Tax day 12-2

This post is full of typos but it was so busy I didn't have time to pay much attention to typing!

Do you need help to print? No never mind we figured it out.

Older man: "I'm returning this book. It's overdue. We were out of town, and my daughther called the library..."
I don't want you to waste your time here, you'll have to take it up with Customer Service eventually so you may as well not tell me the story.

What is my PIN? How do I get onto a computer? Can I print from any? I have a picture but I want to make it bigger, how would I do that?

Audrey Hepburn stops by to say hello and ask if I am "ready for Easter" (she is very religious). She asks this about every Christian holiday and as a non-Christian I never know how to answer this.

I know it's last minute but is there any chance you can help me find tax forms for Kansas? I lived there part of the year and here part of the year. This turns out to be a long thing and I am so afraid of giving tax advice and the patron (or me) getting burned! She's really nice though. At the end she asks, "There isn't going to be anyone helping this late, is there?" I give her the phone number of anotehr branch where the AARP volunteers are today but I don't know if they do state returns especially because Texas has no income tax.

I'll be with you in just a moment, thanks for waiting--but they walk off. A coworker checks on them later at least.

My mom wants a book, can you help her find it? It's the new John Wayne bio, we put her on the waiting list. I also check the son's card to see if he has any more CDs on their way. She and her son are always really nice.

Get the Kansas tax lady on a computer so she can do her own research. She's excited.

Phone call: Do you have the form you need to get a tax extension?
I can't, officially, tell you that this is "the form you need," but it sure sounds like it.

Kansas Tax Lady has a meeting with one of our...staff members? volunteers? I don't even know because our branch manager is so horrible that she never bothered to introduce this person even though she is apparently here like 10 hours a week. I know she does something with grants but I don't know what and I have never, to the best of my knowledge, seen her.

Do you have the form for an amended tax return?

Coworker: "I don't know how into cooking or not into cooking you are, but I thought you might want to see this book about vegetarian slow cooker recipes." I'm not into cooking but it's nice that she remembers I'm a vegetarian so I feign interest. She also says "Tax season isn't as bad as it used to be. We used to put a box of the extension forms outside overnight on April 15 and they would all be gone by the next morning."

Mom and toddler son at the copier, someone is saying "stop, stop" over and over again in a high, whiny voice. I assume it's the son, but looking over I see it's the mom.

Form 2210, 2 copies, and 1040-V, 2 copies. The latter I don't know why we don't have because it's the thing you have to send with your check, so the IRS really ought to let us order it. I read off the title of the former to make sure it is the right thing, but when I ask "Does that sound right?" she says "I don't know, but it's what I have written down, so just print it anyway."

Meet the mysterious grant lady for the first time. She is looking for Kansas Tax Lady so I infer who she must be, but she doesn't introduce herself. Maybe she has to remain as anonymous as possible to avoid inadvertently revealing her secret superhero identity.

All the patrons have their phones turned up so loud today! One makes the same noise mine does when I get a text message and I briefly fear that somehow I accidentally brought my phone out to the desk with me, even though I am wearing a skirt and don't have any pockets.

A little science fair bean plant is on top of the ready reference collection. I ask my coworker about it and she says she found it forgotten at the print release station last night and is hoping someone will come looking for it today.

Phone: Power Play by Danielle Steele. Add her to the waiting list but it's not too bad--10 people, 5 copies.

"I had a library card but I think I lost it."
"If you go over to Customer Service they can get you a new one."
"Is it a dollar?"
"Yep."

An email comes out that they are changing the city's website, which contains the library site, at 4 p.m. this afternoon. I work until 9 p.m. so it is probably going to be a long evening.

Our copier doesn't take pennies, can she give me five of them for a nickel? The exchange goes smoothly but I am moderately stressed out just out of habit because this lady goes from civil to shouting at you at the drop of the hat and it's very hard to see it coming. She makes me very nervous.

Will you be my friend?

This semester I am taking a class on "information ethics" as part of my library degree. In case I wasn't already extremely primed to think about ethics, this class has made it so I am considering ethical tensions constantly. I am planning to post about a few of my biggest conflicts so I can get advice from the intelligent, talented, and beautiful readers of this blog.

Don't worry, though: Patron eccentricities will continue to be topic number one.

Issue #1: Being 'friends' with patrons

If you are a longtime reader of this blog you will know that every library staff person has her fans, some of which we are happier about than others (My Only Sane Fan, clearly identifiable by her intense smoker's voice, deserves mention here). Usually the concern is keeping the patrons from thinking you are their best friend and as a result they expect to be exempt from rules or get an infinite amount of help when other people are waiting--give Mr. Take My Card an umbrella and he takes a mile, write back to one email from 'Audrey  Hepburn' and now you are her personal consultant, etc.

Making exceptions for known patrons, while tempting, is pretty clearly an ethical infraction, and not too hard to avoid. Even though I know the Retired Police Officer, I make him give me his ID for ransom when he wants to borrow the Consumer Reports just like anyone else. I give every unfamiliar person one chance to bring back the 20 cents I loan them, just like I trust that (most) known patrons are good for the money. Little things like this are pretty simple, but there is a larger question of whether I should treat my relationships with frequent library visitors as relationships or as a series of discrete interactions (SDI from here forward). Considerations:

Library policy, the American Library Association ethical code, etc. says that a cardinal feature of a reference interaction is confidentiality--the librarian won't tell anyone what information you wanted and won't be nosy about why you want it. In fact, the real message is you should not just pretend not to care about what the patron is searching for, you should work to actually not care about it as far as you can. Basically, if the patron starts seeing you as a person, they will be embarrassed to ask the things that they need to know but wouldn't want anyone, especially a stranger, to know they need to know. The promotion of confidentiality argues that treating your job as a series of SDIs is a better approach than treating it as a collection of relationships. A patron who knows your name and how many pets you have, and who knows that you know her name and how many pets she has, is probably going to be embarrassed to ask for help finding books on house foreclosure. By being friendly with this patron, you've lost your 'exempt' status and thus you are less helpful to her.

On the other hand, you can only pretend so effectively that you don't remember a patron, especially if you don't want to seem hostile or rude. After seeing someone 15 times in a month, it's hard to act as though you have never seen him before. Besides, even if you succeed, he is likely to feel like you are being rude or strange--to think things like "How come this woman has no idea who I am? I talked to her for 10 minutes yesterday and it's as though she doesn't recognize me" or "Is she pretending not to know me because I did something to offend her?" Especially because regular commercial establishments consider it good customer service to recognize repeat customers and greet them as such, it seems especially odd when the librarian who helped you find books on dog training two days ago (you told her all about your new puppy!) acts as though you are a totally stranger.

It's a complicated issue since some patrons want you to have a sort of friendship with them, and others would prefer to be completely anonymous. As far as I can think of, there's no way to tell which is which. Am I missing something? And if not, what is the best balance between the relationship approach and  the SDI approach?

Refgrunt from The Day It All Was Broken

Can I have a code for my brother? (i.e. computer pass) Yes I am totally not checking library cards today. Take ‘em, take ‘em all!

Did you want to use a computer, ma’am? Let me give you a guest pass.

Did you see the sign about the computers, ma’am? Here’s a guest pass.

Guest passes.

Are the Ranger’s Apprentice books over in that section [YA]? Yes!

Another person who thinks that two hours after you place a hold request it will be there for you. Not the case, but the book is Gulliver’s Travels, so it’s easy enough to find a copy in the library.

To confused people looking at each and every self-check machine, all with “Under Service” signs. You’ll have to go to the customer service desk.

You’ll ALL need guest passes.

You can’t play the Wii because you are five.

Guest pass.

Sorry, I can’t check the status of your holds. I can look to see if any are here though.

Guest pass.

My USB isn’t working! Unfortunately there’s not much we can do about that because your USB is broken.

My card isn’t working to get on the computer! Guest paaaaaaaaaasssssssssssss!!!

Mohawk Kid (a regular)--you need a guest pass!

How do I print?

To Mowhawk Kid: You know you can’t eat sunflower seeds at the computer. Clean them up, okay?

Can I help you with anything? No, we are thinking about buying a house here so we are just checking out the neighborhood.

Go and print more guest passes.

Excuse me, it’s not letting me get on any computer. Ggggguest pass!

Not a Service we Provide: Calling your estranged daughter in Argentina and trying to convince her to talk to you.

Dysgraphia Guy can’t print—he used a guest pass to log on to the computer (correct) but then tried to use his library card to release his print jobs (less correct).

Everyone is so MAD that they have to use a little piece of paper to log into the computers instead of their library cards. You actually have to do less typing with the guest passes. Somehow I don’t think people will appreciate that if I point it out though.

Will this computer pass work tomorrow? No, but we’re hoping you won’t need it tomorrow.

Another nice regular. I am going to call her Audrey because she has a name of an old movie star and she is one of our classiest-looking patrons. Always very fashionable. She too wants to know, will the pass still work if I come back later today?

Um, this isn’t working. I thought she was confused about the guest pass but apparently she didn’t even know what it was—she had found it and was using it as scrap paper to write her library card number on, so at first she was really confused about what I was saying!

A book called Rush. We can ID it (It’s the YA novel by Eve Silver, with a blue cover), but it’s not on the shelf.

I’d like to sign my mom up for some computer classes. I would love to sign you up but first you need a library card.

Guest pass.

Cover the children’s desk for an hour while our YS person is at lunch and work waaaay harder over there than I did all morning at adult reference. That’s the life of a children’s person.

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson.

Can you hold these books for a minute?

What are all these books? Bluebonnets.

Walk, please.

Ariel (as in the Little Mermaid)--why oh why are these cataloged by author? It makes them SUPER hard to find without the catalog.

Walk, please!

Little girl, you need a pass to get onto the computer, typing your card number in isn't going to work.

Where can I check out books?

Can you help me find picture books about the senses and about community helpers? Sort of. It will be really hard and time-consuming since the catalog is down, but otherwise it would be really easy. Grr!

Biography of Helen Keller.

WALK PLEASE!

Pointing to Sports Illustrated Kids cover: Do you have any books about OSU?

About the school or about the football team?
The football team.
I don't think so, but I can show you the other football books and movies.
He sees them--not good enough.

Talk to some ladies at the copier who compliment me on my Spanish, even though I use it to tell them they have to go to the customer service desk to break their $10 bill.

Where can I get my son a library card?

Geronimo Stilton--thank goodness I don't have to try to look up that one.

Rainbow Magic--same thing

Reading list for 6th grade?

Mailbox somewhere?

Can I use your scissors? I’m trying to send this picture to my friend in jail and they don’t like things printed off the internet. This is the nicest guy trying to contact people in jail who I have ever worked with.

Guest passes 2x, but they are both good sports.

Book on blogging. We don’t have the one he had in mind but he’s satisfied with a different one on the same subject.

My card doesn’t work. GUEST PASSSSSSSSS!

Guest pass.

Books by Iceberg Slim. All checked out, if we own any.

Is there something like this [reference world atlas] that my son can check out?

Go and print more guest passes.

Thrusts card in my face—this isn’t working.

God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew—not on shelf.

Texas Driver’s Handbook—I can NEVER find it, it is my white whale.

Can I print from any computer? Yes, IF you have a guest pass.

I can’t log in. GP.

Driver’s handbook guy comes in—will drive to the closest branch to see if they have a non-reference copy, because my colleague couldn’t find one either.

Directions to a restaurant. Easy!

Least favorite patrons: The ones who ask multiple staff members to do things that require the catalog, as though the first person who told them it was down system-wide might have been lying.

Woman is walking around looking lost.
Me: Can I help you?
Woman: Can you make change? (Holding up a five-dollar bill)
Me: No, sorry, but if you go to the customer service desk they will be happy to make change for you.
Woman: Okay, thanks.
Then she goes back to the printer and messes around a little, tries to put the $5 in the machine, looks over at me.
Woman: So it takes fives?

Me: No, sorry, only ones. That would be happy to make change for you at customer service.

 Much less clueless woman: Do you happen to sell headphones here?

My favorite phrase, “Sorry, not here, but if you go to customer service…”

Fascinated by the hundred ways to say, I can’t get into the computer with my library card and I need your help.

 Talk to a sweet kid—please enter the bookmark contest! I so want someone from our branch to win!

Legend by Marie Lu. Another book I KNOW we have but it’s checked out and I can’t. place. Any. D***. Holds on it. Aargh!

Is X-Men: First Class on hold?

Do you mean on hold for you, or on hold for someone else?

No, I just wanna know if it is here or over there? (Points at DVD area and hold shelves)

Well, did you check the regular shelf under XME for X-Men?

It’s not there. This is another Legend scenario.

 Wii controller.

 Wii controller is out of batteries.

 Legend girl: How much is a new library card? Because my friend punched holes in mine.

The 17 Day Diet. It’s actually there! Hooray!

Can you check if my hold is here?

A Kid with a Lot of Questions.

Kid: I want to pay my fines.
Me: Sorry, actually you can’t today, our system is down. But you can still check out books.
Kid: Will the fines keep growing?
Me: Not if you renew your books.
Kid: Okay. Is the catalog working? Can you like look up books?
Me: No, sorry, everything is down. But I can still show you where things are. I just can’t tell you what is checked in or not.
Kid: No, I mean can you look up my account?
Me: No, sorry.
Kid: Why is everything down?
Me: They are moving the computers that all our stuff is on to, uh, different computers.

Kid: Oh, okay.

Go to show a woman how to release more than one print job at a time but she is on her cell phone. No help for you then, lady!

Woman with a $20 bill pinned to her tank top: “I was trying to print this and it came out weird, can you help?” I take a look at her computer and get her document set up so that it will print the way she wants it to look. Then she says, I only have fifteen cents left, but I want to print two pages…”, hinting, so I say, “I see you have a twenty-dollar bill there, ma’am. They would be happy to make change for you at customer service.” “Oh, never mind.” She is disappointed that I won’t give her five cents’ of free printing even though she has 200 times that much money pinned to her shirt! The audacity.

I want to see what I have out. Sorry, you can’t.

And of course I can never go a whole day without asking, "Do you want me to show you how to print more than one thing at a time?"