The Rules of Circulation #07 (The RoC)

 "Never Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth, unless its Dead and Decaying"....

A patron came up and handed me a book saying that a while back he couldn't find this book.  He ended up paying for it but he just found it and wanted to give it back.  I told him that we wouldn't be able to give him a refund and he smirked and said that it was okay and that he wanted the library to add it back to its shelves.

I didn't fully comprehend the reason of his smugness until I took a better look at the book in the backroom and noticed the Hazmat like condition it was in.  Seriously, you could play connect the dots with all of the individual colonies.  All of the pages were warped with water damage and as you can see from the above picture, it turned into a petri dish.  I quickly bagged it and took it to the dumpster.

Did this patron return this book knowing it was rife with hazardous spores ---- probably.  Have patrons "donated" similar materials thinking the library/Friends would find good use for it, yes.  Some have good (but clearly void of any common sense) intentions while others rest on the nefarious end of the spectrum.

I cannot stress how much the library DOESN'T NEED your lifelong collection of 'National Geographic' or 'TV Guide.'  But it has such treasures, such as the first cover of "Alf" you say, thanks but no thanks.  Save that stuff for neighborhood yard sales.  The library's bookdrop is not your personal dumpster.  If I ever find anyone using it as such, I will send Detective Bookman after you and you will pay the consequences, which will involve volunteering your time to rat on any patrons who find any loopholes with the internet filters.

Can't Knock the Hustle...

It is that time of the year again... Time for the famous Friends Biannual Book Sale.  If you don't know already, it's kind of a big deal.  The Friends always make bank no matter how bad the economy is.

People ask about it months in advance.  Not only that but people line up for it hours before it even starts.  I took this pic soon after we opened and there were 12 spots already saved.  The sale didn't officially start until 7 hours from then.  On my way out to class, there were another 12 markers that wrapped around the side of the library.  There is always a line wrapping around the library on opening day.  There are nearly 200 parking spots at the library, and parking is at such a premium that the staff parking lot is roped off and cars parked there without a designated staff sign are ticketed or, even worse, towed

I love working the book sale.  It's crazy busy, not for me at the circ desk, but for the Friends.  I love to people watch and check out the odd titles that are for sale.  Lucky me gets to work all but one day of the book sale this time around.  Last year, I missed out on it because I was whored out to another branch that was short staffed.  I missed the most recent one because I was on vacation.  It also seems like every time a book sale goes on, we have new staff and they're always 'shocked and awed' by the whole event.  I liken it to working my first Black Friday at Worst Buy -- a unique but useless experience.

Apparently, our Friends' sale is one of the only ones that is book dealer friendly.  Other libraries ban the use of barcode scanners (haters).  Our Friends do an excellent job of spotting the expensive books and separating those from the rest.  The book dealers have an unspoken agreement to honor each others spot in line.


I personally can't knock the hustle.  Ever since I started working for the library as a page, I've always eBay hustled to supplement my income (if you can even call it that).  I really enjoy it too.  As you can see from my latest hustle, I buy my deals by the crate.

Staff Meetings... WHY!??!

Every month it's the same BS.  All 30 of my coworkers and I are herded into the big meeting room and we are stuck for the next 2 hours talking about nothing.

If anything, it is always speculation about the upcoming budget and what it will mean for the library.  And each statement comes with the warning, "This is not finalized yet, but I just wanted you guys to know."  I get most of my library-related information from my coworkers OUTSIDE of the meetings.


This time around we had a member of the Library Foundation come in to give us a "pep-talk."  You know the usual - "Public libraries are important!"  His speech turned into a scare talk when he mentioned the privatization of public library systems around the country.  Of course my older coworkers have never heard of this before and this threw them all into a fit --- "Oh nooez! What about my retirement!?!"  The Foundation guy even said that the higher up's have not even mentioned or considered this option, so why did he even bring it up???

You know what, if the library is ever run by a private company, I can tell you a couple of people who should be let go. 

If time is money, then why is every branch wasting EVERYONE'S time, tomorrow, I have to cover the desk for another branch while they have to go through the same thing.  SAME ISH, DIFFERENT LIBRARY.

That Time of the Month...

Today will be the first staff meeting in the past 2 months. Because of the budget crunch, the higher ups realized that monthly meetings: staff, info, circ, was too much. Instead of 3 meetings a month, each section meets every other month (which is still one too many from my perspective). They're trying to bribe and butter everyone up with pizza from the Friends of the Library. Nice try, have an Open Bar and I'll be there.