The first patron through the door is one of our board members, who has the a meeting room booked and wants to book one for next week as well. Our circ person doesn't know how to book a meeting room, and our security guard is new and hasn't turned his radio on for us to call him and ask him to unlock the one he already has. We're not really showing off our best work, here.
A man whose son broke his printer and who needs my help to print some pictures of tattoos calls me "Hon" like 10 times even though he's only 4 years older than I am. Also he lifts up his shirt to show me a tattoo. But he's basically polite and well-intentioned so I don't push back on any of that--if you learn anything in the public library, it is the importance of picking your battles.
Someone shouts all his sentences during a normal checkout transaction for some reason. He's not mad, just really, really loud.
Phone message: Can you tell me what hours Little Branch is open today, Saturday July 15th?
Phone call: Can you give me the number for the hotel or motel in the town of Kingwood, West Virginia? I'm pretty sure there is only the one.
I check out movies to a couple of patrons while my circ counterpart is helping someone else.
Page #1 reports that Page #2 hasn't shown up for her shift. Uh oh! Hopefully she is just confused, not hurt.
I teach Page #1 to hand out summer reading prizes, since she will be covering my lunch break later. Roles at this library have gotten pretty crazy since we went to a one-desk model.
Patron to clerk: "Your hair is sharp!"
Where's the bathroom? I thought you had one on this floor. Oh, for kids? Never mind, we'll go downstairs to the main one.
The question "Where is the Dewey number R 303?" morphs into "let me show you our online business databases!"
I thought I had put my first name and middle initial in to get on the computer, but my printouts aren't showing up under that name. Sorry!
She is printing out $24.75 worth of documents! Why oh why aren't you open on the weekend, Insta-Prints!?
Call from my counterpart upstairs: Have you talked to the woman who needs someone's phone number in Neighboring City? She is hard of hearing and she keeps hanging up on me! If she calls back, could you please give her the number of Neighboring City Library, because the person she needs isn't in any of the online directories and we don't have any of their paper phonebooks.
Mr. Timmons stops by to return some movies and to request Striptease with Burt Reynolds and Demi Moore. He is always telling me outlandish stories about celebrities he met because he used to be a bouncer or something at a big entertainment venue in Florida, and today it's how he took his mother-in-law to meet Burt Reynolds and she was sooo happy.
Business database guy comes back down and stops at the desk just to thank me.: "I learned a lot." Nice!
Someone was jumped and beaten up in the park across the street. He comes to use our phone to call the police and his mom (the latter so he can get her to buy him a bus ticket out of town). I also recognize him as the "I'm not an addict anymore; I'm on methadone" guy who has been kicked out of the library several times and owes us a hundred and twenty dollars. I can see him outside, hiding behind a tree and talking to a police officer, so he's getting help with this situation at least.
I spot a woman with a shirt that says "Any dog can be a guide dog if you don't care where you are going."
Hi, can you tell me where your restroom is?
When are they going to put out the Legos!?
Do you have any of the Adventures of Gumball books?
A patron talks to me for three minutes about how great the TV show "Ancient Aliens" is and how "it's all true."
The computer catalog says there is a copy of The Grapes of Wrath in storage. What does that mean?
Old white lady: I need a library card. I'm a refugee from Neighboring City. They don't have Value Line anymore.
Answer some summer reading questions for a nice family with three kids. Mom is wearing a hijab. After that, check out a big pile of books to them, including a few related to Islamic culture and one on Islamophobia. Makes me sad, but we have a nice conversation about picture books and the dad says to me "It's nice to see so many people using the library!"
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