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.

They're getting the hang of me

One of my staff members, leaning into the open door of my office: "Do you want to see something related to the building which will make you feel stressed and discouraged?

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.

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.

Poll results

Hello, readers! This is a quick update to let you know the results of the reader poll: 12 readers work in public libraries, 5 work in other kinds of libraries, and 3 do not work in libraries at all. The most exciting takeaway from this for me was that I have 20 readers! I only knew of 3, all of whom I have personal connections to, so that was pretty cool to read.


Thanks for reading this blog, everyone. I really enjoy having an outlet to talk about my work, and I will keep trying to keep you entertained!

Reader poll

I just wanted to mention that if you look over to the right-hand side of the page, I've added a poll to find out if readers of this blog are mainly library workers or not. So far I have no plans to do anything with this information. It's just to satisfy my curiosity, and possibly your curiosity as well. I encourage you to consider responding!

Emma the mentor

At Mystery Library I have a young coworker who is a library assistant. She just started her masters' in library 'science' this semester and this is her first library job. She reminds me a lot of me five years ago (Five! I am getting old!). I think she's going to be a great librarian someday, but she is struggling right now with some of the same things I struggled with when I was new, namely patrons being rude to me and the total lack of training that's appropriate to your actual job.

For example, she acts as volunteer coordinator and she's been struggling with a teen who she thinks might have a learning disability or other developmental issue. She has trouble walking the line between giving her things she is capable of doing while not making her feel like she gets the boring jobs compared to the other volunteers, and this girl wants a lot more attention and supervision than my coworker is really able to give. I'm sure most public librarians have dealt with something similar.

My coworker comes from a teaching background and she's not used to the more informal environment of the library where no one is obligated to disclose stuff like learning disabilities, and where you can't make rules for kids the way you do in school. She's also stressed out because she's afraid she will be blamed for the volunteer having a bad experience, despite the fact that she has been told she must accept all 'applicants' who want to volunteer at the library, so it's not like she can decide that this girl isn't a good fit and let her know that we don't have something for her.

It's a little bit horrifying to watch someone go through all the same things I did when I started and not to have much to say other than "This is a pervasive problem in public libraries, so you either need to learn how to cope with it or decide that this career isn't for you." She did say that she would like the library to send her to a class on working with teens with disabilities, which I think is a great idea, but she has to take the step of asking for that from our hands-off manager, and being insistent if the manager brushes her off.


I was frustrated for a while, I gave her the best advice I could, and I have also made this list of things that a new librarian should be if he or she wants to stay sane and be successful:

1. You must be willing to advocate for yourself
2. You must be able to accept emotionally that lots of things are outside of your control
3. You must be willing to do things that you don't feel well-prepared for

Pretty much a standard list for any job, probably. Are there other contenders for the top three that you would add?


By the way, one of the best pieces of job advice I have ever received was from a coworker who remarked to someone who was reluctant to take a sick day: "We're not running a hospital here. No one is going to die if things go wrong."

Had my first desk shift...

...at New Library today, and either I missed this a lot more than I thought I did or I've got some hormones out of whack, because when I made my first good connection with a patron, I cried a tiny bit.

Easy to get used to

A gentleman who was Deaf came into the library this evening and I spent about half an hour communicating with him in writing since I don't speak ASL. After he left, saying things out loud felt super weird.


Maybe I could have wrapped up that reference interaction faster but we were chatting about the weather.

So cute

The objectively most adorable little kid in the universe took a long time at the book return because she insisted on kissing every single book before putting it in the slot.

Just Google it!

This Wednesday morning desk shift gave me a small headache:


My Circulation counterpart is still shelving holds when we open; I check out a few patrons' items on her behalf.


Phone call: I left a flash drive there. Can you connect me to the people by the computers to check if they have it?


ESL teacher: Do you have a key to open the room in the basement? Seamus from Security usually opens it for us.


Another phone call re: lost and found.


A huge mob of kids in matching shirts comes in and lines up at the front desk. I am massively relieved to find out they are here for a program with our children's librarian, and they don't need me to award them all summer reading prizes.


Do you have a phone book?
For Our City?
Yeah.
No, sorry, you'll have to go up to the second floor. All we have hear is one for northern Michigan, for some reason.
Can I just look at that one, then?
(Wtf!)


Phone call: I have some movies that are due back today. Can you renew them? Also, can you put Ghostrider on hold for me? Oh, not that one. The second one.


I just returned Law & Order seasons 2 and 3 and I would like 4 and 5, please.


The self-check says there's a problem with my account.
Don't worry, it's just expired. We just need to check your contact info and you're good to go.


Do I bring my returns to you or put them in this slot here?


Can I sign her up for summer reading? Do you have the paper thing? We don't want to do anything on the computer.


Man from the daycare/mob of kids/whatever is here for the children's librarian's program: I just need to take these friends to the bathroom. Is it right here?


Can I sign up for some kind of temporary card to use the computer?
No, but you can sign up for a permanent one for free.


Another man, as I'm signing that man up for a card: I just need to know where the bathroom is.


Can you let me into the bathroom?


There used to be a citizenship class here where they helped you fill out forms. Do you still have that?


He needs to wash his hands. Could you let us into the bathroom again?


Another library card sign-up. If I'm making systematic mistakes, Circulation is going to be sorry about how hard I worked today.


Phone: My father needs to come in and use a computer and a scanner, but he doesn't have a library card. Is that okay?


My mom says can you please add more time to her computer?


Do you have an outlet back there behind your desk where I can plug in my phone?


This computer refuses to pull up a book that I know exists!


Is there someone I can talk to? I'd like to make the comment that there are some titles in the new nonfiction area that children shouldn't be running past.


Phone: I returned a book to you a couple of weeks ago, but it's still showing up on my account.


I'm here to see if I can get a Consumer Reports. Can you check those out?


Can I return this? I thought it was Descendants 2, but it's the first one.


Phone: I need the number for two hair salons on Martin Luther King Drive.
Me: Do you know their names?
Phone: Just Google it! We're a small city, we don't have that many.

It will help you

Highlights of my first #SaturdayLibrarian day at West Side Branch:


My friend who is a clerk at Downtown and was also sent here during the construction reports that Mr. Timmons told her to let him know if anyone down here was giving her trouble and he would take care of it.


Someone wants to read A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies just for his own edification.


Fist-bumped by a stranger whose friend I helped upload his resume to a job application--patron of the week!


Bodybuilder Lady waves happily to me! Our librarian-patron relationship started off on a very bad foot so I am still excited that we are friends now (I had to say, "I can't help you when you are raising your voice at me").


Help out circ for 15 minutes and don't screw anything up!


I help two young women find a memoir. I hand it to the one who asked me for it and she hands it to her friend and says "Read this. It will help you with your messed up life."


Overall...

Shush, you!

Today a man was kind of agitated because his new employer was having him fill out his W4 form online and the instructions weren't very clear, so he came up the desk and described his problem to me and asked for help. When we went back to his computer, which was in the back row of our public PCs, far away from the desk, his girlfriend was waiting for him. The first thing she said was "You need to shush! I could hear you all the way from here!"


It's funny how I love it when loud people's friends/family members/caseworkers shush them at the library so that I don't have to, and yet when strangers do it, it never ends well.

The Odyssey

A guy with a lot of facial tattoos asked me where he could find the Odyssey. I showed him our editions and left him and his friend to pick out the version they wanted. As soon as I walked away I could hear him saying to his friend, "Dang, bro. Feel these pages! They weird, am I right?"


I think I noticed which edition he was picking up, and now I'm just dying to go back there and take a look at the second copy.

Just a glimpse into someone else's life

A patron I don't recognize comes up to the desk, shows me a piece of paper, and asks, "Where would this number be?" It's 616--I recognize it as medical but don't know the specifics. I describe where that section is, but, seeing the look on his face, I offer to walk him back there and he accepts.


On our way, we run into one of the regulars and the two guys greet each other, "Heyyy, Jimmy, long time no see!" Jimmy (new guy) has just returned from the area's middle-of-nowhere mega-casino and recounts that he almost won $777. He did win $100, though! Where's he staying right now? How'd he get down to the casino? He's staying at one of the local homeless shelters. The two guys talk for a little bit about the renovation and reorg that is going on there, then we get to Jimmy's call number--psychopathology and sociopathology.


"I'm revisiting my old boss!" he says. He has a call number but not an author written down and there are three books at that number. He asks for my help in picking one out:
Me: They say don't judge a book by its cover, but I think that's bad advice. Looking at these, it looks like this one is more about how to deal with people like that in your everyday life, and this one is more about the science behind it.
Jimmy: I'll take the how to.
Me: The good thing about the library is that the books are free! You can always take them both!


He sticks to his original choice and leaves happily with  The Sociopath at the Breakfast Table : Recognizing and Dealing with Antisocial and Manipulative People.

I'm not friends...

...with patrons on Facebook, is a rule I had to invent on the spot today.

Merry Christmas, Library!

A family brought in a Christmas/thank you card and a tin of cookies for the staff. The card was addressed to the library!


(I can't comment on the cookies because they had been delivered hours before my shift and there were none left. The library staff is ravenous.)

Ereader season

Today all the questions are basic. How do I get on a computer, how do I print, this thing keeps spitting out all my money, why did my copy not work--mostly text-to-speech things as usual. One of our patrons with some mental disorders, a very nice man just quite slow, doesn't actually want help, just to say hello and shake my hand. The guy sitting next to him who needed 45 seconds to think of whether he had an email address says "He's my neighbor!" but I don't know if he means that they live next door to each other or just that they are sitting at adjacent computers. Either way it looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I dread the weeks after Christmas at the library because they are the beginning of tax season and got-this-ereader-for-Christmas season. Tax season should be more under control than it was last year despite my anger at the lack of Spanish-language tax forms but I can never keep up with all the different e-readers. We have a vendor called Overdrive that supplies our ebooks, and this is the basic process to read an e-book:

1. Look in our catalog for e-books and realize that that doesn't work.
2. Go to the library website and use that to link to our library's overdrive site
3. Search for the book you want. FInd that we don't have it because our collection is pretty small.
4. Select a different book. Check it out in the incorrect format.
5. Be confused that the book hasn't automatically appeared on your ereader. Realize that you have to download the book as an extra step even though it is already checked out to you.
5. Realize the format doesn't work with your e-reader and repeat step 5 with a different format.
6. Realize that you don't want the book you have finally managed to download, then call the library to ask how you can return it.

Normally old men are my favorite patrons but for some reason middle-aged people all seem to think that it's a GREAT idea to buy ereaders for their elderly parents, so now I am watching all approaching old men warily for signs that they are carrying Nooks, Kindles, or something even worse.

Tickets

We had a family program featuring a clown this evening where you had to get a sticker from a staff member to go in. There are fire regulations about how many people we can let into the program room, and giving out the stickers is how we keep track. The advertising for the program said you had to get a "ticket" at the information desk. Two parents pulled out their wallets and asked "how much?" We've got to figure out a word that doesn't imply that the program costs money.

On a more humourous note: I gave stickers to a man and a woman in their 40s. When I asked if they needed additional stickers for "other family members" i.e. kids, they said "No, we're just fans [of the clown]."