Seriously?

You can't make this stuff up. Here's a conversation I had today with a patron.

Patron: Are you Pat?

Me: No, I'm Pam. Can I help you with something?

Patron: I was in here the other day and I bought one of the music cassette you had for sale. It was the worse 10 cents I ever spent. I put it back in the box. I'd like my dime back. The woman upstairs said I need to speak to Pat.

Me: ....... Well, I'm not sure where Pat is, but I can give you a dime. (hand him a dime)

Patron: Thank you. (he leaves)

Me: Am I on Candid Camera?

Now I've heard it all!

Weekly Geeks - The Birth of a Reader

Weekly Geeks is a weekly book meme in which a question is posed to get bibliophiles blogging about a specific book related topic. I don't always remember to check Weekly Geeks and I'm not always inspired to answer the questions, but this week's question brought to mind a life changing moment in my life.

For this week's Weekly Geek installment, we're asked "to think back to the moment when you realized "I am a reader!"

I can remember this moment vividly. I was 10 years old and in the fifth grade. I had made a new friend, Kim, who always seemed to have an interesting book in her desk. I asked her about the source of these books and she replied that she got them at the public library. What? The public library? I knew about the school library - we had weekly library time- but I didn't know anything about the public library. (Not exactly sure why my parents never introduced this free public institution to my brother and me. It may have had something to do with being young and unsophisticated and simply being focused on making ends meet. Truthfully, I don't think it ever occurred to them). Anyway, I asked my mom if she would take me to the library. Next thing I knew I was standing in the children's room of my town library and the kind librarian was showing me around. I was awestruck. I couldn't believe that such a heavenly place existed. And I could take out as many books as I wanted. The choices were limitless. I can picture this moment so clearly. The sun coming in the window above the low bookcase against the wall. I can see my ten year old self choosing a Katie John book (does anyone remember this series by Mary Calhoun) and taking it to the desk and checking it out with my brand new library card. I had always enjoyed reading and as cash strapped as my parents were, I was always allowed to purchase books from the monthly Scholastic book order. But it was this moment, this defining moment, when the world of books and reading was revealed to me. My options were limitless. The world was my oyster. I was a Reader, with a capital R.

Day One

So, yesterday was my first day at my new job. It went pretty well. Being that I'm familiar with the work, the learning curve for this job will be pretty small. Which is a good thing. Learning a new job is pretty stressful. The people were all incredibly nice and welcoming, which is also a good thing.

As expected, the work is less than intellectually stimulating. Which is not such a good thing. And by design, it is impossible to finish the workload in the 3 hours that I am scheduled to work. (This wasn't clear to me when I interviewed for the job). And this is very hard for me. I really don't like to leave tasks unfinished, especially when those tasks are my responsibility. Apparently, it's not a big deal if I can't finish that day's interlibrary loans. Someone else will finish it up after I leave. This goes against every grain of my being. But, I guess I'm going to have to get used to it.

There was an unexpected side benefit to this job, however. My thighs got an amazing workout from all the squatting down I did to look for books on low shelves/bins. They actually started to get sore last night. And this morning it was a little difficult to go down the stairs. So, even if my brain will not be getting a workout, my thighs will. It actually might be nice to give my brain a rest for 3 hours a day and work my thighs instead. Heaven knows they could use the workout. And my brain will probably enjoy the rest.

The Mother of All Late Fees

As an assistant librarian I often have to tell patrons that they have a fine on their library card. Some people get all embarrassed and try to explain why this happened and how this isn't normal for them. Others just ignore me and I know that they have no intention of paying (as long as the fine is below $5.00 they can continue to check out materials). Others get all indignant and want to know EXACTLY why they are being charged .30 in late fines. What, exactly, was overdue. And then they argue that they most certainly did return it on time. We're talking about .30 here. Well, imagine my surprise when I heard the story of a man in Phoenix who returned books to his local library that were 51 years overdue. He had checked them out when he was a high school student! And along with those books, he presented a $1,000 check to the library to cover the late fines! How awesome is that? I love this man's integrity and giving spirit. I'd like to nominate him for library patron of the year. It's people like this who make working in a library a real joy.

A Book-Free Library?!

On the front page of today's The Boston Globe is an article with the headline - "Welcome to the Library. Say goodbye to the books". I nearly fell down in a dead faint when I read that! I couldn't grab that newspaper and read that article fast enough.

Apparently James Tracy, the headmaster at Cushman Academy in Ashburnham, MA, has decided that books are obsolete and the library at Cushman will now be completely digital. In Mr. Tracy's words, "When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books". Somehow I don't think that if I ever met Mr. Tracy we would ever be friends. Personally, I do not believe that books are a form of technology at all.

I can understand a library having all its academic books, textbooks and reference materials in an all digital format. That makes some sense to me. It really does. Textbooks are prohibitively expensive and it would be a welcome relief to both students' pocketbooks and their backs if they were digital. Same with reference materials. Most people do all their research online and this actually makes sense to me. It's easier, faster and can be more thorough (if you know what you're doing. Please, no Wikipedia or Google. Use Reference Datebases). But Mr. Tracy has decided to discard ALL of Cushman's books - including the classics, novels and poetry. I beg to disagree with Mr. Tracy on this. Personally, if I had a child attending Cushman Academy I withdraw him/her immediately. I'm not exaggerating. A student should have access to books. Paper and ink books. Books they can hold and be immersed in. Sorry, reading Jane Eyre on a Kindle is just not the same. Nor is reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or even The Kite Runner. Young people today are already too connected to technology and electronics. Please don't take away their access to books.

As far as I know, not too many libraries are going book free. I think there might be a middle ground here. Libraries could be partially digital and still have books. I certainly hope that other libraries do not follow in the misguided footsteps of Cushman Academy's headmaster. If all libraries decided to go book-free, it will be a sad day indeed.

"A house without books is like a room without windows" ~Horace Mann

Image from Google Images

Musing Mondays (better late than never)

MUSING MONDAYS are hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page. Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is a library habits meme…courtesy of MizB:

Being an Assistant Librarian there was NO WAY I could pass up this meme.

Library Habits meme:

1) If you don't frequent your local library, why not?
I work in my library so I am already there, but even before I worked in a library I was a confirmed library rat.

2) If you do visit the library, how often do you go?
I'm at the library at least twice a week (again, for work. Though I do all most of my patronage then as well).

3) Do you have a favorite section that you always head to first, or do you just randomly peruse the shelves?
I don't do a lot of perusing any more. Since I'm around the books all the time I pretty much already know what I want to read next. In my pre-library worker days, I would browse the new book shelves and then I would pick a random bookcase in the fiction area and browse it until I had to leave.

4) How many books are you allowed to check out at one time? Do you take advantage of this?
There is no limit at our library. I usually have between 1 and 4 books checked out for myself at any one time. I also put my kids and my mom's books on my card. (As a staff member I don't get fines for overdue books). In all, I usually have between 6 and 10 books total out at a time.

5) How long are you allowed to have the books checked out?
Books check out for 3 weeks, DVDs and magazines for 1 week.

6) How many times are you allowed to renew your check-outs, if at all?
Items can be renewed once, unless another patron has a hold on it. In that case, it can not be renewed.

7) What do you love best about your particular library?
It was built in 1889 and it looks like a castle. The inside is full of stained glass windows, fireplaces, high vaulted ceilings and gorgeous carved wood bookcases. It's a library out of an English period movie. Idyllic!

8) What is one thing you wish your library did differently?
This is a tough one for me to answer. Since I work there I have a whole different "behind the scenes" perspective. From a patron point of view, I wish the library was larger so there were more areas for patron usage - reading areas, meeting areas, etc.

9) Do you request your books via an online catalogue, or through the librarian at your branch?
Both. I request books from my computer at home (just like any other patron) and also from work. It just depends where I am when I learn about a book I want to read. Of course at work, I AM the librarian, so I just do it myself.

10) Have you ever chosen a book on impulse (from the online catalogue OR the shelves) and had it turn out to be totally amazing? If so, what book was it, and why did you love it?
This is the thing I miss most now that I work in a library. Before I became a "librarian" I would browse for hours and rarely knew what I wanted to read ahead of time. I LOVED spending time lost in the stacks, browsing books. Pure heaven. Now that I work with books, I have a tbr list a mile long and I rarely browse. I know that I found loads of books that I loved through random browsing, but it's been so long ago I can't really recall any of them. I do remember loving a book called Three Women at Water's Edge sometime in the late 80's or early 90's. All I remember now is the title. I wonder what I would think of it today?


How about you? What are your library habits? PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with your opinion or link to your own Monday Musing post.