Say What Now?

A patron approached me yesterday and said, " Your face looks so young, but you have A LOT OF GRAY HAIR! I said, "That is because I am old!" Patron: No, because you have a young face. Me: I know how old I am. I am really old. I'm guessing he thought that he was giving me a compliment. There are those who gray prematurely, but I am not one of them. I happen to be old and have gray hair. I also happen to not look my age. Usually I cover my gray, but my stylist up and moved to Barcelona on me last July. Luckily, I follow him on facebook and instagram, because he will be in town next month and I have an apoitment. No, I haven't found anyone like him in a year. I could go to his friend(who I was going to before I switched,) but his friend doesn't listen to what his clients want. He is of the mind that he is an artist and he knows what his client should look like.

So I went to the ALA Convention in Las Vegas

A librarian convention was the last place I wanted to be. I was told that my branch would be discussed at one of the sessions. The convention opened June 27th. The session I was there for wasn't until June 29th. To top that off, it was at 8:30 am. Really, on a Sunday in Las Vegas. Did I enjoy myself? It was okay. It was hot and I prefer to be in Las Vegas when the temperature gets no higher than 75 degrees.

42 yr old who claims to be the next big rapper

What's his thing you ask? He likes to go into the women's restroom. What's his excuse for doing it? He says, there's never any handsoap in the men's restroom, but there's always some in the women's restroom. Well, someone broke the dispenser in the men's restroom, so the soap leaks. The kicker- he likes to use the stall toilets in the women's restroom and he likes young women. I gave him a warning about using the women's restroom. The second time, I suspended him for knowingly using the women's restroom (no, he is not a tran$exual.) The suspension was for 7 days. His first day back was today. He did spend three of the last 7 days attempting to re-enter the library during the suspension. What does he do today? Immediately goes to the men's restroom and sings/raps at the top of his lungs. Library security had just been to the branch, so I had a staff member call them back. They get the patron and he starts lying. I need to get my bag, I left it in the restroom. I said, " No, quit lying, you left it unattended under the table." Mind you that is another violation because I have warned and suspened him regarding that. He managed to acquire another 3 day suspension.

This is getting old real fast!

Mr. No Shoes, No Socks, managed to get himself suspended for 90 days again. It occurred the same week that the previous 90-day suspension was lifted. What is the offense this time you ask, he stole paper from the copier/printer. We have caught him before and got tired of repeating the same thing, so we just suspended him again. Has this stopped him from coming into the library, nope. If he doesn't see me at the reference desk, he will walk into the branch like he belongs there.

No Shoes, just socks

I've been dealing with a difficult patron for the past month. He would enter the library, stash his belongings and leave for hours at a time. Each time that I discovered what he had done, I would watch for his return and kick him out of the library for the day. He would then return an hour or so later, with shades on, thinking that would disguise him. I would remind him that he was suspended for the day. When that wasn't happening, I would find myself waking the same patron 2-4 times per day. Library security had escorted him out of the building twice. Last Wednesday, I caught him before he entered the building. Since we don't open until 1:00pm, he had been standing outside and cursing me up, down, and sideways (staff heard him through the bookdrop.) He was standing at the door, no shoes, and striking a pose. When the doors opened, he had stepped away. I was there waiting for him when he returned and told him to turn around before he entered the second set of double doors. That was it, he began cursing me, I heard all types of f-yous, and I was all types of b*tches. He turned to leave, changed his mind, turned around and began cursing me again. When he turned the first time, that made his suspension 7 days. Since he turned around again and began cursing me all over again, his suspension turned into 30 days. So, he went downtown the next day, to the main branch. Security snapped him up and served him the 30-day suspension.

The new moon has made me dred mercury in retrograde

It seemed as if everyone with any type of issue showed up at the branch this week. Security suspended a man who would leave his belongings inside the branch in random spots throughout the library and proceed to walk out of the building. He would then return every hour or so and peek, to see if his belongings were in the same place he left them and then exit the building again. Security found him spitting in the men's restroom. As they were escorting him out of the building, he stated that he didn't need this library anyway. He returned about 3 hours later and I reminded him that he was suspended. He returned again, the next day and once again, I had to remind him that he was suspended and for how many days.

Happy New Year

After many months of request, the heaters are finally working on a semi-regular basis. Yes, our building is new. It doesn't mean that things were installed correctly, or that library engineers know how to maintain the new "green" features. The staff workroom pocket door handle is broken. At this point, it may need to be replaced. They keep giving us temporary fixes that only last 1 day. This is the first week of school for the new year. We already had to kick 3 students out.

I know, it's been a while

Christmas at the library. Monday December 23, 2013. Patron calls: Do you have porn movies at your branch? Me: No! Patron: Do any of the branch libraries carry porn movies? Me: No! We suspect the caller is the same guy who dumped his porn collection in our book drop.