiction or nonfiction?
Hello faithful readers!
Something occurred to me earlier this week and I thought I'd ask for your opinions on it because the patrons I see in person just want me to hand them their computer passes and stop talking to them.
If your/my/the/a public library (whatever is most relevant to you) had to give up either all its fiction or all its nonfiction, which would be more tolerable, and why?
Something occurred to me earlier this week and I thought I'd ask for your opinions on it because the patrons I see in person just want me to hand them their computer passes and stop talking to them.
If your/my/the/a public library (whatever is most relevant to you) had to give up either all its fiction or all its nonfiction, which would be more tolerable, and why?
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Tattos, typewriters, and leases, oh my!
I have somewhat poor directional hearing, so it's often hard for me to tell which patron's headphones the loud music playing at the computers is coming from. Fortunately, making an interrogatory ramble around the perimeter of the computer area solves the problem 50% of the time just by reminding people that someone is paying attention.
I didn't work this time but later Ben from Security did the same thing and was able to actually tell who the culprit was. He politely tapped the man on the shoulder and asked him to turn down his music, and the man politely agreed.
Other noteworthy things from the library this week:
A woman asked to use the typewriter. It was a big relief to send her to the first floor desk--I'm sometimes scheduled there but I have no clue how to use the typewriter, so I feel like I dodged a bullet.
I help a guy find a model residential lease and he asks me to tell him what they want in the blank of "For a term to commence ________, and to end any time with a 30 day notice..." I say I can't give legal advice, blah blah blah, but my (ahem) illegal advice is they just want the date the contract is signed. Later in the day I read the slides from a presentation called "Public Libraries and Access to Justice: What Public Librarians Can Do." Still nervous, though.
A woman who I placed some books on hold returns to the desk: "This is a weird question, but can I take a picture of the font on your water bottle? I'm getting a tattoo and I haven't found a font that I like yet, but I like that one." This is the only question I've ever had that begins with "This is a weird question" and is actually kind of weird by public library standards.
I didn't work this time but later Ben from Security did the same thing and was able to actually tell who the culprit was. He politely tapped the man on the shoulder and asked him to turn down his music, and the man politely agreed.
Other noteworthy things from the library this week:
A woman asked to use the typewriter. It was a big relief to send her to the first floor desk--I'm sometimes scheduled there but I have no clue how to use the typewriter, so I feel like I dodged a bullet.
I help a guy find a model residential lease and he asks me to tell him what they want in the blank of "For a term to commence ________, and to end any time with a 30 day notice..." I say I can't give legal advice, blah blah blah, but my (ahem) illegal advice is they just want the date the contract is signed. Later in the day I read the slides from a presentation called "Public Libraries and Access to Justice: What Public Librarians Can Do." Still nervous, though.
A woman who I placed some books on hold returns to the desk: "This is a weird question, but can I take a picture of the font on your water bottle? I'm getting a tattoo and I haven't found a font that I like yet, but I like that one." This is the only question I've ever had that begins with "This is a weird question" and is actually kind of weird by public library standards.
Friday, March 20, 2015
A complaint
This is turning out to be such a productive day at the desk for the blog! Normally I don't like to post more than once on the same day, but I have to tell you that a man came to the desk and said "I would like to lodge a complaint."
His complaint was that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was not a sufficiently thick book. It's a short story, but he thought it would be long because there is a feature-length film based on it.
I told him I would pass that on to the proper authorities and he said "Good. If you find a solution, let me know."
He was joking and he made me laugh, but I bet he doesn't know that some patrons would make this kind of complaint and be dead serious.
His complaint was that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was not a sufficiently thick book. It's a short story, but he thought it would be long because there is a feature-length film based on it.
I told him I would pass that on to the proper authorities and he said "Good. If you find a solution, let me know."
He was joking and he made me laugh, but I bet he doesn't know that some patrons would make this kind of complaint and be dead serious.
Just Let Me Pay part two
One of the sad things about my current library is that all of our non-English collections are labeled in English but not in the actual language of the collection. That is, our Spanish collection is labeled "Spanish" rather than "Español." One of my pet projects is adding native language labels for those collections, so I went to see if we could order some little label holders to clip onto the shelves like this: http://www.demco.com/goto?BLS168218&ALL0000&es=20150311134244525718
They are almost twenty dollars a label! For a piece of acrylic that is an inch by three quarters of an inch.
That golf book isn't looking like such a bad deal now.
They are almost twenty dollars a label! For a piece of acrylic that is an inch by three quarters of an inch.
That golf book isn't looking like such a bad deal now.
Popular
I'm feeling popular for two reasons today. First, an Arabic-speaking man and his English-speaking friend were so pleased that I could help them print something out from the man's email. He said "Thank you so much for your help and your pleasantness."
Second, this blog is now linked to on Love the Liberry, the ultimate blog of the public library experience. Amy and her co-bloggers are kind of my heroes, so it's pretty amazing to me to think that they like this humble competition!
Second, this blog is now linked to on Love the Liberry, the ultimate blog of the public library experience. Amy and her co-bloggers are kind of my heroes, so it's pretty amazing to me to think that they like this humble competition!
Friday, March 13, 2015
Very mad, very happy
Today people were upset..
...that I didn't know about a tornado that happened in this city years before I moved here.
...that another guy's phone rang while he was on the computer.
...that I wouldn't pick his password for a WalMart job application for him.
On the other hand, the guy who just loves the internet came by the desk to tell me how happy he was that he could find any song online. He was so happy he almost cried. He is the best.
...that I didn't know about a tornado that happened in this city years before I moved here.
...that another guy's phone rang while he was on the computer.
...that I wouldn't pick his password for a WalMart job application for him.
On the other hand, the guy who just loves the internet came by the desk to tell me how happy he was that he could find any song online. He was so happy he almost cried. He is the best.
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