Today I submitted 3 different incident reports to library administration, talked to 3 different police officers, evicted 5 people from the library, and talked to 2 different patrons who insisted on speaking to the manager.
When finally the building power went out around 5:00 p.m., I really felt it was a sign we should all be allowed to close up shop early.
Friday, December 14, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Thoughts and worries of a new manager
How did I not predict that the most powerful indicator of which staff would be hard to manage would be having his or her 'personal' book cart?
Is it okay for your staff to hug you if they asked permission first and you said yes? Now are they going to be hurt that you never ask permission to hug them? (I mean, not that you hug them without asking permission, but that you neither hug them nor ask to.)
Is it worse if you accidentally startle your staff member when she thinks she is alone in the building and she goes "Wow, you scared the shit out of me!" or is it worse if your staff member accidentally startles you and you say the same thing? Hypothetically, what if both those things happen in your first six weeks?
What is my power level as far as tamping down on rampant Christmasness? How many years do I have to stay here before I can address it without being 'the mean new manager who hates it when we have fun'?
Should I cover up the political bumper stickers on my very-easy-to-identify car? Is it some kind of discrimination if I don't?
Library administration has reminded us at management meetings multiple times that our Employee Assistance Programs is for managers too, not just staff. Is there something I don't know about that I should be more worried about?
Is it a faux pas not to be a 'friend' of the library, in the Facebook sense and/or nonprofit Friends of the Library sense?
Monday, November 5, 2018
Welcome to Walnut Bluff
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I got promoted to be the branch manager at Walnut Bluff, a different location in the same system as Mystery Library. Mystery Library boss finally got back from her vacation so I've now moved over to Walnut Bluff. Being a new manager is exciting, probably too
exciting. I had about a week where I didn’t know what to do with myself
but now that I know enough to be of some use to the staff it’s gotten
crazy. Here's what it's like at thew new job in the new library:
I used to drink a single cup of coffee most
mornings and was in plausible “I can quit whenever I want!” denial, but I
have rapidly become very addicted.
Staff member warns me—"I really don’t think you
should let the embroidery group that comes on Tuesday evenings be out in
the public area like they want to. They always bring like an entire
dinner and make a huge mess! I personally feel
they should be confined to the conference room.”
Rainstorms—one of the library assistants shows me where to put out the buckets.
A grandma and mom get into a heated argument about
whether the daughter is qualified to be taking care of her baby son. The
police arrive and I have to stay late so I can pry the call report
number out of them for admin’s records.
All the regulars have caught on to my existence and
have either introduced themselves in a helpful and friendly fashion,
and/or tried out their best ’but I didn’t knows’/’everyone else lets
me’s/whatevers on me, usually both.
The front doors have to be locked and unlocked with
an allyn wrench and I’m really struggling with it. At this rate I’m
going to have to observe every single one of my employees do it before I
finally figure it out.
The monthly meetings the management team has last four hours. I really hope this is atypical but I’m too embarrassed to ask anyone.
Trying to figure out how to use the antiquated
software for using our security cameras is like deliberately slamming my
head repeatedly into a brick wall. It doesn’t help that the only
password I can find written down (1234, by the way)
doesn’t actually work, so I only have access to some of the system
features and I can’t tell what doesn’t work because I’m not logged in
vs. what I haven’t figured out how to use vs. what just isn’t possible.
I find a domino hidden behind a poster in the children’s area, page says “yyyyyeah, that’s been a problem lately.”
I present a list of demands to our Building and
Grounds department for things that we need fixed: New flags for the
flagpole out front, paint over the graffiti in the women’s bathroom,
replacement bulbs for 4 or 5 lights on the public floor,
and someone to clean the outsides of the windows. It’s amazing what
level of dirt and brokenness people get used to when it accumulates
gradually. Our Buildings liaison says, “Nice to meet you. This building
is the same age as I am so we’ll be seeing a lot
of each other.”
One-on-one introductory meetings with staff—when I
close the door behind the first person, he says, grinning, “This is
giving me flashbacks to the high school principal’s office.”
A woman wants to bring her ‘service chihuahua’ into the library. Nope, nope, nope.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Today at Mystery Library
Kid: Do you have any chapter books about unicorns?
Confused old man: You called and you said my movies had come in. Where are they?
Phone call: I heard an author is going to come out and talk about her book. Do you have the book?
A regular: Do you ladies have today's newspaper?
Volunteer running a kid's program in the program room: Can we borrow the blocks from the children's area? The kids are demanding them.
A million different patrons: Can you look up my library card number so I can get on the computer?
Patron using a garbage bag as an emergency poncho: Somebody told me, and I understand this might not be true, that I can get copies of something from my email here at the library. Can I do that, and if so how do I go about it?
Excited patron from nearby senior living place: Are you the one who came to my house!?
Chatty guy who always wants to tell me about his religious experiences: So, the boss is on vacation. Are you the boss now?
Grandma: When is your storytime? By the way, I am also a children's book author. I'll leave this copy of my book for you to look at while we are in the library.
Same grandma, to kid after kid has thrown a block and narrowly missed her head: If you were to say sorry to me, I might just be able to find it in my heart to forgive you.
Random kids: When are there going to be Legos at the library again?
Family of patrons who are a constant irritant to the staff: We definitely returned the Curious George movie you're saying we have checked out.
Youngest kid from that family is trying to climb right up on top of the reference desk. I stop him but I know as soon as I turn away he's just going to start again.
Confused teenager: Can I register to vote here?
Fun regular: Can you please request the movies Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man for me? My wife and I watched the Avengers and she never watches movies, and she wants to know who all the people in it are.
Confused old man: You called and you said my movies had come in. Where are they?
Phone call: I heard an author is going to come out and talk about her book. Do you have the book?
A regular: Do you ladies have today's newspaper?
Volunteer running a kid's program in the program room: Can we borrow the blocks from the children's area? The kids are demanding them.
A million different patrons: Can you look up my library card number so I can get on the computer?
Patron using a garbage bag as an emergency poncho: Somebody told me, and I understand this might not be true, that I can get copies of something from my email here at the library. Can I do that, and if so how do I go about it?
Excited patron from nearby senior living place: Are you the one who came to my house!?
Chatty guy who always wants to tell me about his religious experiences: So, the boss is on vacation. Are you the boss now?
Grandma: When is your storytime? By the way, I am also a children's book author. I'll leave this copy of my book for you to look at while we are in the library.
Same grandma, to kid after kid has thrown a block and narrowly missed her head: If you were to say sorry to me, I might just be able to find it in my heart to forgive you.
Random kids: When are there going to be Legos at the library again?
Family of patrons who are a constant irritant to the staff: We definitely returned the Curious George movie you're saying we have checked out.
Youngest kid from that family is trying to climb right up on top of the reference desk. I stop him but I know as soon as I turn away he's just going to start again.
Confused teenager: Can I register to vote here?
Fun regular: Can you please request the movies Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man for me? My wife and I watched the Avengers and she never watches movies, and she wants to know who all the people in it are.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Too much excitement
It's been a big week for me and for Mystery Library. I haven't been writing about it because it makes for boring blog material, but recently I applied to be a branch manager at a sister branch of Mystery Library and I just found out that I got the job (hooray!). I'm looking forward to it but it's going to be a crazy transition because Mystery Library is still understaffed and my boss is taking a long-planned international vacation (I don't resent her for this at all, it's extremely well-earned, just rough timing).
I won't be moving to my new branch--which I'm going to call Walnut Bluff because it has one of those comically nature-y names for an urban area--for a few weeks, but I was asked to come in for the 8 AM monthly meeting of all the branch managers to see what it is like on the morning that I normally work the evening shift, so I got to work an 11-hour day yesterday, which was exhausting but went by surprisingly quickly.
The most dramatic thing that happened was that I made my first ever 911 call in my capacity as library staff member! Fortunately for me I didn't have to make a judgment call about if it was the right thing to do. A patron came to the desk and said "I think I'm having a heart attack. Could you call for medical assistance!?" The paramedics came really quickly so I am optimistic that the patron will be okay--he was still conscious, standing, and breathing when they took him off to the hospital. It's weird to think I may never know!
Here's what was also weird:
I was convinced by TV that the first thing the 911 operator would say would be "911, what is the nature of your emergency?" but instead she said "911, what is the address of your emergency?" Fortunately I was only taken aback for about a half second. I've always worried that I'd freeze in a emergency, so this was a relief.
A group of kids who were too young to know what was going on kept trying to talk to me while I was on the phone and it took their adult ages to catch on and shush them.
My coworker who was on the desk with me is very new, so she is still concentrating hard on all her tasks, so she didn't even notice that I was on the phone with emergency services until I said "I am on the phone with 911. I need to go out and meet the paramedics so I need you to take this phone call." She was a good hiring choice, though--she picked it right up.
Our first aid kit has Tylenol and Advil in it, but no Aspirin.
I won't be moving to my new branch--which I'm going to call Walnut Bluff because it has one of those comically nature-y names for an urban area--for a few weeks, but I was asked to come in for the 8 AM monthly meeting of all the branch managers to see what it is like on the morning that I normally work the evening shift, so I got to work an 11-hour day yesterday, which was exhausting but went by surprisingly quickly.
The most dramatic thing that happened was that I made my first ever 911 call in my capacity as library staff member! Fortunately for me I didn't have to make a judgment call about if it was the right thing to do. A patron came to the desk and said "I think I'm having a heart attack. Could you call for medical assistance!?" The paramedics came really quickly so I am optimistic that the patron will be okay--he was still conscious, standing, and breathing when they took him off to the hospital. It's weird to think I may never know!
Here's what was also weird:
I was convinced by TV that the first thing the 911 operator would say would be "911, what is the nature of your emergency?" but instead she said "911, what is the address of your emergency?" Fortunately I was only taken aback for about a half second. I've always worried that I'd freeze in a emergency, so this was a relief.
A group of kids who were too young to know what was going on kept trying to talk to me while I was on the phone and it took their adult ages to catch on and shush them.
My coworker who was on the desk with me is very new, so she is still concentrating hard on all her tasks, so she didn't even notice that I was on the phone with emergency services until I said "I am on the phone with 911. I need to go out and meet the paramedics so I need you to take this phone call." She was a good hiring choice, though--she picked it right up.
Our first aid kit has Tylenol and Advil in it, but no Aspirin.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Hard questions
Kid to mom: Mom, do we have a resume? (re-zoom, not reh-zoo-may)
Patron calls with a real research question: There's a parcel of land in the neighborhood that she thinks used to be owned by the federal government and might still be. She remembers reading a long time ago that there were restrictions on what could be developed on it, specifically that it had to be developed "in the public interest." She wants to know who owns the land now and if there are currently any legal restrictions on development there. She doesn't have an address but she can describe where it is. Sounds interesting and exciting...unfortunately she needs the answer in 4 hours for a town hall meeting she wants to attend. I manage to ID the property but the legal questions are beyond me. Good luck with the county law library, ma'am! (As an aside, I think county law librarians must have the worst of both the public and the academic/corporate library worlds, and must be absolute saints).
Do you have the movie Boss Baby? What about Over the Hill? I mean, Over the Hedge?
One of the pages is picking up trash outside the library and has found a dead bird and wants to know what to do. I suggest leaving its corpse for scavengers, but he says "It's right in the road, though! If someone runs it over it's going to make a huge mess!" This will made a good addition to one of my favorite lists: "ridiculously titled emails I really had to send."
Patron calls with a real research question: There's a parcel of land in the neighborhood that she thinks used to be owned by the federal government and might still be. She remembers reading a long time ago that there were restrictions on what could be developed on it, specifically that it had to be developed "in the public interest." She wants to know who owns the land now and if there are currently any legal restrictions on development there. She doesn't have an address but she can describe where it is. Sounds interesting and exciting...unfortunately she needs the answer in 4 hours for a town hall meeting she wants to attend. I manage to ID the property but the legal questions are beyond me. Good luck with the county law library, ma'am! (As an aside, I think county law librarians must have the worst of both the public and the academic/corporate library worlds, and must be absolute saints).
Do you have the movie Boss Baby? What about Over the Hill? I mean, Over the Hedge?
One of the pages is picking up trash outside the library and has found a dead bird and wants to know what to do. I suggest leaving its corpse for scavengers, but he says "It's right in the road, though! If someone runs it over it's going to make a huge mess!" This will made a good addition to one of my favorite lists: "ridiculously titled emails I really had to send."
Friday, September 14, 2018
I(don't-know)9
A weird thing has been happening lately. Well, lots of weird things have been happening, but at this second I'm specifically talking about patrons coming in and asking me to help them fill out I-9 paperwork as an employer's "authorized representative."
The first time this happened was last fall, but I've had 3 or 4 additional requests since then. Apparently a requirement of the I-9 is that the employer (or their 'authorized representative') view the employee's actual physical ID and work authorization documents, which presents a problem for companies that don't have a local office. Apparently, companies are telling new employees to take their documentation and the form to a library and have the librarian be their representative.
Now that I've done a little research to verify that I really am qualified to sign people's I-9s (that is, that legally there are no special qualifications required, it can be anyone the employer agrees to), I don't mind doing this for people, but it's odd that I never saw a request like this for years and all of a sudden there's this spike. Maybe it's all one staffing agency and I just haven't noticed? Or maybe some government entity put out a bulletin advising employers to deal with this obstacle by using the employee's public library?
I was hoping one of the readers might know more. Any ideas? Also, does it seem like a privacy issue to be looking at people's social security cards?
P.S.: I investigated the government bulletin theory, but the closest thing I found was a first-page Google search result that included this image:
The first time this happened was last fall, but I've had 3 or 4 additional requests since then. Apparently a requirement of the I-9 is that the employer (or their 'authorized representative') view the employee's actual physical ID and work authorization documents, which presents a problem for companies that don't have a local office. Apparently, companies are telling new employees to take their documentation and the form to a library and have the librarian be their representative.
Now that I've done a little research to verify that I really am qualified to sign people's I-9s (that is, that legally there are no special qualifications required, it can be anyone the employer agrees to), I don't mind doing this for people, but it's odd that I never saw a request like this for years and all of a sudden there's this spike. Maybe it's all one staffing agency and I just haven't noticed? Or maybe some government entity put out a bulletin advising employers to deal with this obstacle by using the employee's public library?
I was hoping one of the readers might know more. Any ideas? Also, does it seem like a privacy issue to be looking at people's social security cards?
P.S.: I investigated the government bulletin theory, but the closest thing I found was a first-page Google search result that included this image:
 |
| Source: https://www.ebiinc.com/resources/blog/i-9-verification-for-remote-employees |
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
A really big waiting room
A toddler cried and cried today because he was convinced that the library was a doctor's office and he was going to have to get a shot. His mom kept saying "Look, look at all these books! This is a library!" but he was not buying it.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Upgrade downgrade
We can't do what anyone wants today because our computer system is being upgraded, meaning anything that requires checking someone's library card isn't really possible. People can still take things home (we scan their library card barcode and the barcodes of their items into an offline circ system) and they can still use the computer, but that's about it. Here's what I did in between breaking the news gently.
Eavesdrop on three girls reading Moana comics. One says to another "Are you wearing makeup?" Third girl answers, "No, she was born like that," and the original subject of the question indignantly jumps in "No I wasn't!"
I go through the lost and found and take out all the flash drives that we've had more than 30 days, clear them, and add them to our stash of loaners. This is a Priority One activity.
What do you need to sign up for a library card?
Can you help me find some books about 9/11? My son didn't know what it was.
I go into battle against the housing authority website for a new patron.
Interesting reference question! Somehow a patron has gotten the job of doing something with the collection of a private school's library, and they gave her a huge spreadsheet with item title, item author, format (paperback, hardcover, etc.) and a mysterious column labelled "FLR" full of alphanumeric strings that look like airplane ticket confirmation 'numbers,' like "1171RA1." She wants to know what an FLR is and if it's a unique identifier like an ISBN. My parapro coworker says cautiously "Why don't we ask the librarian about this one?" The number format is totally unfamiliar to me and traditional Google searches don't turn up anything, but trying some example searches allows me to find out--they're the number the book vendor uses as a unique identifier--1171RA1 shows up as a "Follett number" on Follett's Book Fair webpage. I suggest she go back to her employer and see if they can re-export a list from their ILS that includes ISBN if that's what she needs.
Can you show me how to print? times 3.
GED teacher wants to know: Can you show me that database with practice tests again?
Where would your books about astrology be?
Kids have made a huge mess in the children's area. Probably my fault for planning "Make a Parachute" as today's STEM activity.
Eavesdrop on three girls reading Moana comics. One says to another "Are you wearing makeup?" Third girl answers, "No, she was born like that," and the original subject of the question indignantly jumps in "No I wasn't!"
I go through the lost and found and take out all the flash drives that we've had more than 30 days, clear them, and add them to our stash of loaners. This is a Priority One activity.
What do you need to sign up for a library card?
Can you help me find some books about 9/11? My son didn't know what it was.
I go into battle against the housing authority website for a new patron.
Interesting reference question! Somehow a patron has gotten the job of doing something with the collection of a private school's library, and they gave her a huge spreadsheet with item title, item author, format (paperback, hardcover, etc.) and a mysterious column labelled "FLR" full of alphanumeric strings that look like airplane ticket confirmation 'numbers,' like "1171RA1." She wants to know what an FLR is and if it's a unique identifier like an ISBN. My parapro coworker says cautiously "Why don't we ask the librarian about this one?" The number format is totally unfamiliar to me and traditional Google searches don't turn up anything, but trying some example searches allows me to find out--they're the number the book vendor uses as a unique identifier--1171RA1 shows up as a "Follett number" on Follett's Book Fair webpage. I suggest she go back to her employer and see if they can re-export a list from their ILS that includes ISBN if that's what she needs.
Can you show me how to print? times 3.
GED teacher wants to know: Can you show me that database with practice tests again?
Where would your books about astrology be?
Kids have made a huge mess in the children's area. Probably my fault for planning "Make a Parachute" as today's STEM activity.
Friday, August 10, 2018
That's Google calling
Today I had a computer help appointment to help a patron sign up for an email. This is a really common thing because the local public housing authority requires you to have one for some unfathomable reason, and we are just down the street.
This guy was a real beginner, as in 'didn't know what the mouse is' level. He was also just having a rough time in life at the moment--he was caught in the awful web of the housing authority because he was trying to get emergency housing. Fortunately, he had a buddy with him (possibly a relative but, from the way they interacted, they didn't seem related).
The buddy brought the guy in to make the appointment and then came back with him and sat through it with the two of us. He didn't know a ton more about computers, but he knew more than his friend and he would helpfully point out where a letter on the keyboard was or repeat my instructions in different words if his friend was struggling. However, he always waited a few moments to let his friend try it himself first. For the first three quarters of the session, I was thinking that if the buddy knew more about computers he could teach the session just as well as I could and I'd be totally obsolete.
As I said, the applicant was really struggling, like, a lot. I think he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer to begin with, or maybe it was just because he was under a lot of stress, but he kept forgetting what he'd chosen as his email and password, even though his friend had written it down, stuff like that. In contrast, the other guy was picking things up really quickly, but again held back to let his friend try things on his own.
Anyway, we got to the point where the applicant had to get a verification code on his phone from Google, and he said he didn't have text, so I showed him the "Get a phone call instead" option and got him to click the button. His phone immediately rang, and he stared at it in confusion for a few seconds, causing his friend to finally snap. The buddy yelled "That's Google calling! Answer your god-damned phone!"
He had to go stand in the lobby and cool down for a couple of minutes. It was like watching my own id work alongside me.
This guy was a real beginner, as in 'didn't know what the mouse is' level. He was also just having a rough time in life at the moment--he was caught in the awful web of the housing authority because he was trying to get emergency housing. Fortunately, he had a buddy with him (possibly a relative but, from the way they interacted, they didn't seem related).
The buddy brought the guy in to make the appointment and then came back with him and sat through it with the two of us. He didn't know a ton more about computers, but he knew more than his friend and he would helpfully point out where a letter on the keyboard was or repeat my instructions in different words if his friend was struggling. However, he always waited a few moments to let his friend try it himself first. For the first three quarters of the session, I was thinking that if the buddy knew more about computers he could teach the session just as well as I could and I'd be totally obsolete.
As I said, the applicant was really struggling, like, a lot. I think he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer to begin with, or maybe it was just because he was under a lot of stress, but he kept forgetting what he'd chosen as his email and password, even though his friend had written it down, stuff like that. In contrast, the other guy was picking things up really quickly, but again held back to let his friend try things on his own.
Anyway, we got to the point where the applicant had to get a verification code on his phone from Google, and he said he didn't have text, so I showed him the "Get a phone call instead" option and got him to click the button. His phone immediately rang, and he stared at it in confusion for a few seconds, causing his friend to finally snap. The buddy yelled "That's Google calling! Answer your god-damned phone!"
He had to go stand in the lobby and cool down for a couple of minutes. It was like watching my own id work alongside me.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Owl pellets
Today I got to help the children's librarian with a very special STEM program: dissecting owl pellets. The setup was a bit involved: each kid had to be handed a paper plate, a mini-skewer, some plastic tweezers, and the owl pellet itself, so it took a while to pass everything out. There were a lot of kids because the rec center's summer camp had come over for the program, and they were getting kind of loud and fidgety, so I tried to distract them:
Me: So, where do you think we got these owl pellets from?
A kid: Amazon!
Me: basically, yeah. We ordered them from a company online and they mailed them to us. Who do you think collected the owl pellets? How would you like to be the person who has that job?
Kids: Eeeew! Nooooo! Grossssssss!
Rec center lady, with a completely deadpan face: What if I told you that that person makes a hundred thousand dollars a year?
Kids: [absolute, wide-eyed silence]
Me: So, where do you think we got these owl pellets from?
A kid: Amazon!
Me: basically, yeah. We ordered them from a company online and they mailed them to us. Who do you think collected the owl pellets? How would you like to be the person who has that job?
Kids: Eeeew! Nooooo! Grossssssss!
Rec center lady, with a completely deadpan face: What if I told you that that person makes a hundred thousand dollars a year?
Kids: [absolute, wide-eyed silence]
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Never send a librarian to do a page's job
(EDIT: Sorry the pictures are so tiny! I tried keeping the original size but they really mess up the site formatting!)
I can't remember if I mentioned that Mystery Library has a New Manager. New Manager is pretty cool but also lets me/wants me to do more things, so I've been just as busy as I was under Old Manager, who wasn't as good at managing but also shot my (work-making) ideas down on a regular basis.
New manager wants everybody to be doing things so that we all become empowered employees who love our jobs, or something like that. Accordingly, she came up with a bunch of smallish workflow changes and improvements and asked each staff person to work on one. Since the staff at Mystery Library isn't used to being allowed to do things and New Manager knows that, she started with baby steps. The task she gave me was this: She'd like us to do more pre-sorting of returned items before we take them out to shelve, and wants me to find a way to label our shelving carts to facilitate that.
Simple, right? Here's what she got...
I started by making a list of every single collection in our library and which shelving cart (out of the 6 we have) we currently sort them onto. My listed looked like this (sorry for the not great formatting--I've found that Blogger doesn't handle spreadsheets well):
Noticing that some of the carts had way more collections on them than others, I tinkered around with other possible distributions over the 6 carts that would be easier, and found an arrangement where no individual shelf would have to contain more than 2 distinct collections (this took a little while since I also had to account for the fact that some collections are much larger than others and thus need proportionally larger space). Then it occurred to me that since we shifted the collection around last year, some of the shelving cart groupings no longer match up well with how things are laid out on the floor, so if you take out one cart you might have to go to three or four different areas to shelve the materials on it. That seemed sub-optimal as well, so then I rearranged the groupings again to take into account the physical proximity, or lack thereof, of each collection. Of course, I couldn't completely go by that, since I still had to keep the size and number of each collection in mind as well.
I finally settled on the following distribution:
I emailed my proposed solution to New Manager, but New Manager worked the weekend and is off today, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what she says. It kind of reminds me, though, about how people joke that if you don't want to do a chore, you should do a really bad job, such a bad job that you will never be asked to do it again.
I can't remember if I mentioned that Mystery Library has a New Manager. New Manager is pretty cool but also lets me/wants me to do more things, so I've been just as busy as I was under Old Manager, who wasn't as good at managing but also shot my (work-making) ideas down on a regular basis.
New manager wants everybody to be doing things so that we all become empowered employees who love our jobs, or something like that. Accordingly, she came up with a bunch of smallish workflow changes and improvements and asked each staff person to work on one. Since the staff at Mystery Library isn't used to being allowed to do things and New Manager knows that, she started with baby steps. The task she gave me was this: She'd like us to do more pre-sorting of returned items before we take them out to shelve, and wants me to find a way to label our shelving carts to facilitate that.
Simple, right? Here's what she got...
I started by making a list of every single collection in our library and which shelving cart (out of the 6 we have) we currently sort them onto. My listed looked like this (sorry for the not great formatting--I've found that Blogger doesn't handle spreadsheets well):
Noticing that some of the carts had way more collections on them than others, I tinkered around with other possible distributions over the 6 carts that would be easier, and found an arrangement where no individual shelf would have to contain more than 2 distinct collections (this took a little while since I also had to account for the fact that some collections are much larger than others and thus need proportionally larger space). Then it occurred to me that since we shifted the collection around last year, some of the shelving cart groupings no longer match up well with how things are laid out on the floor, so if you take out one cart you might have to go to three or four different areas to shelve the materials on it. That seemed sub-optimal as well, so then I rearranged the groupings again to take into account the physical proximity, or lack thereof, of each collection. Of course, I couldn't completely go by that, since I still had to keep the size and number of each collection in mind as well.
I finally settled on the following distribution:
I emailed my proposed solution to New Manager, but New Manager worked the weekend and is off today, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what she says. It kind of reminds me, though, about how people joke that if you don't want to do a chore, you should do a really bad job, such a bad job that you will never be asked to do it again.
Saturday, July 21, 2018
New question
People ask a lot of questions that reveal how little they know about the library, but today was the first time I ever had someone ask if it was okay for them to bring their own book from home to read in the library.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Self help
I finally got access to some decent analytical tools for the collection, so I can belatedly present:The most popular Dewey numbers at Mystery Library!
You'll notice they have more of a theme than at other libraries where I have worked.
1. 248 How to get your sh*t together, from an explicitly Christian perspective
2. 158 How to get your sh*t together, from an implicitly Christian perspective
3. 650 How to get your sh*t together by getting a job
4. 332 How to get your sh*t together by managing your money
5. 305 How to get your sh*t together as a black person
6. 921 How other people got their sh*t together and you can too
7. 364 True crime--what will obviously happen to you if you don't get your sh*t together
Welcome to the (cowboy)bootstrap society, y'all.
You'll notice they have more of a theme than at other libraries where I have worked.
1. 248 How to get your sh*t together, from an explicitly Christian perspective
2. 158 How to get your sh*t together, from an implicitly Christian perspective
3. 650 How to get your sh*t together by getting a job
4. 332 How to get your sh*t together by managing your money
5. 305 How to get your sh*t together as a black person
6. 921 How other people got their sh*t together and you can too
7. 364 True crime--what will obviously happen to you if you don't get your sh*t together
Welcome to the (cowboy)bootstrap society, y'all.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Dignitaries
Our teen librarian had the idea of hosting a mixer for all prominent people in our neighborhood, where they can eat snacks and talk to each other about the work their organizations do. The idea is it would put the library top of mind, and introduce everyone to our underutilized meeting space. We brainstormed a guest list and here are our top 3 VIPS:
1. A guy who opened a bank down the street and was interviewed on our local NPR station about wanting to develop small businesses in our neighborhood
2. The manager of the section 8 housing complex across the street
3. The retired principal who comes to the library every day to read the newspaper and seems to know everyone in the community
Thought leaders, one and all.
1. A guy who opened a bank down the street and was interviewed on our local NPR station about wanting to develop small businesses in our neighborhood
2. The manager of the section 8 housing complex across the street
3. The retired principal who comes to the library every day to read the newspaper and seems to know everyone in the community
Thought leaders, one and all.
Friday, July 13, 2018
Serious weeds, serious Legos
I have been inventorying our non-fiction collection and finding a lot of junk. Today I weeded:
In better news, I covered a Lego program (maybe 'program' is a strong word for dumping three boxes of Legos out on a table) and spent the whole hour listening to/chatting with a kid who had to update me on everything he was building, 100% in Spanish. He was into everything being cute and little--in Spanish, you can add "ita" or "ito" to the end of a word to mean it is little and cute, so instead of a casa (house) he made a casita, instead of a carro (car), he made a carrito, etc. I love talking to kids in Spanish because I can be really un-selfconscious--they don't care about my bad grammar or the fact that I can't roll my rs. Also, I learn a lot about the imperative tense from preschool age children.
In better news, I covered a Lego program (maybe 'program' is a strong word for dumping three boxes of Legos out on a table) and spent the whole hour listening to/chatting with a kid who had to update me on everything he was building, 100% in Spanish. He was into everything being cute and little--in Spanish, you can add "ita" or "ito" to the end of a word to mean it is little and cute, so instead of a casa (house) he made a casita, instead of a carro (car), he made a carrito, etc. I love talking to kids in Spanish because I can be really un-selfconscious--they don't care about my bad grammar or the fact that I can't roll my rs. Also, I learn a lot about the imperative tense from preschool age children.
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Mystery Library in brief
This is the busiest library job I've ever had (I think a past retail job edged this one out by a little bit) and I know the blog is suffering. I'm also working on a professional project that, ironically, I won't be sharing here since it will be linked to my real identity, and I really appreciate having anonymity on this blog. I feel like I can be honest about both the good and the bad of my employers since it's not reflecting on them.
Anyway, since it's been a while, here's a lightning round update of the goings-on at Mystery Library:
Computer things people have been struggling a lot with lately:
-Number lock
-The '@' sign (what it is, how to refer to it, and how to make it appear on the screen)
-Where to plug in a flash drive
The ESL teacher came by the front desk and said "Weird question, but does anyone have a bag of hot Cheetos?" Sadly it was a really busy shift and I never got a chance to find out the context.
No cereal in the parking lot this week. I hope the Cereal Leaver is okay. I really hope they finally decided to stop littering cereal.
Two different Hispanic toddlers pointed at the World Cup logo on our soccer display and exclaimed "Mexico!"
A man brought in a balloon and tied it to the chair he was sitting in. Somehow it popped and he was really mad.
I cleaned several pistachio shells off of a shelf in the Large Print section.
I live in fear that someday while raising or lowering the flag outside the library (the pole is not lit at night so the flag code says it should come down each evening) that I'll touch the flag to the ground and horrify some patriotic Texan. I was starting to think I was overcautious, but then last week I noticed one of our patrons stop on the way out and salute while I lowered the flag at sunset.
A real live princess (a 20-something woman with a brilliant smile and as much patience as she had makeup) came for a tea party program, and I got to see some kids having the greatest day of their lives so far.
Anyway, since it's been a while, here's a lightning round update of the goings-on at Mystery Library:
Computer things people have been struggling a lot with lately:
-Number lock
-The '@' sign (what it is, how to refer to it, and how to make it appear on the screen)
-Where to plug in a flash drive
The ESL teacher came by the front desk and said "Weird question, but does anyone have a bag of hot Cheetos?" Sadly it was a really busy shift and I never got a chance to find out the context.
No cereal in the parking lot this week. I hope the Cereal Leaver is okay. I really hope they finally decided to stop littering cereal.
Two different Hispanic toddlers pointed at the World Cup logo on our soccer display and exclaimed "Mexico!"
A man brought in a balloon and tied it to the chair he was sitting in. Somehow it popped and he was really mad.
I cleaned several pistachio shells off of a shelf in the Large Print section.
I live in fear that someday while raising or lowering the flag outside the library (the pole is not lit at night so the flag code says it should come down each evening) that I'll touch the flag to the ground and horrify some patriotic Texan. I was starting to think I was overcautious, but then last week I noticed one of our patrons stop on the way out and salute while I lowered the flag at sunset.
A real live princess (a 20-something woman with a brilliant smile and as much patience as she had makeup) came for a tea party program, and I got to see some kids having the greatest day of their lives so far.
Thursday, June 7, 2018
In disguise
I wish I were better at telling how old kids are, because I think it would have helped me a lot this morning.
Two little girls came in with their mom. I would have guessed they were 5 years old. They had the following interaction with one of my coworkers:
Little girls: What's your name?
Coworker: My name is Alma. What are your names?
Girls: Elmo!?
Coworker: Um, no...
Girls: Wow! Why are you in a costume!?
Then they hugged her, then they ran away. I can't tell if they were trolling or if they really thought she was somehow associated with Elmo.
Two little girls came in with their mom. I would have guessed they were 5 years old. They had the following interaction with one of my coworkers:
Little girls: What's your name?
Coworker: My name is Alma. What are your names?
Girls: Elmo!?
Coworker: Um, no...
Girls: Wow! Why are you in a costume!?
Then they hugged her, then they ran away. I can't tell if they were trolling or if they really thought she was somehow associated with Elmo.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Talking trash
Today it was again my turn to pick up trash around the library grounds. I did not find any cereal, but I did find:
- 32 cigarette butts
- An empty bottle of motor oil, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the auto repair shops on either side of us
- The label for a can of fat-free refried beans
- (Presumably) a can of refried beans, about 5 yards away from the above label
- Two of my nemesis' daily cigarillo packets, since no one picked up the trash yesterday
- A long lock from someone's extension, or so I like to think.
- The largest bottle of Smirnoff I've ever seen outside a liquor store (empty)
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Sorry, but no
More services we don't provide:
- Microwaving your cold fast-food lunch in the break room microwave
- Typing in your social security number for you
- Talking to your caseworker/the housing office/your lawyer on the phone because you can't explain what you need
- Memorizing your library card number so you don't have to get our your card to check things out (knowing your face and your name is already a lot, actually!)
- Reading everything on the computer screen aloud to you because the print is too small for you to read
- Watching your laptop while you go to the bathroom
- Watching your baby while you go to the bathroom
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Supply wish list
A few weeks ago I went to a community resource fair and spent a frustrating couple of hours watching Hispanic-looking people pass my white self by and stop to talk in Spanish to the people on either side of me, both of whom were Hispanic-looking as well. I am confident I look friendly (possibly too friendly) and I was also giving away candy, so I suspect this is because I don't look like I speak Spanish. I realized that I really, really need an "hablo español" button that I can wear to stuff like this, and I am going to ask my boss if the library will buy me one (not that it would be pricey, but I feel strongly about library staff not being expected to pay for the things they need to do their jobs).
Have you ever come across a weird supply or tool that you needed for your library work, something that couldn't be added to the standard Demco or Office Depot order? I'm curious!
Have you ever come across a weird supply or tool that you needed for your library work, something that couldn't be added to the standard Demco or Office Depot order? I'm curious!
Thursday, May 17, 2018
The revelation of Fedex
One of the parts of my job I like a lot is doing one-on-one computer tutoring, but it can be a challenge. Today I had an elderly gentleman who needed to check his email, but who didn't understand what email was.
Me: Email is a lot like regular paper mail, except instead of having a regular address, you have an address that you can use to check your mail from any computer. This part of your email address before the "at" sign is like your street address.
Patron: [looks at me uncertainly]
Me: The part after the "at" sign is the name of the company that sends and receives your messages. So your company is Yahoo.
Patron: Ain't it all Yahoo?
Me: No, there are different companies that can do your email. Like...you know how, besides the U.S. Postal Service, there are other companies that can send packages and letters, like Fedex and UPS?
Patron: Well, that's a revelation to me!
Me: Okay, never mind. Imagine you wanted to send a letter to Mexico. You'd give your letter to the American post office--
Patron: But I don't know anyone in Mexico! I don't want to send a letter there!
Me: [sighs]
An hour later, we had submitted a finished application for section 8 housing, so things worked out. But it was a tough one for sure.
Me: Email is a lot like regular paper mail, except instead of having a regular address, you have an address that you can use to check your mail from any computer. This part of your email address before the "at" sign is like your street address.
Patron: [looks at me uncertainly]
Me: The part after the "at" sign is the name of the company that sends and receives your messages. So your company is Yahoo.
Patron: Ain't it all Yahoo?
Me: No, there are different companies that can do your email. Like...you know how, besides the U.S. Postal Service, there are other companies that can send packages and letters, like Fedex and UPS?
Patron: Well, that's a revelation to me!
Me: Okay, never mind. Imagine you wanted to send a letter to Mexico. You'd give your letter to the American post office--
Patron: But I don't know anyone in Mexico! I don't want to send a letter there!
Me: [sighs]
An hour later, we had submitted a finished application for section 8 housing, so things worked out. But it was a tough one for sure.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Contradiction
Loud patron with loud phone: Any theater is fine. My priority is you.
Caller: Okay, how about Cineplex 12?
Patron: Not that one.
Caller: Okay, how about Cineplex 12?
Patron: Not that one.
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Without eyewitness
Unnoticed, someone went through our entire collection and pulled out all the Eyewitness books, then 'shelved' them all together in an empty shelf.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Mysteriouser and mysteriouser
Last week when I was picking up trash around the building, I saw that someone had dumped what looked like an entire box of Cap'n Crunch cereal in the parking lot. Today, the same parking space, I picked up an abandoned hat and a bunch of Apple Jacks fell out.
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Patrons today
Can we have a barbecue on the front sidewalk of the library?
Are you guys notaries?
I would like to borrow a laptop. Do they burn CDs?
Are these [things in an exhibit behind a glass case] for sale?
Do you have a book club for preschool kids?
How do I sign up to work here?
I want to take back a donation that I made two years ago.
Are you guys notaries?
I would like to borrow a laptop. Do they burn CDs?
Are these [things in an exhibit behind a glass case] for sale?
Do you have a book club for preschool kids?
How do I sign up to work here?
I want to take back a donation that I made two years ago.
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Nickname
I've speculated before on whether the patrons have a nickname for me just like I have nicknames for some of our regulars. The custodian informs me that in fact they do. It's La Blanca ("The White Girl").
I'll take it.
I'll take it.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Advertising
Today I spent the morning taking flyers about our upcoming programs to various neighborhood institutions. In three hours, I: scheduled a program with someone I'd been trying to get in touch with for weeks, collected 3 advertisements for job openings to add to the library's Job Seekers Board, met a former library employee who is now a social worker at a local senior housing complex and who is going to be my new best work friend, and was given a free strawberry crepe.
Shoe leather--it continues to pay off.
Shoe leather--it continues to pay off.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Some thoughts
As regular readers have likely inferred, Mystery Library has been a bit of a struggle for me. That's almost entirely due to things other than the work itself, but I still have a lot of stressful days and as a result the blog has been kind of negative lately.
You see a lot of librarians writing on various forums about the frustrations of library work: how they are underpaid, lack professional respect, are asked to do an impossibly varied set of tasks from tech support to storytime, etc. I definitely don't want to say those things aren't true or that it isn't important to try to change them. However, I also want to say that, despite those things and despite the recent tone of the blog, I love being a librarian. I love coming in to work and only having a vague outline of what I am going to be asked to do that day. I love being part of the breakthrough that someone needs to get something important done, whether it's finding them a template to write their own lease agreement or getting a paper printed out that's due in two hours. I love eavesdropping on people telling each other about their favorite books and movies, and I even love eavesdropping on people telling each other about the stories that they hated. I love getting to tell people that a library card is free and that so are all our programs.
Above all, I love having a job where my natural dilettantism is an asset rather than a liability, where knowing who wrote The Dork Diaries off the top of your head and being good at un-jamming a printer are abilities of roughly equal value. I think a lot of what people in high school or college are afraid of about entering the working world is being reduced to just one aspect of all their interests and skills, being stuck only being about to think or talk about, say, accounting, for the rest of their lives, when they think of themselves as a multidimensional person who has so much more going on than that. I really appreciate that my job makes you squash yourself down a lot less than most other jobs do.
On that note, I gotta go. I'm trying to figure out how to work the logistics of a speed dating event that is open to people of all sexual orientations, and a deadline is looming.
You see a lot of librarians writing on various forums about the frustrations of library work: how they are underpaid, lack professional respect, are asked to do an impossibly varied set of tasks from tech support to storytime, etc. I definitely don't want to say those things aren't true or that it isn't important to try to change them. However, I also want to say that, despite those things and despite the recent tone of the blog, I love being a librarian. I love coming in to work and only having a vague outline of what I am going to be asked to do that day. I love being part of the breakthrough that someone needs to get something important done, whether it's finding them a template to write their own lease agreement or getting a paper printed out that's due in two hours. I love eavesdropping on people telling each other about their favorite books and movies, and I even love eavesdropping on people telling each other about the stories that they hated. I love getting to tell people that a library card is free and that so are all our programs.
Above all, I love having a job where my natural dilettantism is an asset rather than a liability, where knowing who wrote The Dork Diaries off the top of your head and being good at un-jamming a printer are abilities of roughly equal value. I think a lot of what people in high school or college are afraid of about entering the working world is being reduced to just one aspect of all their interests and skills, being stuck only being about to think or talk about, say, accounting, for the rest of their lives, when they think of themselves as a multidimensional person who has so much more going on than that. I really appreciate that my job makes you squash yourself down a lot less than most other jobs do.
On that note, I gotta go. I'm trying to figure out how to work the logistics of a speed dating event that is open to people of all sexual orientations, and a deadline is looming.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Today's consulting firms
If I could save up the money to hire a software developer, I'm 100% confident that I could create a better product for computer management and patron printing than Envisionware, which currently dominates the public library market.*
After shelving in a little-used area, I'm also considering expanding my hypothetical weeding business to encompass all kinds of discarding. We will also take down all your posters advertising programs and services that no longer exist, recycle your cupboard full of outdated electronics, and toss out all the mysterious objects filling up the drawers at the service desk that each employee is afraid to trash since she worries it belongs to someone else. The more that I think about it, the more I would happily provide that service at cost.
*Also, I'm 95% confident that I could create a company that's better to work at, too. I did a Google search for "envisionware problems" to see if I could find a good illustration for this post, and the first hit is its Glassdoor page, showcasing its 1-star review average.
After shelving in a little-used area, I'm also considering expanding my hypothetical weeding business to encompass all kinds of discarding. We will also take down all your posters advertising programs and services that no longer exist, recycle your cupboard full of outdated electronics, and toss out all the mysterious objects filling up the drawers at the service desk that each employee is afraid to trash since she worries it belongs to someone else. The more that I think about it, the more I would happily provide that service at cost.
*Also, I'm 95% confident that I could create a company that's better to work at, too. I did a Google search for "envisionware problems" to see if I could find a good illustration for this post, and the first hit is its Glassdoor page, showcasing its 1-star review average.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Exciting and cute
It's been a rough week at Mystery Library (you can see this is becoming a bit of a theme) so it was especially pleasing to be involved in this interaction this afternoon. A little girl and her mom were checking out their books with the teen librarian, and the little girl goes "We saw a hawk when we were walking here!" so Teen Librarian says "Oh wow! What was it doing?" Little girl: "it was, it was---actually, Mom, can you show her the video?" And that's how me and Teen Librarian both got to watch a dramatic video of a hawk eating a pigeon today.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Effective description
A polite teen reported that one of our computers had a virus by saying, "Excuse me, miss. That computer be trippin."
As practically a caricature of a white lady, I was flattered that he assumed I'd know what he meant. It's actually a really concise yet effective description.
As practically a caricature of a white lady, I was flattered that he assumed I'd know what he meant. It's actually a really concise yet effective description.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Tired Tuesday
Is the election here? times 5. No, sorry.
Is tax help here? times 5. No, sorry, it's just across the parking lot.
Can I use a study room? (I don't know. Can you?)
Help people navigate our user-unfriendly computer reservation system. I hate it more than I hate any other technology except for the website of the local housing authority.
My poor coworker who is ethnically Hispanic but not a Spanish-speaker gets accosted by a Spanish speaker, my Anglo self has to rescue her to everyone's embarrassment and confusion.
Do you fax?
Do you have citizenship classes here? Well, do you know of anywhere I can take them?
Our HVAC is acting up. Better put in a request for our facilities people to investigate.
Lots of matching sets of people--the two Jehovah's Witnesses in their smart-but-dorky outfits, a family of four kids in school uniforms, a couple who comes in all the time and you regularly see person 2 wearing the shirt person 1 was wearing last week, etc.
ESL teacher wants to know who is going to sub for him when he is out next week!?
Today's broken technologies: Microsoft Outlook, 1 of our 3 staff PCs that aren't at a
service desk.
I need some books about white voodoo. (Clarification reveals that this is voodoo used for good, not voodoo for/by white people.)
What happened to the school that used to be over there? Are you sure?
Can you help me access this driver's ed course online, times 5. These trends mystify me. I helped one or two people with this in 2017, and now it's two a week. What happened?!
Is it okay for us to leave these flyers here?
Check out people's DVDs to them, times 5.
Coworker: Emma, can you pick up the phone? It's español.
Excuse me, do you have a bathroom?
Do you have any books about psychology?
Someone checks out an 'amazing insects!' book from a display I made. Yessssss.
Is tax help here? times 5. No, sorry, it's just across the parking lot.
Can I use a study room? (I don't know. Can you?)
Help people navigate our user-unfriendly computer reservation system. I hate it more than I hate any other technology except for the website of the local housing authority.
My poor coworker who is ethnically Hispanic but not a Spanish-speaker gets accosted by a Spanish speaker, my Anglo self has to rescue her to everyone's embarrassment and confusion.
Do you fax?
Do you have citizenship classes here? Well, do you know of anywhere I can take them?
Our HVAC is acting up. Better put in a request for our facilities people to investigate.
Lots of matching sets of people--the two Jehovah's Witnesses in their smart-but-dorky outfits, a family of four kids in school uniforms, a couple who comes in all the time and you regularly see person 2 wearing the shirt person 1 was wearing last week, etc.
ESL teacher wants to know who is going to sub for him when he is out next week!?
Today's broken technologies: Microsoft Outlook, 1 of our 3 staff PCs that aren't at a
service desk.
I need some books about white voodoo. (Clarification reveals that this is voodoo used for good, not voodoo for/by white people.)
What happened to the school that used to be over there? Are you sure?
Can you help me access this driver's ed course online, times 5. These trends mystify me. I helped one or two people with this in 2017, and now it's two a week. What happened?!
Is it okay for us to leave these flyers here?
Check out people's DVDs to them, times 5.
Coworker: Emma, can you pick up the phone? It's español.
Excuse me, do you have a bathroom?
Do you have any books about psychology?
Someone checks out an 'amazing insects!' book from a display I made. Yessssss.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
T.M.Very-I.
We have a regular patron who is an older man, maybe around 70. He comes in most days to read the newspaper, and all the staff know his name and greet him when he arrives. Today he asked one of our library assistants if she would read over his writing and give him some feedback. The notebook he gave her turned out to include a sort of essay about each staff member in the library and why he found them attractive. It was...very explicit.
I advised her to return the notebook to him and let him know that what he had shared was "too personal" for her to read.
Yikes.
I advised her to return the notebook to him and let him know that what he had shared was "too personal" for her to read.
Yikes.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Cookie monster
As I mentioned, I've been 'in charge of the building' a lot lately. Due to various issues, it ends up feeling like being a substitute manager more than just the person who gets called if a rude patron demands to speak to the person in charge. I am getting a real taste of what management must be like in bad times. I was thinking about what to write to indicate how busy I was, and what I settled on is simple: Not once, but twice, I have stuck a cookie in my cardigan pocket to hide it while I go help someone on the public floor.
It's not enough to be so busy you're eating at your desk. It's got to be so busy that you're eating at your desk and you get interrupted so often that you don't even stop to put your food down when it happens.
It's not enough to be so busy you're eating at your desk. It's got to be so busy that you're eating at your desk and you get interrupted so often that you don't even stop to put your food down when it happens.
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| Source: https://amig0.livejournal.com/84449.html |
Friday, March 2, 2018
In charge
My boss is on vacation this week (which she wrote on the calendar but didn't email us about or verbally tell me...) so I have been 'in charge of the building' since Tuesday. Maybe I don't want to be a manager after all.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Positive reinforcement
Today two different patrons told me I was "muy amable," which seems to be the standard compliment for good service in Spanish around here, and another patron said I had "the patience of Job" for helping a very confused man with a job application. I appreciated it greatly!
Language barriers
Today a woman had a huge amount of trouble getting into her email on one of her public computer because her password included an á and a ¿. Of course when she is using her phone, its keyboard is set up for Spanish, so she was confused by this problem.
I also learned from my English Conversation Practice students that the word for "mustache" and the word for "whiskers" are the same in some Latin American countries. They wanted to know what a "mustache" was, and why it wasn't pronounced the same way as "headache," and "stomachache." I love this program, but it's making me start to hate the English language a little bit.
I also learned from my English Conversation Practice students that the word for "mustache" and the word for "whiskers" are the same in some Latin American countries. They wanted to know what a "mustache" was, and why it wasn't pronounced the same way as "headache," and "stomachache." I love this program, but it's making me start to hate the English language a little bit.
Monday, February 19, 2018
On the way...
I haven't updated in a while because a typical shift lately has been like today's.
Arrive at noon, see that our flag is flying full-staff despite a presidential proclamation to lower flags to honor the victims of the latest school shooting. Lower flag. Answer 1 or 2 emails, delete 10 other emails from my boss that just say "thank you for keeping me informed"--she obviously read some management advice book that tells you to acknowledge every single email your employees send you, but I don't think it's helping. Interrupted by a coworker--what do I do if someone wants to sign up for GED class, again? Grab magazines to use in my English Conversation Practice program, then do that program, which is the highlight of my day.
Sidetracked on my way back to the staff area to translate for a non-Spanish-speaking colleague. In the back, prep notes for the teachers who teach the Saturday English classes. Interrupted twice to troubleshoot computer problems for a woman who is applying for a job...to work at the library. Wonder if I should tell her that she is wasting her time because they won't hire someone without more computer skills, chicken out as usual.
On the way back from helping her, another patron calls me over--"this won't print!" I stop by the desk to borrow a loaner flash drive, and a patron needs me to check in his DVDs so he can check out more.
On the way back from helping the patron who needed the flash drive, notice that someone has left feces on the floor in two different places.
On the way to the janitor's closet for some cones, another English teacher needs to know--can I make up my hours somehow since the library is closed for President's Day?
Finally I put out the cones, call our janitorial service, etc. I forestall any interruptions from coworkers by raising my hand and calling out "I'm dealing with the poop!"
It's 3:15 and I was supposed to be on the information desk at 3:00. Immediately when I get to the desk, someone would like to put up her flyers on our community events bulletin board and wants my permission. Sorry, despite current appearances, I don't actually run this library.
Arrive at noon, see that our flag is flying full-staff despite a presidential proclamation to lower flags to honor the victims of the latest school shooting. Lower flag. Answer 1 or 2 emails, delete 10 other emails from my boss that just say "thank you for keeping me informed"--she obviously read some management advice book that tells you to acknowledge every single email your employees send you, but I don't think it's helping. Interrupted by a coworker--what do I do if someone wants to sign up for GED class, again? Grab magazines to use in my English Conversation Practice program, then do that program, which is the highlight of my day.
Sidetracked on my way back to the staff area to translate for a non-Spanish-speaking colleague. In the back, prep notes for the teachers who teach the Saturday English classes. Interrupted twice to troubleshoot computer problems for a woman who is applying for a job...to work at the library. Wonder if I should tell her that she is wasting her time because they won't hire someone without more computer skills, chicken out as usual.
On the way back from helping her, another patron calls me over--"this won't print!" I stop by the desk to borrow a loaner flash drive, and a patron needs me to check in his DVDs so he can check out more.
On the way back from helping the patron who needed the flash drive, notice that someone has left feces on the floor in two different places.
On the way to the janitor's closet for some cones, another English teacher needs to know--can I make up my hours somehow since the library is closed for President's Day?
Finally I put out the cones, call our janitorial service, etc. I forestall any interruptions from coworkers by raising my hand and calling out "I'm dealing with the poop!"
It's 3:15 and I was supposed to be on the information desk at 3:00. Immediately when I get to the desk, someone would like to put up her flyers on our community events bulletin board and wants my permission. Sorry, despite current appearances, I don't actually run this library.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Favorite
A kid patron was disappointed because one of my coworkers was leaving the desk, and said "Nooooo! She's my favorite!" She's a regular who I have a good relationship with, so I gasp and said "What!? I'm not your favorite!?"
She responded by leaning in conspiratorially, lowering her voice, and confiding "Actually, I'm my own favorite."
She responded by leaning in conspiratorially, lowering her voice, and confiding "Actually, I'm my own favorite."
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Annoyances
Since library workers tend to like control and to be kind of perfectionists, I suspect our workplaces are a little more filled with conflict (mostly passive-aggressive conflict) over the office environment than average. I try to not get emotionally invested because not only is that unproductive, in my experience public libraries are actually more collegial overall than other workplaces (my theory is that rude patrons are a collective enemy who make us see each other as allies and fellow sufferers).
Normally I am pretty successful at not caring. However, it so happens that I am the one who bought the most recent two bottles of dish detergent. The first one I bought was friendly to the environment brand that is as effective as any other dish soap but develops a hard cap of soap if it goes unused for a couple of days. The second was a cheap store brand bottle from the dollar store across the street. When I first got it, I put the second, unopened bottle right next to the open bottle on the counter so that people would know there was a spare when the open one ran out. Within a day someone had opened the new bottle, presumably because they didn't like spending the extra two seconds to get the first bottle to squirt. I admit that drove me a little crazy.
Do you have any pet peeves or petty frustrations in your library or office environment at the moment?
Normally I am pretty successful at not caring. However, it so happens that I am the one who bought the most recent two bottles of dish detergent. The first one I bought was friendly to the environment brand that is as effective as any other dish soap but develops a hard cap of soap if it goes unused for a couple of days. The second was a cheap store brand bottle from the dollar store across the street. When I first got it, I put the second, unopened bottle right next to the open bottle on the counter so that people would know there was a spare when the open one ran out. Within a day someone had opened the new bottle, presumably because they didn't like spending the extra two seconds to get the first bottle to squirt. I admit that drove me a little crazy.
Do you have any pet peeves or petty frustrations in your library or office environment at the moment?
Monday, February 5, 2018
Entrepreneur
Businesses I daydream about starting on a quiet desk shift:
Weeding consultant firm: Do your librarians cling on to worn fiction or dusty reference books? Send in our company to pry the obsolete materials from their death grips and make your collection relevant, modern, and attractive!
Off-brand Geek Squad (I think they are limiting their market by only helping people who buy new Best Buy products): I am here to teach your grandma how to use the hand-me-down second generation Kindle that she just got when her grandchild got a new one for Christmas, and I promise to never roll my eyes!
Device lending library for libraries: Do you need your staff to practice with the latest iPhone, but pay them so poorly that none of them own one? Borrow one for a month from our rental service for a reasonable price, rather than buying a full-price gadget that will only be used for six months and then stored forever and ever in a locked cabinet in the branch manager's office!
Bad start to the week
A big crack in the ceiling, the catalog is down, the public computers are down, the new ESL teachers don't know anything, half the staff is out with the flu...my very nicest coworker says "I hate this f*cking job."
Friday, February 2, 2018
More trivial dilemma
Is it okay to tell a patron he looks like Idris Elba, or is Elba so handsome that saying someone looks like him is kind of definitionally flirting, and thus Not Cool to do at Work?
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Tough concept
Man on cell phone: "Hello...I'm in the library." (pause) (raising his voice) "I said I'm in the library!"
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Today
A new patron laughs so loudly that it echoes and then says, "Sorry! This is a library."
A high school kid with no library card and absolutely no ID on him wants to get on the computer, and I have to tell him no (he was in yesterday, too, and they let him on without it but told him it'd just be that one time). I suggest a bunch of options--expired ID? Friend with a library card? Can you call someone and get them to read you their card number over the phone?--but nothing works. I am already feeling guilty because he accepted the "no" so politely and graciously, and then I see him playing with a stranger's two-year-old and keeping her entertained while his mom does something important on a computer. Dang.
Someone insists on showing me all the places on her arm she got injections when she was recently in the hospital.
Someone insists on showing me all the places on her arm she got injections when she was recently in the hospital.
Do you fax here? For free!? Dang!
Do you have tax forms yet?
Does the library offer driver's ed classes?
Over the course of the day, I tell like 5 different patrons about our upcoming English classes in very broken Spanish.
I try to shelve some DVDs but I don't even get one shelf of my cart emptied in an hour, I get interrupted so often by patron questions. We've having lots of computer problems today.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Special visitors
One of my favorite patrons I helped today was a woman who came in to sign her middle-school aged daughter up for a library card. The daughter wasn't with her, but she had her school ID. The patron told me that her daughter was special and came to the library every week as part of a program, and the people in the program had told her (the patron) that it would be good for her (the daughter) to have her own library card. I could tell from the way she said "special" and the fact that the daughter came to the library as part of a program that the daughter had some kind of cognitive impairment, so I wasn't surprised to see a girl with the newly-issued card come in later today as part of a regular group of visitors--several kids who seem to be on the autism spectrum and a few adults. It was fun checking out a book to her on her new card, even though we had a brief scare where it seemed she might have already lost the card (she and one of her adults found it on the floor of the children's area).
I love seeing kids on the spectrum for a few reasons, but one is that patron interactions with neurotypical patrons can get kind of repetitive, but you never know what a kid on the spectrum might like to talk to you about. The highlight today was a kid who spent our whole transaction telling me about his plans to ride to different stations on our local light rail line, and, when prompted to thank me, shouted "Thank you, commuter!"
Other reasons I especially like seeing kids who are on the spectrum in the library:
1. I like getting to participate in teaching interactions. The adults are often using the opportunity to have the kid practice navigating common commercial social situations, and it is fun to play along with them and help out by being a bit more direct and exaggerated than I would be with another kid the same age.
2. The public library is one of the few institutions around to support people on the spectrum that they don't have to worry about aging out of or otherwise being disqualified from. I've heard--from patrons, teachers, and from a speech therapist friend (technically she is a speech and language pathologist but I don't know if people know what that is) who works with a lot of kids on the spectrum--that lots of help for people drops off between ages 16 and 21, and there is a lot less support in place for adults. However, I do see independent adults who obviously have cognitive disabilities of various kinds and use the library on a regular basis, and I really enjoy getting to see the foundation of that being set.
3. Invariably, the adults with those kids, despite how hard they are working, are always super nice and polite.
I love seeing kids on the spectrum for a few reasons, but one is that patron interactions with neurotypical patrons can get kind of repetitive, but you never know what a kid on the spectrum might like to talk to you about. The highlight today was a kid who spent our whole transaction telling me about his plans to ride to different stations on our local light rail line, and, when prompted to thank me, shouted "Thank you, commuter!"
Other reasons I especially like seeing kids who are on the spectrum in the library:
1. I like getting to participate in teaching interactions. The adults are often using the opportunity to have the kid practice navigating common commercial social situations, and it is fun to play along with them and help out by being a bit more direct and exaggerated than I would be with another kid the same age.
2. The public library is one of the few institutions around to support people on the spectrum that they don't have to worry about aging out of or otherwise being disqualified from. I've heard--from patrons, teachers, and from a speech therapist friend (technically she is a speech and language pathologist but I don't know if people know what that is) who works with a lot of kids on the spectrum--that lots of help for people drops off between ages 16 and 21, and there is a lot less support in place for adults. However, I do see independent adults who obviously have cognitive disabilities of various kinds and use the library on a regular basis, and I really enjoy getting to see the foundation of that being set.
3. Invariably, the adults with those kids, despite how hard they are working, are always super nice and polite.
Truants
Me and the Teen librarian, playing Good Cop, Bad Cop with the high school kids hanging out in the library at 11 a.m. on a weekday:
Teen Librarian: See that woman over there? She is in charge of the library today and she says that we should make you leave since you are not supposed to be in the library instead of at school. But I told her that I was sure you would be really quiet and polite, and she said that as long as I was right you guys could stay.
Teen Librarian: See that woman over there? She is in charge of the library today and she says that we should make you leave since you are not supposed to be in the library instead of at school. But I told her that I was sure you would be really quiet and polite, and she said that as long as I was right you guys could stay.
Friday, January 19, 2018
Disobedience
My boss is on vacation and I am taking joy in departing from a few of her policies that I most dislike, #1 being: You can't leave the desk unattended. This means that patrons have to wait for help until your counterpart returns or you can call someone from the back to interrupt whatever they are doing and stand at your computer. In some libraries I think this would be a reasonable rule (we do have the cash drawer here, after all) but in mine, the desk is standing-height and projects out from the staff area, a doorway from which is the only way to enter the behind-the-desk space. The staff area is separated from the public area with a badge-swipe lock. So a patron who wanted to get behind the desk would have to vault over it.
Not that that would never happen, just that it doesn't seem reasonable to base constant policy on a rare event.
What do you revel in doing at your library when your boss/manger/the director is away?
Not that that would never happen, just that it doesn't seem reasonable to base constant policy on a rare event.
What do you revel in doing at your library when your boss/manger/the director is away?
Monday, January 8, 2018
Overheard at a back table
Female patron: I'm a little more rude to them over there than I am here.
Male patron: Why?
Female patron: Because they're bitches!
Male patron: Why?
Female patron: Because they're bitches!
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Ethics emergency
I'm currently at the desk watching a patron flagrantly copy a whole academic text using the library's document scanner. I went and spoke to him about it once and reminded him that he had pressed "accept" to a screen explaining copyright law and stating that he would follow it, but I was brought up short by the fact that the book he was copying wasn't something from our collection. I had been planning a spiel trying to get him to borrow the book instead, but obviously that isn't going to work.
I suppose I could kick him out of the library for the day because he is violating the library's code of conduct (which says you must obey all laws), but the enforcement culture at Mystery Library is definitely on the relaxed side and my boss isn't here to ask. The only way to stop him short of that is to power off or unplug the machine right in front of him, and that's awfully confrontational.
I know we have some academic librarian readers who probably deal with this kind of stuff all the time. How do you handle it, and, also, how do you wish it would be handled?
UPDATE: The scanner was overwhelmed because it's not designed to capture 200 images at a time, and it froze! Ultimate justice! He wanted "help" with the problem, and when I told him the situation he A) complained that he flagrantly violates copyright all the time at Other Branch and that never happens there and B) said in an aggrieved tone of voice that since I wasn't offering him any other options he guessed he'd let me restart the machine, but he wasn't going to start over all his "work."
I suppose I could kick him out of the library for the day because he is violating the library's code of conduct (which says you must obey all laws), but the enforcement culture at Mystery Library is definitely on the relaxed side and my boss isn't here to ask. The only way to stop him short of that is to power off or unplug the machine right in front of him, and that's awfully confrontational.
I know we have some academic librarian readers who probably deal with this kind of stuff all the time. How do you handle it, and, also, how do you wish it would be handled?
UPDATE: The scanner was overwhelmed because it's not designed to capture 200 images at a time, and it froze! Ultimate justice! He wanted "help" with the problem, and when I told him the situation he A) complained that he flagrantly violates copyright all the time at Other Branch and that never happens there and B) said in an aggrieved tone of voice that since I wasn't offering him any other options he guessed he'd let me restart the machine, but he wasn't going to start over all his "work."
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Actual professional advice
Continuing this blog's trademark mix of 70% silliness, 20% thoughts about how to be a good librarian, and 10% moral conundrums ("conundra"?), today we'll be talking about something from the middle slice. And by "we" I mean me, unless the commenters are super-active for some reason.
Today I spent a couple of hours doing marketing and unannounced outreach in our library's neighborhood and I can resist taking the opportunity to evangelize about it. As far as I know my library has never done this, but it seemed like a common sense idea and I figured out a way to suggest it to my boss that made it hard for her to say no.
It took 2 hours of my time (basically all the prep I needed to do, I did on desk), which is about 40 dollars of the library's money. I drove my own car, so I guess I donated a bit of gas money, but it was more than repaid by getting to listen to the radio and see the sunshine while I was on the clock. In the course of my 2 hours, I talked to 8 or 10 people, discovered 3 Little Free Libraries that my library didn't know about, and got contact information and warm handshakes from 2 different people at places I really want the library to do more with: the YWCA and a nearby community college. I also made a promise to return to the Habitat for Humanity office near us later in the week to deliver some donated books to beef up the little collection they have in their lobby, which will be another opportunity to talk up the library to them. I can't remember the last time I spent 2 hours more productively.
If you think you might like to do this, here's how it worked for me:
I made a list of community institutions in our neighborhood (rec centers, nonprofits, churches, a local community college, etc.). Then I plotted their addresses on a custom Google map. That part is really easy--you just create a blank one and copy and paste the addresses to drop pins.
Then I printed copies of flyers for our biggest-ticket programs that are coming up: a job fair and some English as a second language and GED classes. I took my stack of flyers, a clipboard with my map stuck to it, a pen, a roll of tape, and some tacks, and started driving around.
At each place I walked in, explained who I was, showed them the flyers, and asked if they had a public information area where I could tack up a couple. The only place that said no where I actually managed to speak to someone (some of the places I visited were closed) was a community clinic that simply didn't have a spot for local information where the flyers could go. If the person I talked to expressed any interest, I'd start talking to them about the library and the other stuff we offer, and offer to take their email address to send them digital copies of the flyers and a copy of our monthly program calendar. I also offered to leave my own contact information in case there was anything the library could do for them (I just had to scribble it down on a post-it note--this being Mystery Library, we don't have business cards, but maybe I'll ask if I can print my own little in-house ones for future use).
After I got back to the car, I made a note of the name of anyone I'd met, anything interesting I learned about the place that I didn't already know (for example, the Y has a clinic in it, so maybe I should invite them to the healthcare resource fair we have coming up in the spring), and any follow-up I needed to do.
I should say that this really took 3 hours of time, because once I got back I spent a whole hour organizing information and sending follow-up emails, but I still think it was a pretty good deal.
Things I might do differently next time:
Today I spent a couple of hours doing marketing and unannounced outreach in our library's neighborhood and I can resist taking the opportunity to evangelize about it. As far as I know my library has never done this, but it seemed like a common sense idea and I figured out a way to suggest it to my boss that made it hard for her to say no.
It took 2 hours of my time (basically all the prep I needed to do, I did on desk), which is about 40 dollars of the library's money. I drove my own car, so I guess I donated a bit of gas money, but it was more than repaid by getting to listen to the radio and see the sunshine while I was on the clock. In the course of my 2 hours, I talked to 8 or 10 people, discovered 3 Little Free Libraries that my library didn't know about, and got contact information and warm handshakes from 2 different people at places I really want the library to do more with: the YWCA and a nearby community college. I also made a promise to return to the Habitat for Humanity office near us later in the week to deliver some donated books to beef up the little collection they have in their lobby, which will be another opportunity to talk up the library to them. I can't remember the last time I spent 2 hours more productively.
If you think you might like to do this, here's how it worked for me:
I made a list of community institutions in our neighborhood (rec centers, nonprofits, churches, a local community college, etc.). Then I plotted their addresses on a custom Google map. That part is really easy--you just create a blank one and copy and paste the addresses to drop pins.
Then I printed copies of flyers for our biggest-ticket programs that are coming up: a job fair and some English as a second language and GED classes. I took my stack of flyers, a clipboard with my map stuck to it, a pen, a roll of tape, and some tacks, and started driving around.
At each place I walked in, explained who I was, showed them the flyers, and asked if they had a public information area where I could tack up a couple. The only place that said no where I actually managed to speak to someone (some of the places I visited were closed) was a community clinic that simply didn't have a spot for local information where the flyers could go. If the person I talked to expressed any interest, I'd start talking to them about the library and the other stuff we offer, and offer to take their email address to send them digital copies of the flyers and a copy of our monthly program calendar. I also offered to leave my own contact information in case there was anything the library could do for them (I just had to scribble it down on a post-it note--this being Mystery Library, we don't have business cards, but maybe I'll ask if I can print my own little in-house ones for future use).
After I got back to the car, I made a note of the name of anyone I'd met, anything interesting I learned about the place that I didn't already know (for example, the Y has a clinic in it, so maybe I should invite them to the healthcare resource fair we have coming up in the spring), and any follow-up I needed to do.
I should say that this really took 3 hours of time, because once I got back I spent a whole hour organizing information and sending follow-up emails, but I still think it was a pretty good deal.
Things I might do differently next time:
- Find out when the heck churches are usually open: Most of the ones I visited mid-day on a Wednesday were closed. I thought about devoting a Sunday morning to this, but would all the church workers be too busy to talk to me then? Further research needed for sure.
- Figure out a way to have my contact information ready: As I said, we don't have business cards, so I didn't have a quick and professional-seeming way to leave my name and email address for places that wanted it.
- Bring more flyers: I was expecting that most places that took flyers would take one copy of each to put up on a bulletin board, but most of the places that accepted them wanted a whole pile to hand out.
- Find a smaller box of tacks!: They are a pain to carry around and I didn't ever have to use them, plus I was really afraid I'd drop them in someone's lobby and then have to spend several embarrassing minutes picking them up one by one.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Management update
I now have a suspect for who "Management" is and I was sad to find out he is a regular, the one with the great Christmas sweater. He came to report to me that another regular, who is quite hostile and eccentric, had turned one of the armchairs 90-degrees from its usual position. I appreciate that he cares about the library, but getting that lady to calm down and not move furniture around is a losing battle.
Also in the library today:
An adult who wants Amelia Bedelia books for her own reading pleasure
An adorable little boy with some kind of light-up toy who checks on me every few minutes while I'm shelving in order to show it to me again
A woman who doesn't understand when she is in her Yahoo! email app on her phone versus when she is just on her phone
A teacher from the school down the street who pronounces that every cool library feature I tell her about is "dope"
A guy who waves at me and I come over to see what he needs, and he says "Sorry, just waving hello!"
Also in the library today:
An adult who wants Amelia Bedelia books for her own reading pleasure
An adorable little boy with some kind of light-up toy who checks on me every few minutes while I'm shelving in order to show it to me again
A woman who doesn't understand when she is in her Yahoo! email app on her phone versus when she is just on her phone
A teacher from the school down the street who pronounces that every cool library feature I tell her about is "dope"
A guy who waves at me and I come over to see what he needs, and he says "Sorry, just waving hello!"
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