Happy 7 Billion People Day...

I hate people.  I know working directly with the public will jade you after time and I know this isn't exclusive to public service work, have you ever worked retail --- on Black Friday? 

Guess it isn't much consolation that the population is projected to level out around 10 billion.... ::sigh::

Keep it Classy Harlequin...

I found these old pictures on an old memory card.  The books on the left were donations from a patron.  All of the titles are circa 1970.  For some reason, I just don't think these sold at the last book sale...

Please Don't Touch Your Librarian...

Yesterday when I was personally kicking patrons out aka trying to close on time, a patron wrapped herself in her sweater and mentioned that it was, "absolutely freezing" in the library.  As she walked by, I agreed and told her I have learned my lesson and that I have back-up sweaters in my car. 

Apparently, she thought I was not fully comprehending the situation so she quickly reached out and touched me.  "MY BUBBLE!  YOU'RE VIOLATING MY BUBBLE! --- I NEED AN ADULT!!" 
::shudder:: 
I still get the chills when I think about her cold, thin fingers wrapped around my hand.  Lady, c'mon now, give me a head's up at least.  I vote that we follow Mensa's Guidelines for Physical contact... tl;dr Mensa people use color coded stickers to show their level of hate openness to random physical contact.  
They're a smart bunch right?  I really think they're onto something here, now I just need to find the biggest yellow stickers available.

Don't Make Me Be a Librarian...

The move from Circ to Info has introduced a lot of new and different responsibilities.

When I worked at the circ desk:
Patron - "Someone is talking on their cell phone in the quiet study"
Me - "You can tell the librarians at the Info desk." 
Patron - "Someone is looking at inapproriate websites on one of the public internet stations" 
Me - "You should tell one of the librarians at the Info desk."


Do you see the pattern?  Well now karma is paying me back because now I am the one who gets pointed to from the Circ desk when it comes to those patron interactions.  I cringe at the thought of having to tell children not to run, but I would hate the thought of them running around carelessly and knocking over one of the many elderly patrons. 

It is a straight shot from the entrance to the children's section, maybe if I can set up some obstacles to discourage any form of accelerated movement, maybe an errantly placed book-cart here or there ought to do it.

Winter is Coming Librarians - Get those Cardigans Ready...

After working just a mere three weeks at the Info desk, I get the whole librarian and sweater deal. I don't know why I didn't see it before.  I guess it's different working on the Circ side, although I did have to wear my winter jacket once when I worked for the City but that's because the automatic doors weren't closing all the way.

It seems that almost every library I have worked at is set up the same way.  When you walk through the front doors, the Info desk is right in front of you.  I can understand why, it is the first thing people should be greeted by.  I mean how else are they going to find out where the bathrooms are despite the fact that they walked right past them and didn't read any of the signs.

Unfortunately this means that the Info desk also bears the brunt of all of the cold fronts that blow through every time a patron walks in or out.  If it is this chilly now at the Info desk, I cannot imagine what it will be like mid-winter.  But I have already winterized my closet:

I also have a back up cardigan along with a hoodie in my car.  I don't have a holiday themed sweater in my arsenal, but I will be graduating from my MLIS program in the next few months *hint-hint*... I like blue.

The Best Flickr Account Ever...

In the spirit of Halloween here's a link to the best Flickr account in the world:

R.I.P. Steve Jobs...

I am not the biggest Apple fan around, hell I don't even own any Apple products.  But game recognizes game and he is undeniably one of the greatest innovators of our generation.  "To Infinity and Beyond..."

The Librarian Generation Gap... Hating on Google.

This is my second week working the Info desk and there is a lot of "stuff" being thrown at me.... "but I don't want to have any PIC-like responsibilities!!"  I went to a Reference Interview training last week with my coworker/friend "Red."

It was basically filled with fairly new Info people, a few Info volunteers, and Circ people who want Info positions.  Out of the 16 attendees, there were only 3 of us who were under the age of 30.  The average age was about early to mid 50's and I was the only male in attendance, shocker.

We had mini break out sessions and role played actual questions the presenters faced at the Info desk.  My friend Red played the person working the Info desk handling the question and suggested using Google to find the answer to a fact-based question which caused one of our older group members to get all upset like we told her that her kitten wasn't all that cute or something.  "You would use Google?" she asked us incredulously.  I told her that I agreed with Red and that it's a great way to find facts as long as you check the sources and citations of whatever resource you choose.  She still didn't agree with us and thus continued the debate for another 5 minutes. 

I really do not understand why any librarian out there would have so much beef with Google.  It is not the enemy to librarianship and if you think that Google has put librarians out of jobs well then those people shouldn't have been librarians in the first place if you ask me.  Adaptability is a must for any librarian.  I believe that Google is one of the greatest tools a librarian should use.  You would be hard-pressed to find any younger MLIS student who also objects to using Google on the job.  I just don't get it, I best she probably uses AltaVista...