Call...Ishmael's dad

Small Town Library recently got something cool--a Call Me Ishmael phone. Call Me Ishmael (link) is a cool program where people call a specific phone number and leave a message about a book they love and a story about their lives. What we got is an old-timey phone that plays one of 9 of these messages depending on which button you press. It's set up right near the reference desk.

Today three tween boys came in and stopped to examine the phone. One of they said, "Wow, a payphone!" Then he turned to me and asked, "When did you get this?" I told him that we got it about a week ago and briefly explained what it was. His response? "Dang, I wanted to call my dad."

Why my job is great, part XXVI

This evening I spent half an hour making this animation of a diver fleeing a shark because I am "planning an intergenerational coding program series."

That is, I hope that sometime in the spring I will be teaching a whole room of excitable grandparents and grandchildren to make animations of divers fleeing sharks (or, if I'm more advanced by then, maybe even teaching them to make animations of sharks eating divers).

Friday afternoon

Excuse me, miss? Can you help me transfer music to my Kindle?


Is there something wrong with the copier?


The paper light on the copier is on.


I still can't get my music.


(I refill the paper trays of both copiers and the printer.)


Can you help me find a book to teach my son the things he should know for preschool?


Can you help me find this job at Dollar General I am supposed to apply for?


(I get some books for the 'staff picks' display.)


IPhone: Hi. I need the number for Safelink Wireless.


I need Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and also the sequel, but I don't know the title.


Do you have change for a twenty, by any chance?


Did I do something wrong? My thing isn't printing.


(Change out the cyan printer cartridge.)


I've been in therapy since I was 18. Now I'm 46. You tell me how long that is. That's a long time, huh?


My computer logged me out. Why? Did I run out of time?


Can you come with me to print? Just in case?


I need some more ones [$1 bills].


Can you help me download some music now?


What do I have to click again to make this website work? "Allow once"?


To get back to the music I just go to YouTube, right?


Can you sign this?


Thanks for everything! God bless you!

MUFON

Someone called this evening asking for the telephone number for "mufon," which fortunately he conscientiously spelled out for me. It turns out "MUFON" stands for Mutual UFO Network. Another "at least once in a public librarian's career" box checked!

Screwy Decimal

I found a new library blog to follow this week, everyone! It's about 1/3 funny stories, 1/3 serious thoughts about librarianship, and 1/3 information about the author's other projects. Maybe check it out and see if I should add it as a 'branch'?


Screwy Decimal by Rita Meade

4th of July patron of the week

Today a computer illiterate man was struggling to digitize and transmit a resume. He started with a paper copy that he scanned, but he couldn't edit it since it was on marbled paper so no PDF converter services would change it into an editable file. He got stuck a few times in the early stages and I noticed the man next to him on the guest computers help him a couple of times while my coworker Laura and I were both busy with other patrons. Eventually we realized that if he wanted it to look good he was going to have to retype the whole thing. He struggled with the basics for a while (again, not my job to type up your resume for you, sorry) and after a couple of minutes the man next to him said, "Do you want me to just type that up for you?" and he did!


(I figured the least I could do was give the helper some extra computer time.)

Here to crush your hopes

Things I have had to clarify/reiterate for people today:


No, you can't just browse unsupervised among our 100-year-old, rare local business directories.


There isn't a way to "override" the captcha verification you are struggling with.


You have to put the 15 cents into the coin box attached to the copier in order to make a copy. You can't just hand it to me.


I'm sorry, it's not part of my job to type up your letter to the court for you.


No, I won't reimburse you for the five dollars of printouts that came out with only header and footer because you didn't do a print preview.


Yes, you need to enter your email address in the box that says "email address."


No, you cannot eat an entire Domino's pizza in the library (I actually smelled it all the way from my office and had to come out specifically to say that.)