Patrons Behaving Badly

Last week it was the patron who came in well beyond the point of intoxication.  We had to call the cops and later an ambulance to get rid of him and his alcoholic vapor breath.

The week before that it was a recurring problem with the Quiet Study room.  The first incident involved a patron turning the carrel desk into their private bar.  They downed some beer and left the bottles for us to pick up. 

A few days later, a patron decided that he wanted to eat his steak dinner in the Quiet Study.  He pretty much had a picnic spread with him, replete with all the necessary accoutrement: a dinner plate, fork, steak knife, bib a la napkin, and sauce.  When he was told that food was not allowed in the library, he was completely indignant.

Where do these people come from?

Bookdrop Find of the Week

Found a postcard sent from Kaufbeuren, Germany postmarked 7-23-1974... pretty cool.

I Spy: Library Edition

Yesterday was incredibly busy.  There was a children's program in the morning and it was raining book returns from the sky.  The door count just eked over the 1500 threshold.

But it was a good Saturday because certain managers were not working which can just make your day.

With the masses of people coming through the doors, it was a great opportunity to people watch, if you weren't too busy trying to explain to patrons why they have late fees.  I had one lady get so upset over a .75 (7-5 CENTS, 3 quarters) late fee, that she didn't want to borrow the items she brought to the Circ desk and stormed out of the library.

I spotted this one patron and he really stood out, I asked one of my coworkers, "Hey, did you see that guy in the zebra print button up?"  I mean, how could you miss something like that?  She said she didn't and asked where he went, I pointed her in the direction of the study desks in the corner of the library. 
On her way back to the Circ desk, she stopped by the Info desk to ask another coworker if she saw him as well, to which our Info coworker said, "No but did you see the homeless guy with a tampon stuck up his nose?"

It was at this point that I could only concede that that trumped my find and I lost this round of 'I Spy' but I'll be back (shakes fist towards the Info desk).

Lost and Found

Yesterday a patron returned the best 'Lost and Found' item in recent memory: a license plate. Right when the doors opened, this gentleman was one of the first through. He shot straight for the circ desk where he slapped down the plate with a metallic thud and said, "Someone might be looking for this."

Let it Snow

I looked at my paystub for this paycheck and it was nice to see that nearly all of the hours listed were paid snow days.

I don't know why people suffer from cabin fever so much.  I LOVED staying in: I had electricity and internet = MW2 on Xbox Live.

The picture is from the window across from my cubicle at work.  Yes, the snow is piled up to the second window which is about 7"-8" from the floor. 

Blizzard of 2010

I know I didn't experience any cabin fever symptoms while I was literally snowed in for over a week.

At least I wasn't stuck at an airport. But it looks like she was able to keep herself entertained.

Dog Earred Pages

Ah, dog earred pages, the traceable cookies of the pre-HTML era.

When I came across this book in the bookdrop today, I saw  two pieces of paper sticking out and I was hoping they were the $100 bookmarks the previous patron forgot to take out.  But alas, they were just dog-earred pages.  Funny thing about them was that the first one was on the chapter about "Body Odors" and the second one was on "Fertility."

Methinks, one could definitely be an inhibitor of the other.

This Week's Winning Patron

The library does not follow any CPA rules of depreciation value. So yes, those cassettes you lost do cost a lot.

Is This Book Necessary?

If I ever get a cat/kitten there is only one name that I would choose: 'Tigger.'

But I guess naming a cat is a difficult decision that one cannot make on their own so someone needed to sacrifice trees on a book like this.

This Week's Winner is...

Patron .....7095, the collections agency will be contacting you shortly.