Sunday refgrunt

Cool patron: "I'm trying to convince my friend that she should sign up for a library card."

Fun coworker: "You HAVE to have a library card! It saves you so much money! Also, look how cool our designs are."

Patron's friend: "Those ARE cool designs. I'm sold."

Do you have study rooms?

A man returns a pile of DVDs with titles that all start with the letter J. "Can you please check these in so I can get some more?" 10 minutes later he comes back with a pile of DVDs that start with the letter K.

We have a bucket of Halloween candy out and it's funny watching patrons interact with it. Adults asking "Can I have one!?" are particularly amusing to me."

My poor coworker is getting all the eccentric patrons today.

Patron: Can I sign up for a library card?

Coworker: Sure, do you live in Our City?

Patron: Yep, I was born here! I was born at Methodist Hospital.

Coworker: That's nice...may I please see your ID?

Patron: Where you YOU born?

Caller: Can you help me place some items on hold?...'Long Bright River' by Liz Moray. Let me spell the author's name for you: M-O-O-R-E."

How do I print, 2x.

Where are the books on architecture? Coworker starts to look it up and I say "720s." I used to order the 700s, I have all those classes memorized. Patron: "Thanks, I am remodeling a Greek Revival home."

Can I borrow a pen?

I have a card from [library in another state]. Is there any reason I should get a card with you?

Is there a way I can pause my computer time while I go to the bathroom?...I don't want to take my backpack with me, can't you just watch it?

Can I pay for my printouts here?

A man is filling out the permission form for his kid to get a card and keeps asking my coworker if he has to fill out the fields. "Do you want me to put the date?" "Do I need to put my driver's license number?" "What is a 'suffix'?" No sir, we just added all those lines for our own amusement. Just leave the form blank. What the heck!?

At every library where I've ever worked, people have thought we've sold office supplies. Why?

Patron to coworker: You have such a nice, smiling face! And your skin is PERFECT!

Put in a service request--the building is mysteriously hot.

Dog in the library (again)

I was working at the front desk at one of the branches last week. This branch has a long lobby/breezeway thing between the front doors and the 'real' library entrance. The desk is sort of around the corner so you can't see the exterior doors.

 Since I am a sub at this branch, they usually put me on the desk with someone experienced, but today one of the shelvers sat down at the other desk and said "Hi, not to worry you, but this is literally my second shift on desk. Will you help me if I get in over my head?"

 So of course, this was the day a patron came and told us that "A giant dog is coming in and out of the front doors of the library. He doesn't seem aggressive, but he's making people nervous to come in."

 The sweet-seeming Great Pyrenees was Gone When Police (or rather Animal Control) arrived.

My age is transparent

My predecessor at New Library was, like many librarians, a hoarder. So much so that 18 months into my tenure at New Library I am still going through her old files and shredding stuff. This week I found two boxes of transparencies in her file cabinet. New Library has an email list for all the staff that plan programs, and I know people use transparencies for art projects and stuff, so I thought I'd email the list and see if anyone wanted them. Because there are people on that email list who are 15 years younger than I am, I included a brief explanation of what transparencies are, figuring that some of the programmers didn't go to school in the overhead projector era. The message netted me two responses claiming the transparencies, and two responses from colleagues my own age complaining about how I made them feel old.

Just wait until our technology lab opens and we have to explain to our 18-year-old shelvers what a "real-life save icon" is.

The Most Words Part II

 So, remember the eccentric patron from The Most Words who wanted me to measure the biggest dictionary in our reference section? An article in a local magazine came out with her byline! In it, she reminisces about interviewing semi-famous local figures and adds a bit of color by describing the massive dictionary she used to carry around, including its dimensions.

 I'm sorry, weird patron. I was wrong to mock you.