Look what I found

Yesterday, a patron approached the desk, he complained that a man was eating near him and the chewing was irritating him. As I was walking the aisle, to see what/who the problem was, I found something similar to this

Everything was plugged in and it looked as if it had been used. I was so stunned, that when I returned to the reference desk, I told my co-worker, "I could explain it to you, but I wouldn't do it justice. You have to go see if for yourself." She walked over there and returned to inform me that she was going in the staff area to inform my boss. He came out and asked the guy(by that time the patron had returned) how he was able to bring the computer inside.

Ordering Areas

For the past three years, my selection area for the library has been 800's. This means poetry, plays, American literature, and foreign translated literature. Well, as of June 1st, my order area has changed. I now handle selections for education( 370-379,) and occult, self-help, astrology (100-199, basically the area where the books go missing.)

At first, I thought, my boss suggested this so that I could have a change of pace. This week, I began exploring my new order areas. There is an Education Center attached to whoever handles that call number section. Well, it has been taken over by some strange folks. To ensure that the center is all theirs, they intimidate whoever goes in there to actually do research. I've gone in there a total of three times this week to re-stock the pamphlets. The first two times, the men were giving me crazy looks and I returned the same crazy looks, all the while I kept doing my thing. Yesterday, a couple was in there arguing. Well the guy threatened that if he left, he wasn't coming back. Since he was getting ready to use his cellular telephone, I had to burst both of their bubbles. I told him, "If you going to use that, you can't do it in here. You have to go out to the elevator area to use your cell phone." They both looked at me as if I had just spoken out of the left side of my head.

My cubicle is now crowded with education materials. I told my boss that I couldn't have that. He told me to store everything in the storage closet. I went into the closet Wednesday and discovered that I would have to clean it out in order to use it. There were boxes and boxes of education documents from two years ago. The past selector, opted not to clean the closet and to store everything at her desk. I began tossing boxes of stuff into the recycle bin. I had to stop, put on a dust mask and plastic gloves because it was so dusty and dirty.

Yesterday, I told my boss that he gave me those order areas because he wanted me to clean them up. You see, three years ago, I cleaned up the 800's. Yesterday, I began to look at job openings in my field in other parts of the country. He asked me if I was considering moving. I told him that I have to do something.

Holiday in lieu pay

Well folks, once again the end of our physical year is nearing and I found myself having to scramble. I received notice at the end of April that I had 64 hours of Holiday In Lieu pay that must be used by 6/30/2009, or I will loose them.

I checked the vacation datebook, and there were no consecutive days available. Since I hate getting up for work on Monday(I don't know why, because it's my 2nd day of the work week,) I have scheduled 3 Mondays in June off. In addition, I have taken two Sundays off as well.

I must say, it feels real good to have a short work week.

Arguing over 15 minutes

Last Wednesday was a doozy. After two yelling and shoving incidents, we called security because it sounded like it was about to go down. They arrived, told one man to leave, he walked away no problem. The other guy, well, he refused to leave. They had to restrain him with those plastic handcuffs. He had the nerve to yell and scream as they were shoving him into the elevator.

As soon as the floor was clear and quiet, lo and behold the first guy resurfaced. We then found out that he was the trouble maker. Once again, there was shouting and shoving. We called security again and were told that they were still dealing with the other guy.
It seems that homey was walking around the 15-minute express terminals
exposing himself. As if that wasn't bad enough, he had crabs and they were
visable.

Splash Award

I was given this award a few months ago and I never got around to posting it. I actually forgot about it and I'm sure that she has been wondering what happened.

I was nominated by Doret also know as The Happy Nappy Bookseller. I am supposed to nominate 9 people, but I'm not going to do that.

Doret, I am appreciated the nomination. I am honored that you think of my blogs when it comes to things of this nature. Really and truly, I'm always surprised to find that more than my friends and brother read my blog.

***Doret, my links to you blog aren't showing. I have triple checked and from what I can see, I typed correctly. I don't know what happened.

That librarian over there was talking down to me

That's what a patron yelled when he walked away from me. And, my co-worker said, "You do talk down to people, we(meaning him) are surprised that you haven't gotten slapped." I said, "I don't think I talk down to patrons." My co-worker did admit that in this instance, I was not in the wrong.

The patron approached me at the desk and said, " I would like a bibliography of Johnny Appleseed." Now, somehow, I knew that he meant biography. I conducted a keyword search and found that we only had one adult biography in the system, it was unavailable, but there were plenty in the children's room.

I said to the patron, "The is one biography, but it isn't available, you'll have to place a hold on it. It was checked-in today, at a branch, and it is in the process of being returned here."

The patron then said, " I want something that I can check-out today."

I said, "Well, the adult biography is unavailable, but there are a lot in the children's room."

The patron walked away and returned with a call number for the book that I had just told him about, but he said, " I want a bibliography on Johnny Appleseed and here is the call number for what I'm looking for."

I said, "That is the call number for the book I just looked up, and it is a biography. That title is unavailable, but there are plenty in the children's room."

The patron repeated himself, so I repeated myself slowly, so that he would be able to hear every word that I was saying.

The patron repeated what I said and walked away. Once he got over to the online catalogs, he began yelling, "THAT LIBRARIAN OVER THERE IS TALKING DOWN TO ME!!!
WHY DO ALL OF THESE BOOKS ABOUT JOHNNY APPLESEED SAY jB. I CAN'T FIND THE AREA WHERE THE BOOKS ARE. HE WAS A REAL PERSON AND I WANT A BOOK THAT TALKS ABOUT HIS LIFE."
I just let him talk, because he obviously didn't want my help. My co-worker finally said, "Let me go over and help him because he isn't understanding what he is doing."

Reference desk stories

Sunday, a patron approached me at the reference desk and said, " I lost 5 minutes of my time, can I get extra time." I ignored that statement and asked her where the computer was that she was using. As we are walking toward the computer, she says again, " I was told that if I lost computer time, I could get extra time. Well, I lost 5 minutes, can I get extra time?" Once again, I ignored her and rebooted the terminal. Each time she told me about the 5 minutes, I was hoping that she realized how stupid that question was. I was not going to give and extra hour because she lost 5 minutes. I never found out if she realized how stupid she sounded, but she didn't ask me anymore.

My co-worker was reading a food blog that she likes and she asked me if I had ever made pizza dough. I told her no. She then went on to ask me if I thought she would have to make the dough 24 hours in advance. I told her to call her local/favorite pizza parlour and ask them. I also told her that we get those types of questions all day long, she should not feel odd about calling a pizza parlour and asking. She kept saying how she felt that was a stupid question to call about. Finally, I said, "Why don't you just look it up. You shouldn't feel bad, people call us all day long with questions about something that they could very easily look up, but they don't feel like it."

Negotiations

Our union is negotiating with the city and county to amend our contract. We are due our cost of living increase of 8%. They have proposed that we give up all paid holidays, and floating holidays, for two years. They will give us an 3.75% increase in pay, and 9 paid days off to be used over a two year period.

Our floor union representative(the one who forgot to come to work,) said that this is in lieu of layoffs.

I suggest that they encourage those who are close to retirement and don't do any work anyway to retire. I think they should also get rid of all of the others who don't do their job. The employees on each floor of the main and in each branch, should be able to submit names anonymously. If we are able to do this, the budget will definitely decrease for the library salaries. On my floor alone, we would eliminate 4 librarians and 1 clerk.

Laptops, Wi-fi, and patrons

Last Thursday, one of the regulars(who hears voices and acts out,) sat down at one of the laptop tables. He had what appeared to be a square T.oshiba cardboard box. My co-worker said, "He has a brand new laptop."

Me, being hopeful, said, "No, maybe it's just an empty box."

No ladies and gentlemen, he had a brand new laptop. He sat down, opened the box and removed the computer. He pulled out the instructions and began reading them. I thought that we were in for a long afternoon of his non-stop questions. He didn't ask us any questions.

After about 35 minutes of him trying to read and understand the instructions, and yelling in frustration, he called customer service. He spoke to them for a while. After about 1 1/2hr, he left the library. While waiting for the elevator, we heard him yell at himself and slap his hand(REALLY HARD.)

Today, a woman approached me at the reference desk, and asked, "Do you know how to work a Ma.cbook?" I told her no, and went about my duties(We have instructions, but they're only for Ethernet connections.) Two hours later, as she was packing up to go, I noticed that she had a brand new M.acbook Pro. As I was leaving the reference desk, I whispered to my co-worker, "How are you going to purchase one of the most expensive M.acbook's out there and not know how to use it?"

Cover-ups or just plain old erasing

Sundays, we have a bare minimum staff of librarians. Because of this, the floor manager and the supervisors rotate Sundays. This past Sunday, the scheduled supervisor did a no show, no call. My co-worker whom we can never depend on to show up, was there and trying her best to find excuses for the supervisor's behavior. I told her to chalk it up and we'd just have extra hours on the reference desk.

This wasn't going to work for her, because she didn't want to do any extra hours. Although, on the days when she decides to call in "sick," that is what we do. We work around the missing person. So, she called the person who was in charge of the whole building and informed him. He tried to call the supervisor. He told us that she had given the wrong number as her home contact number.

Monday arrives and I discovered that the official desk schedule hadn't been changed to reflect how we actually covered the two reference desks. My co-worker(librarian who looks like me) told me that I should change the original. I went in search of the altered copy, and it was no where to be found. The supervisor in question had entered the staff area from the direction of where the copy was filed. Instead of accusing, I simply made the changes from memory. As I'm doing this, the supervisor with the floor manager in tow, walks over to where I was, and said, "I forgot to come to work yesterday." I said, "WE KNOW!" I walked away. She then says in frustration, "I guess that I'll work today, and I'll take two of Nexgrl's hours. Is that okay." My response was, "Yea, okay." In addition to this, she changed Tuesdays schedule, so that I would only have one hour on the desk.

Catalog/reference headaches

A lot of times, after 1 hour on the reference desk, I need to talk a walk, go outside, something, just get away. The following interaction is an example of what I'm referring to.

Patron: Can you help me find out if the library has a book?

Me: Sure, do you know the title?

Patron: No.

Me: Do you know the author's name?

Patron: No.

Me: Do you know the any of the subjects, that the book might fall under?

Patron: No. Can you just show me how to find a book?

Me: Do you want me to show you how to locate a book on the floor, or in the library
catalog?
Patron: Can you show me how to find a book online?

Me: Do you want to know how to locate a book in our system, or on the computer itself?

Patron: Yes, can you show me how to find a book in your system?

Me: Is there any particular topic that you are interested in?

Patron: (She is with her husband) No, we just want to find a book.

This went back and forth for about 5 minutes, before I took them over to the online catalogs. I had the woman sit down, and showed them the basics. I then gave them a schedule of the free computer training classes offered by the library. I also pointed out to her that they need to take the Basic Online Catalog class.

Appearances can be deceiving

1:00pm, as I approached the reference desk, a hot pink mohawk caught my attention. The owner of the mohawk, a guy in his twenties sitting in front of a laptop, with buds in his ears. Nothing odd or unusual about anything I described, right....He was KNITTING a scarf.

This one had folks laughing this afternoon

This patron yelled, and motioned with his hands, "Hey Miss! Can you come here please? I need help." (I gave him a pass because he has OCD and some other type of disorder.) I walk over there and he says, "I want to go to you.tube and the computer isn't responding."

He had already typed the web address in the browser, so I simply pressed the enter key, and walked away. As I approached the reference desk, he yelled, "Hey, how did that happen, what did you do?" With my back turned, I said, "I pressed the enter key." The other librarian and the other patrons who were paying attention began laughing.

He was salty because my response wasn't timely

Midway into my shift, I usually get a mild stress headache. It always seems to lift once I return to my cubicle.

So this patron who was using a computer two tables away from the reference desk, yells, "Hey, um yeah. Hey. I'm not on the phone, I'm talking to you."

I looked at him, turned my head, paused for a minute, and then decided to get up. I go over to where he is and he's complaining about the government websites being too slow. Well the computer was frozen, and I decided to reboot it. The patron said, "Well, I was through using it anyway!"

Tuesday's biggest missed moment

I was told by my co-workers, that just before I came to the reference desk, a patron had punched another patron in the face. He was punched in the face because he refused to let the other man use his cell phone. The man decided that he wanted it anyway, grabbed the other man, reached for the phone and punched him in the face.

The victim chose not to report the incident to security, or file a police report. He felt that his attacker had mental issues.

I missed one of the best incidents this week

Two of my co-workers went off on each other, while sitting at the reference desk. They are both on medication, it's just that one takes much more than anyone I know.

The Heavily Medicated one told me about the incident two hours after the fact. She accused the other of being an embarrassment to not just her co-workers, but the profession. She also told her that she is tired of listening to her give patrons incorrect information, because she is too lazy to search(our jobs) for the answers. She told her that she cuts patrons off and doesn't listen to the reference questions.
Lastly, she told her that none of her co-workers want to sit at the reference desk because of her ineffectiveness.

Ms.Lazy's counter argument.

She told Heavily Medicated that she is never on time to cover the reference desk. She often misses work, without proper notification.

What I told heavily medicated is that she should have told Ms.Lazy that they were discussing her faults at the moment.

Heavily Medicated said that once she left the reference desk, she went to Ms.Lazy's supervisor and told her about the incident. All the supervisor said was, "I think she needs to hear about her faults from her peers, maybe she will listen."

This was Monday afternoon.

They are making an attempt to have some "Good Press"

One of the local reporters decided to film at our library and on my floor. We were informed the morning of the filming. They wanted to film at the encyclopedia table. When I read the email, I laughed out loud. I guess the PR person for the library isn't familiar with our floor.

The encyclopedia table is where those who hear voices and speak to them
like to sit. They get very upset when other people are sitting in what
they have designated as "their" area.

The filming was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. lucky for me, I just happened to be working at the reference desk. The PR rep. decided to film in the African American center because the area where the encyclopedia table is was too crowded.

When we realized where they were going, my co-worker said that he had just been there and a man had his shoes off. My co-worker said the whole area was funkdified. I have no idea when this news clip will air, and I didn't even stick around to see what the outcome would be.

When someone tries to project their issues onto you

Our floor is unique, there are two African American librarians in my department. I work on the 3rd floor. On the 4th and 5th floors, there is only one African American librarian. I get stares, double takes, and questions like,"Are you really a librarian?" This occurs while I'm sitting at the reference desk, under a sign that says it's the reference desk for my department.

My co-worker(the one who most looks like me,) had been complaining about this young guy bothering him. He told me that the guy had been telling him that he wasn't a real "brother man." He had also been yelling that since he couldn't give him any dap, he wasn't a real "black man."

I hadn't had any interaction with the patron until yesterday. The first time I acknowledged his presence, was to shake my head no at him. He was playing a guitar on the floor. When I shook my head, he motioned that he knew he should be quiet. The second incident came later in the afternoon.

A man was walking onto the floor singing loudly. I was shaking my head no at the man. Since "brother man" was walking behind the patron, he took that motion as me singling him out once more. What did he do? He walked up to me at the reference desk and asked me, "Did you vote for O.bama?" I refused to answer his question. I told him that my voting preferences were my personal business. He began to say that I wasn't a real black person and I probably voted for the other party. He then went over to his girlfriend(who is a becky and they have a baby,) and tell her that I was targeting him. I went over to him and corrected him. I told him that the last time, I had been referring to the gentleman walking in front of him. This guy went back to asking me who I voted for. He said that since I wouldn't tell him how I voted, I was denying my race. I shook my head at him because I couldn't tell him what I was thinking. He had also asked me where I was from. When I told him that I was a native of this city, he said, "That's what your problem is."

My co-worker was frightened by the whole incident and she called security. Security came, asked me who the patron was and spoke to him. They then told me that there wasn't anything they could do, except inform that patron that he couldn't harass the staff. I explained to the security officers that I knew there was nothing they could do, that's why I didn't call them. Old boy, knew there was nothing they could do either, that's why he was acting out.

When I told the other librarian(who looks like me)about this incident, he said the guy had done something similar to him earlier. What I believe has happened to this young man who has been talking all of what he considers pro-black rhetoric, is that he has been harassed for it. I think that he fears those who tease him and takes it out on people who aren't in a position to speak negative to him. I saw the couple outside of the library yesterday and dude didn't say anything to me then.

A virus infected the computers

It began slowly this past Tuesday, sometime after 5:00 p.m. More and more patrons began complaining of strange scrolling messages on their computer screen. I called IT and reported the problem. They asked me to send a requisition form and I did. They said that they were on the problems.

Wednesday morning, 9:00 a.m., more of the same. The only difference is that almost all of the patron computers in the whole building were infected. One of the staff computers at the reference desk even began to show signs of infection. What did IT do, they sent staff an e-mail, stating that they were working on the problem. They also advised us to warn patrons that use of the remaining computers was at their own risk.

Finally, that afternoon, IT began removing the public workstation hard drives. Thursday afternoon, the hard drives were still being cleaned. All day long, patrons were going to the monitors and clicking the mouse that wasn't attached to anything. One of my co-workers said, "It's like watching candid camera."

An apology

Sunday afternoon, the old man from the previous post approached me at the reference desk and said:

"I'm sorry for the other day. I got booked mixed up with available."

I looked at him sideways and said, "Un huh."

No internet connection

I turned on my computer, clicked the "e," and ......nothing. I called tech support, followed all of the mundane instructions and still nothing. I was told to keep my call back line free for 1 hour.

I wanted to tell you about yesterday. I had to get LOUD and act UGLY.
My 1st hour @the reference desk, a patron approached me complaing about a computer. He said that he reserved the computer and it wouldn't allow him access. I said, "Are you sure that you reserved this terminal?". He said, "Yes.". I suggested that we check. It turned out that his reservation was for terminal #308, instead of #309. We walked over to 308 and an old man was sitting there and refused to get up. He was trying to stall until the guy's reservation expired. He told me, "If the computer is reserved, it will tell me so, when I try to log on." I told him that the computer didn't let him log on, so he needed to move. He repeated his speach again. After his third attempt at logging on, I reached around him and shut the computer off. He then turned to me and said, "THAT'S JUST WRONG!". I replied, "NO, WHAT'S WRONG, IS THAT YOU REFUSED TO MOVE. YOU NOW NEED TO MOVE. YOU CAN USE 309, BUT YOU CANNOT USE THIS TERMINAL. MOVE NOW!!!"
All of the patrons were watching the whole thing. It was so quiet when I finished yelling. The next person that I told to stop eating, simply shook her head.

My smelly week recap

Monday

One of the pages was shelving and discovered that a patron had urinated at the end of one of the aisles.

A disgruntled ex-employee returned to the Library for the Blind with a hammer. He was prepared to attack the employee who placed a restraining order against him. Security had to be called because the guy hadn't been served the restraining order yet, because he had been evicted from his last known address.(I found this out Tuesday afternoon.)

Tuesday

Another of the pages came to the desk and complained that a patron with a really strong odor was blocking one of the aisles and he was unable to shelve books. We called security and of course, he couldn't smell anything. I walked the guard over to the aisle and he made the guy leave(the guy was laying on his side taking up half of the aisle, while reading a book.) As I was walking away from the area, I turned to the guard and said, "You still don't smell it?" He said, "No." Then, it hit him. He backed up and said, "Oh DAMN! It just hits you!" My co-worker said, "He has a cloud, just like pi.gpin. The only difference is instead of dirt, it's the smell of urine."

Wednesday

My co-worker was working on a laptop in one of the centers and a patron was watching foreign movies on a DVD player. He was yelling at the screen. When my co-worker told him that he would have to be quiet, the patron told my co-worker he didn't understand English. The patron then went on to point at my co-worker and say that he is stupid and crazy. Security was called and the patron continued to talk about my co-worker. The guard said, "Yeah, but you still have to leave." The patron was yelling and talking about my co-worker until he was out of sight.

Another rainy Sunday

Lucky me,all of the stinky people had reference question just for me.
The smells got so bad that when my co-woker relieved me,she said, "Don't walk to your right when leaving the desk.".

Technology can be a pain

Last Wednesday, IT finally upgraded the staff computers on my floor. Everyone has been complaining about lost favorites and saved programs. Up until today, I hadn't been affected.
I logged onto my computer this morning, I received a message saying that an error had occurred yesterday. All of my favorites were gone. All of my pictures were gone. I spent the bulk of this morning trying to recall blog addresses and save them to my favorites again.
I thought I had missed the computer upgrade malfunction, it was just delayed.

Rainy days are the worst

Tuesdays, I get a ride to work from my Mom. It's her day to volunteer at the hospital and my job is along the route. This past Tuesday, it was raining and cold.

My Mom had asked me to drive to my job, because she wanted to eat her breakfast. The whole drive to work, she was teasing me. "Oh, it's raining and cold, I bet it will be crowded today. I don't mind the crowds, and the crazies, but the SMELL!!" They just smell so bad.

My only response was, "Um huh." All while she was talking about this, I was dealing with people driving crazy and having to brake suddenly because they were speeding and not gently merging into traffic. She then said, "Oh, if I were on my way to a stressful job and the other drivers kept doing me, like they are doing you, I would be highly upset. You seem to be handling it pretty well."

I then said, "Yeah, the other drivers are acting up and you are teasing me about the atmosphere that I will be subjected to while at work. FUN!"

I fell for it again!

A patron appraoched the reference desk. I was relieving my co-worker and he said, "I'll let you handle THIS one.". That should have been my clue.

The patron said that he wanted Lantern Lane. I said, "What about Lantern Lane?" He then said, "I don't know what or where it is.". I conducted an internet search and found that it is a street in Kansas. I showed the patron what I found and he said, "Is that a book? Where can I find it?". I then said, "Oh, you want a book with that in the title?". He said, "Yeah, that's what you do here isn't it, find books."

I searched the catalog and showed him that we don't have a book with Lantern Lane in the title. I told him that there is a fiction book titled Lantern Wife. He said, "Oh, I want that.". I explained that the book is in storage and he would have to request it at the page desk. I also explained where the page desk is, gave him the print out and he went in the opposite direction.
A little later, I had to go to the page desk. I passed the patron mentioned above. He was staring at the bottom of the empty coffee cup that he had been reading from while at the reference desk.
Once again, I was fooled by a "Coocoo for cocoa puffs," trying to ask a sane reference question.

Still able

I went to work last Sunday, even though I felt awful. I knew we always have a tight desk rotation for the librarians. I sounded about as bad as I felt.
Our regular OED man called and said after I answered his question, "YOU SOUND BAD, You need to take care of that." Our resident don't come to work at all librarian even asked me why I came to work. She even asked me if I would be at work on Monday. I explained to her that the desk schedule would be just as tight on Monday. She then said, "I guess you need to not let that be your problem!"

I stayed home on Monday and Tuesday. I came to work on Wednesday and the first thing my supervisor said to me is, "You look and sound bad!". I was actually was feeling better than I had in a few days and told him so.
OED man called and told me, "You sound better, but I know you can sound a WHOLE LOT BETTER!". I said, "Wow thanks!"
This week, I feel better. I'm still congested and sound like it too. I keep hearing, "Oh, YOU SOUND BAD, but you do sound better than you did last week.

These People Have Nothing Better To Do

I saw a patron walking around the floor and mumbling Monday around 5:12pm. He approached my co-worker and said, "All of the computers on this floor are being used. As he walked away from the desk, he said while shaking his head, "THESE PEOPLE MUST HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO.". My co-woker said, "What did you expect, it's a Monday and almost 45 minutes before closing?"
After he walked the floor 1 more time, he approached me. He said, "I have walked all of the floors, and all of the computers are in use! These people must really have nothing else to do."
I just stared at him, until he finally walked away mumbling.

*Dude is here everyday. I don't even know why he said anything to me, because I haven't entertained him with a response any other time.

Butterfly Award

Monique over at The Little Reading Nook chose me as a recipient of the Butterfly Award. It has taken me a minute, but I am finally making an attempt to complete this task. I really don't think that I'm going to pass this on. The authors of the blogs that I read on a regular have done so many of these things. To see the blogs that I love to visit, just look at the ones I have listed on the side.

This is a meme award to be passed on.
The rules are:
1. Post the logo on your blog
2. Add link to the person who awarded it to you
3. Award up to 10 blogs
4. Add links to those blogs in your award post
5. Leave a message for awardee on their blog

If I had to pick the two blogs that I check first daily, they are:

Aunt Jackie
Rashan Jamal

Some people

A patron approached me at the reference desk and said, "Every time I try to log in,
I get the message that says I have entered the wrong card number or pin number."

I asked the patron if he had reserved the computer that he was trying to use, and he said yes. I decided to double check, I just wanted to be sure that he had the correct computer terminal. He said, "I don't have my card, just the number."

He gave me a piece of paper. That should have been the warning flag for me, but no, I wanted to believe that everything was as he stated. I entered the information that was on the paper. I got the same message he did. I then asked him for his California Identification card. I looked his name up in the computer. Well, well, well, his card number was completely different. He said, "That is the correct information on the paper, unless my sister is playing tricks on me again." I gave him his library card number and told him that he can use that to get on the computer. He cursed the computer and side-eyed me while he walked to the other side of the room.

Later some other little off beat people joined him. After about 30 minutes, they left the floor in frustration. That little man had the nerve to side-eye me once again while they walked pass me. He didnt' know it, but I wasnt' in the mood for games yesterday.

As requested..................

I arrived to work @8:35a.m. I thought that I would have trouble gaining access to the staff entrance.

I did see a lot of people, but they were all making a beeline toward the plaza.

I didn't go to the auditorium. I opted to watch online. The librarian who sponsored the event reported that they ended up letting the patrons in at 8:50 a.m. The auditorium quickly became standing room only. Everyone wanted to watch the I.naguration together. Cheers were heard all the way up on the 3rd flr(mine.). It was a peaceful event that even brought out the city librarian.

By the public's reaction, you'd think we were giving out gold bars

Tuesday, the library will show the i.nauguration ceremony in our auditorium. Since we don't officially open until 9:00 a.m.(PST,) they will open the building at 8:45 a.m. Those who want to enter the building early, will need a ticket.

The tickets are being given out at the reference desk on my floor. There is an announcement on our website, it has been in the local paper, and I guess on the local news. People have been coming in everyday, all day, and asking for passes.

Sunday, a woman asked me for 20 passes. We had less than 10 at the desk. The librarian who's co-sponsoring the event said that when they ran out, that would be all. He then changed his mind and said that if there is time, he will request that more tickets be printed. I told the woman that I couldn't give her 20. She then said, "Well, can I have 3 because I want to bring my children." I gave her 3, along with the name and telephone number for the librarian in charge of the event. I gave the man that was with her 2. He then came back Monday evening and asked for 3 more tickets and said that he also wanted to pick up 15 for the woman from Sunday. At that point, we only had 1 ticket left.

Today, a woman called and asked me so many questions about the event, I thought she was writing an article. She asked if we had close circuit televisions, in addition to the projector screen. I looked at the telephone receiver before answering her. When I got off the telephone, my co-worker said, "Is the person writing a book?"

An unsoliticited suggestion

A patron approached me at the reference desk and asked if we have Ethernet cables to loan out. I told her that we didn't. She went on to tell me that we should. She said, "When you go through the trouble of packing up your laptop and coming down here, only to discover that you keep getting bumped off of the WI-fi. Then, you don't have your Ethernet cable. It would really help if you had those. That is my suggestion!"

All I said was okay. I was thinking, "Why, so that those can get stolen?"

No cell phone yesterday

I wasn't able to post about this nonsense, because I left my cell phone in my Mom's car yesterday.

1. A woman calls and says that she wants to read a sentence to me to see which
tense I think she should use. I don't remember the exact sentence, but she was
addressing two people. She wanted to say something to the effect of, "I wish to
send blessings your ways." I told her that the use of way in the singular
sounded better. We went back and forth for a minute, until she finally said,
" I want to know what the correct use of the word in this sentence is!" I told her, "I don't have a degree in English Literature, nor have
I ever taught an English class. Since you are the one composing and sending the
letter, you need to use whatever you feel comfortable with." She then says, "Is
there someone else there who can give me the correct usage of the word?" I put
her on hold and spoke with two of my co-workers. When the other librarian went
to answer the call, she had hung up.

2. A patron rushed up to the reference desk yelling that he needed help with the
computer. One of the lazy librarians who was leaving the desk said, " Oh, my
co-worker will be glad to help you(me.") I followed the patron to his assigned
computer. He stood there and looked at me like, "What are you going to do now!"
I told him to log onto the computer. As he was logging on he said, " I just want
to know how to access my e-mail." The box appeared where you chose which
you want to use. As I was telling the man to click the start button, he opened
up the adobe program. I told him that wasn't the right program. He turned and
yelled, "I HAVE A FLASHDRIVE AND I WANT TO USE IT." That was the point where I
began walking away. The patron said, as I was walking back toward the reference
desk, "AREN'T YOU GOING TO HELP ME?" I said, "I was, until you yelled at me
and told me WHAT TO DO!"

Ummm NO!

A patron asked me if we are open on January 1st. When I said, "No," the patron said, "Well I guess it's good that y'all get a day off."

At first, I thought I was being sensitive

My co-worker then confirmed what I believed to be true.

It began a few months ago, I don't know why he picked me, but he has. This old man wobbled to the desk and just stood in front of me. I was in the middle of helping a patron, so I walked away in order to help the patron retrieve a book. When I returned to the desk, the man was still standing in the same spot. My co-worker was sitting on the opposite end of the desk doing nothing.

I finally asked, "Did you need something?" He said, "YEAH, I NEED SOMETHING!" He didn't elaborate. My co-worker finally recovered from whatever fog she was in and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, can I help you?" She did this because I was still helping the first patron.

He has done other little things to me since, but I can't remember each one. What stands out the most in my mind is how he will just stand in front of me and stare when I'm at the reference desk.

Yesterday, he returned the reference desk copy of the K.ing J.ames version of the B.ible. After I returned his identification to him, he asked me, "Do you believe in J.esus?" I said, "Un huh." I was thinking, "Of course I do, that is what has kept me from telling you off!"

Back to today. This same man approached me at the reference desk and said, "THE WORD!" I asked, "Did you want the B.ible?" He said, "Same difference, B.ible, word, whatever." I then said, "If you want the B.ible, you need to ask for it by the correct name."

When he left, I told my co-worked that the patron is always messing with me. My co-worker said, "I noticed that, he has always approached me and asked for the K.ing J.ames B.ible. For whatever reason, he just doesn't like you."

I have now decided that if possilbe, I will just walk away from the desk whenever I see that patron wobbling toward me."

It's been raining and cold

Well, cold to us is anything below 50 degrees. It's been in the 40's. When it's raining and or cold, the library fills up. About 12;30p.m., it almost looked as if it was standing room only on the floor. And the smells, I wanted to turn around and return to the staff area.

Seen and heard at the reference desk:

I saw a man walk past and it seemed as if he was digging for gold with his
pinkie finger(in his nose.) What made this sight ultra scary is that he had
on a chef's jacket.

I helped a patron and then she said to me, " You are one of my favorite
librarians, because you shush people when they get noisy." I said, "Thank
you, I think."

Being unable to recognize that you're referring to yourself

Sunday afternoon, OED man approached the reference desk and began asking my co-worker to look up words and his new obsession of phrases.

I walked away from the desk to assist a patron in locating a book. Upon my return to the reference desk, my co-worker says to me, "OED said, if we created a new department, just for the crazy people, there wouldn't be any patrons in our department." I asked my co-worker, "Is he including himself in the proposed new department?"

Sometimes you just need to step away

This happened to one of my co-workers yesterday, and he said that I should write about it here.


One of our semi-regulars approached my co-worker at the reference desk and asked, "CAN YOU HELP ME FIND A BOOK THAT WILL TELL ME HOW TO MAKE MY BEST FRIEND TURN G.AY!"

My co-workers response, "YOU NEED TO JUST GO AWAY NOW!!!!" My co-worked then walked away from the reference desk and came into the staff area. He said that he just needed to take a moment away from the desk to just breath.

Background info on the patron:

For about 3 months, he rolled into the library on a very fancy motorized chair. He would just use the computers to type about 10 signs. He would then tape the signs to the back of his chair. He would do this everyday. I was curious, so one day, I read a portion of the signs. They said, "I am looking for my boyfriend. He helps me do everything." The signs went on to describe his boyfriend in detail.

One day he just stopped. From that point on, he had a laptop whenever he came into the library. I forgot to add that he was always very dirty, head to toe.

He hadn't been in here for quite a while, and then I noticed him again, last week. He is a little cleaner, hair cut, motorized chair gone. He now has an old school wheelchair.

I didn't know it was possible

Yesterday, I saw a patron maintain his pimp stroll while using a cane. He had a mean lean to the left. The cane was in the right hand. He also did a glide/shuffle.

Today, I have angered a co-worker. It wasn't my intention. She just assumed that I would feel sympathy for her and I don't. She has gotten away with not working the schedule that she agreed to when she was hired. This has gone on for more than 6 months. She complained to me because the management has informed her that she must return to her Sunday work schedule. Her whine, "I WON'T HAVE TWO DAYS OFF IN A ROW ANYMORE!"

My reply, "I didn't have 2 days in a row off for 5 years, and I was working 3 different jobs!"

No policy against it exists, so it is allowed

This is what my supervisor told me. We were at the reference desk together. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a man at one of the teen computers, zip lock bag in hand. He had rolling papers in the other hand that he had just lined. As I observed him rolling the joi.nt, I mentioned it to my boss, and he said, "Since there isn't a policy against a patron rolling a joint, it is allowed!"

So I now know that it is okay for folks to sit in the open and roll joints inside the library.

True Crime readers scare me!!!!!!

A petite woman approached me at the reference desk. She specifically bypassed my co-worker to get to me. Her hair was disheveled, her skin was dirty, she had glasses with coke bottle lenses, they were dirty and lopsided.

She asked, "Do you have any books on KIL.LERS."

I looked at her oddly. She then said, "You know, like Scott Peters.on, or Charles Man.son."

I asked, "Do you want one about Scott, or Charles?"

She said, " I want a book about each of them."

As I was telling her what books were available, she said, "And do you have a book about SER.IAL KIL.LERS?"

I stopped typing and looked at her. She then said, "I'm studying them."

I took her to the section and pulled the books myself. She told me as I was walking away, "I'm just going to study the books in here." I said, "Uh huh," and kept walking.

When I returned to the desk, I relayed the interaction to my co-worker. He said, "Yeah, she's studying those books so she can learn how to be a ser.ial kill.er."

In my experience, giving a man a fish will only lead to

him asking you to cook it and plan the rest of the meal while you're at it.

Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m(I was off the desk at 5 p.m.,) a man approached the desk and asked me for hospital statistics. I removed the American Hosp.ital Statisti.cs handbook off the shelf. I opened the book to the Californ.ia hospit.al statist.ics page. I showed the information to the man. He said, "Oh, I want hospital statistics for A.frica."

I searched to see if we might have a book in our collection with that information. We didn't, so I then searched the internet. I found some statistics for a children's hospital in S.outh Africa. I printed this and showed it to the man. He said, "I want statistics for hospitals in West Africa." I searched a bit more and didn't find anything and told the man so. He then said, "I want statistics on medical schools in Africa."

My search resulted in a list of medical schools in S.outh A.frica. I showed this to the man and he said, "I want to know the costs to build a school in Africa."

This time, I found information on a foundation that provides grants for the building of elementary schools in A.frica. I also found a proposal for the building of an elementary school in S.outh A.frica. The proposal also included the cost of building a dormatory. I gave all of this information to the man and he said, " I want to know the cost of building a medical school in W.est A.frica. My brother wants to build a medical school for the area where I am from. All of the funding will come from A.merica." By this time, I had given the man 25 minutes of my time. I told him that he needed to take the information that I gave him and do further research.

He then said, "What about salaries? I need to know how much it will cost to pay the instructors." I told him that he would have to look at the websites for medical schools in S.outh A.frica and see what they are offering as salary and then make an educated guess." He then realized that I was done with him and said, "Well I guess this will have to do."

Pleasantly Surprised

This morning, as I exited the staff area, I noticed a man sitting in front of a computer terminal with his hands raised.
This was such an unusual appearance. I looked at the scream while walking toward the staff elevator. The man was praying. He was watching an online ministry and he was praying with the minister.
My joy at seeing someone in one of the perv seats doing something positive was short lived.
The closer I got to the elevator, I was able to get a glimpse of the usual filth being watched online.

They got me.........I received a summons.......

The summons was for JURY DUTY! On Wednesday, the defense attorney dismissed me from jury duty.

Today, one of my co-workers informed me that Mr. Booty Shorts was able to slip past security because he was performing a "presto chango" in the restroom, once on his designated floor.

Animals in the library

I'm sure that everyone remembers the rule that says, Only Service Animals Are Allowed.
Well, I work for a "pu.nk" system. Everyone is allowed to bring their animal into the library. Security is supposed to ask if it's a "companion" animal, and the patron is supposed to show proof of such.

Management is so afraid of the possible lawsuits, so all animals are allowed to enter the building.

Yesterday, an elderly woman approached me at the reference desk and asked, "Are dogs allowed in the library?"

I told her, "They do allow them in here."

She then stated that the dog whom the owner had placed on a chair near her, was causing her to cough. Because of management, the only solution I could offer was to put her on another computer away from the animal.

Patrons/Computers@the Public Library

Thankfully, I left work @ 3:00 p.m. this past Thursday and I won't return until Wednesday November 12th.

A brother man approached me at the reference desk and said, "I reserved the computer for 2 o'clock, and it won't allow me to log-in."

I said, while looking at the time on my computer, "You need to wait....." He cut me off and said, "IT'S AFTER 2 p.m., AND THE COMPUTER WON'T LET ME LOG ON!"

I followed him to the computer terminal that he was complaining about. Low and behold, the internet was up and I told him, "All you need to do is click the start icon."

He sat down at the computer, turned to me and said, "It must have just been slow."

I turned and walked away, thinking,"Didn't I say that you needed to wait."

10 minutes later, brother man approached me again. He said, "I am trying to apply for a job online and it's saying that it doesn't recognize my address."

Once again, I followed him back to his terminal. He explained to me that he had just input his address and it's not being recognized. I looked at the screen, and saw that he had put too much information in line 1 of the address (He had typed his complete address in line 1 and continued to type everything else in the appropriate boxes.)

I told him to try removing the extra information from line 1. He did so. A message appeared. It said that he had already submitted an application and he couldn't submit another one until 11/16/2008.

I returned to the desk.

Another 5 minutes pass and brother man approached the desk again, but this time he goes over to my co-worker and whispers what happened each time he asked me for help. He told my co-worker that he didnt' understand why I didnt' stay over there and wait for him to finish. I had already told my co-worker what happened each time I went back there to help him.

My co-worker told the patron, "It isn't our job to assist you with whatever you are working on. We can help you if there is a problem with the computer, but we are supposed to be available for desk reference questions. One on one computer assistance is not something that librarians are allowed to do.

He then asks her if she will help him and says loudly, "I JUST DON'T WANT HER HELPING ME AGAIN." As they are walking toward the computer terminal, he said, "I am not computer illiterate!"

When my co-worker returned to the desk, she said, "He wanted to know why he couldn't access a web page. He didn't add .com in the address bar."

I told her, "Yet, he said that he wasn't computer illiterate!"

To possess both rudeness and laziness

I returned for the page desk and my co-worker was on the telephone. From what I could piece together, it was a reference call and she decided that the caller had been transferred to the wrong department.

My co-worker transferred the call(or so she thought,)turned to me and said, "The light is still blinking. Do you have someone on hold?" I told her no and continued to read the newspaper online.

She picked up the receiver and said, "WHO IS THIS?" She then began speaking to the person on the other line about the reference call and why the information desk staff should have more training.

Once she finished her conversation, she tells me, "That was the floor manager from upstairs. I have never met her, but she knew exactly who I was when I picked up the receiver. I can't recall ever even speaking with her on the telephone. How could she know me by voice?"

I looked at her, turned my head, and continued reading the online newspaper. If I had said all of the things running through my mind as possible answers, I would have hurt her feelings permanently.

1. There are three rude librarians in our department. 1 isn't here
today and the other has an accent.
2. You are known throughout the building for pointing out the flaws in
others, but never admiting yours.
3. A prime example is that you didn't successfully transfer that call.
Instead of admitting that you did something wrong, you said that the
patron must have hung up.

All prepared and everything

This week, I was prepared to capture those unbelievable moments with my miniature digital camera. I didn't see any of the outlandish folks.

I also found out that security banned the booty short shim from the last post.

Sights to behold

I am trying to devise a creative way in which I can capture the images that I see. There are days when I see some things that amaze me.

Wednesday before last, I saw a man walking the floor, he had on a burgundy men's t-shirt, a burgundy, pink, and brown ruffled skirt with a white lace trim. Rounding out his ensemble were pink tub socks and brown hiking boots. The highlight of my evening was the man standing next to the reference desk on the side that I was sitting, and posing. If I moved, he moved.

When my supervisor saw what was going on, he told me, "Consider yourself blessed!"

This past Thursday, I got to see what I had only heard about. A man in a woman's spaghetti strapped spandex tank top, and denim booty shorts. They looked as if he had cut them himself. His butt cheeks were exposed. The last time that he was on our floor in that attire, a supervisor approached him and told him that he was dressed inappropriately. He told the supervisor to, stay out of his business.

Do they really?

This past Sunday 20 minutes before closing, a woman aproached me at the ref desk.
She was complaining that there was a man in the L.G. Center (where she was reading) talking kind of loud to himself and just acting strange. The kicker...

She said,"I realize some people come here and stay all day everyday, because they need someplace to go. There were other people in there, but they left because of that guy."

I looked at the clock and thanked her for telling me. By the time she finished, it was 15 minutes before closing. I told her that we are quite familiar with the guy, and so is security.

Because of the time, I knew that calling security would be a waste of time. I also knew that the guy would be leaving the building within 5 minutes.

What all of the staff knows about the man who"lives" in the center is that.....
1.He thinks that the center is
only for his use.
2.He makes funny noises and
talks to himself in the hope
that he will cause others to
leave the center.
3.Security makes him leave all
of the time.
What I know about the woman who complained is that she comes here everyday and stays all day!

Incompatible activities

We the employees of this great institution have to sign an agreement that we have read this new revised policy that goes into effect Monday October 6, 2008. It basically says that we cannot use the department computers for anything that isn't work related.

My post may be even fewer and far in between. I don't feel like posting in the morning and by the time I get home in the evening, I am not thinking about the computer. I sit in front of a computer all day long, so I rarely use the one at home. I guess this new policy means that I will have to make the effort from now on.

Seen today at 4:20 p.m.

An elderly man with earplugs in both ears, yelling questions to me. As he walked away, my co-worker asked, "Why does he have plugs in his ears, if he wants to speak with others and ask questions?" I told her that I had no clue.

The man returned again, because he obviously didn't hear me clearly. He wanted to add money to his copy card. Instead of inserting his card and then adding the money, he simply put money in the machine. He kept asking me what the problem was. As first, I thought the card wasn't working because he didn't have enough money. He assured me that he added the correct amount of money to his card. I walked over to the copy machine and saw that he had in fact put the correct amount of money in the machine, but since he never put his copy card in, the money was still in the machine.

I removed the money, then inserted the copy card and added the money to the card.

When I returned to the desk, my coworker was shaking her head and laughing.

Typical telephone reference calls

"Hello, I graduated from college, can you tell me how many units I have?". My co-worker was stunned into silence for a few seconds.

"Yeah, I have a press release and I want to know if someone can tell me whether or not I should use one of the sentences."

"Is noseless a word?" I gave the answer. 2nd question..
" How do you spell Florence Night.engale's last name because it's not spelled like the bird.--This patron always calls with these crossword like questions.

"Why do I have to go into the library to read a reference book? Why can't you just look up what I need and read me the answers over the telephone.

There is always a telephone reference that annoys us.

What does it look like to you?

To ward off harrassment or having to say,"I'm not interested at ALL;" I usually wear this ring on my left ring finger. Last week, a man I had been helped for a minute (who stared me up and down the whole time,) asked me, "So, are you married."

It is so bad, that I keep the set in my wallet at all times.


This is the one I wear whenever I have on white gold accessories. Fortunately/Unfortunately, my ex-boyfriend pops in on my job enough for this to be believeable. We can usually be seen arguing.

Don't Let them get to you!

That is what a patron said to me this past Sunday. I had been on the desk a little over an hour. I was scheduled to be at the reference desk for two hours straight. We are usually scheduled for desk duty every other hour. It was kind of brutal that day.

The patron who said those words to me comes into the library almost everyday. Whenever I see him, he always has a huge smile on his face. He is able to walk with the aid of crutches.

When I saw him, I smiled as usual, but immediately afterward, I continued relaying to my co-worker what had just happened. I guess he heard the frustration in my voice.

Monday afternoon, while at the reference desk, the same man approached me at the reference desk and I began laughing. He said, "I just wanted to see how you're feeling today." I told him that I was laughing because I was remembering what he told me the day before.

Are you saying that you watch me?

As I pulled into a parking space Sunday morning, I noticed a man standing in a nearby doorway. I proceeded to park my car and gather my belongings. Once I exited the car, the man said, "WHY DO YOU AlWAYS LOOK SO MAD?". I was thinking, "Because I don't appreciate someone watching my every action". My actual response was, "It's because I don't feel like doing what I have to do!". I didn't wait for a response, I kept it moving.

Caught

I heard something that sounded like paper being torn. I looked to my right and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted one of our regulars tearing a page from a reference book. He immediately rushed to the opposite side of the table so that his next actions were not in full view of the reference desk.

I walked over to the patron and said, "Tearing pages out of our books is not allowed."

The patron gave me a very odd look, because the page he had torn was blank.

I then said, "Even if the page is blank, you are not to remove it from a book!"

The patron said, "Oh, you're not."

I said, "NO" and walked back to the reference desk. Lucky for me and not so lucky for the patron. Two floor supervisors just so happened to be at the desk. I told them of the incident. They decided that the rules would be followed and both supervisors would speak to the patron with a security guard present.

Homey stuck to his story and said, "The page is blank, what's the problem?"

They explained to the patron that he had actually destroyed library property.

The security guard took the patron away. A formal incident report was filed and the patron has been banned from all branch libraries in our system for 90 days.

I've only been at the reference desk for 40 minutes

I am done for the day. A Russ*an chick just came to the desk looking for Confessions of A Video Vi*en and or The Vi*en Diaries.

Don't you just love your job

That's what a patron asked me today. What he actually said was........


"Don"t you just love your job? It just seems like so much fun."

I said, "Um, no!"

Patron: "Why not?"

Me: "It's actually a mixture between a halfway house and a homeless shelter."

Yesterday's funny

It came from the public elevator area. I know the voice I heard was that of a woman, but I can't tell you if she was on a cellular telephone or speaking with a live person.

This is what I heard:

I'M CRAZY!!!!! BIT*H, YOU THE ONE ON MEDICATION!!!!!

I couldn't help myself, I just laughed so hard. My supervisor, on the other hand, ran over there to see if he could defuse the situation. By the time he got there, the woman was in the elevator and you could still hear the conversation. We actually heard it all the way down to the first floor.

The incident that caused my need to leave the bldg

Background informaiton on my co-worker.

This is a becky in her fifties. She only works 20 hrs. per week period.
She complains at her desk, while at the reference desk, and anyplace else
where she has an audience.
She complains about work, having to commute to work, her house, her property
taxes, the patrons, if she has to work extra time on the reference desk.

I hadn't been assigned to work with this woman on the reference desk for
months. Why you ask, because I complained about her not doing her job while
at the reference desk.

This past Monday, we were scheduled to work the reference desk together for the 11-12 hour. For the first 30 minutes, one of our regulars sat at one of the laptop tables and held a LOUD conversation on his cellular telephone. He was so loud, that I heard him clearly. Since he was sitting on her side of the room, I tried not to say anything to him or her.

After 20 minutes, I left the desk. I went in the back to rant to another co-worker(his desk is in front of hers.) I returned to the reference desk and sat through 10 more minutes of the guy talking on the cell phone and my co-worker giving patrons incorrect information.

I finally said, while getting up from my seat and walking over to wear the guy was, "YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN HEAR HIM AND I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU HAVEN'T SAID ANYTHING!"When I reached the guy, he of course had ended his call(He ended it the minute he saw me get up.) I told him,"YOU KNOW BETTER!" When I returned to the desk, this LAZY WOMAN said, "You know, you're much younger than me, so of course you heard him." I simply said, "If I could hear his whole conversation clearly, I know that you heard him." I saw this woman look at dude when he first began his conversation, they made eye contact and she turned her head.

She tried to make small talk with me after that, but I simply ignored her.

A glimpse at what management can and will do

Sally Stern-Hamilton’s controversial book, The Library Diaries, written under the pseudonym Ann Miketa, resulted in her termination July 25 as a Mason County (Mich.) District Library employee after 15 years on the job. Written in the first person and set in what she calls the Lake Michigan town of Denialville, the book, produced by print-on-demand publisher PublishAmerica, is a series of fictional vignettes about mostly unsavory characters encountered daily at the library....
Ludington (Mich.) Daily News, Aug. 9

This is one of my fears of what can happen while working in the library.


Police continue to look for a man suspected of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in the restroom of the Riverview branch of the St. Paul (Minn.) Public Library August 13. Police say the man talked to the girl briefly before following her into a restroom in the basement. Officers obtained a search warrant for the library’s computers to see whether any of the users were sex offenders or matched the suspect’s description....
St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, Aug. 15

I needed to leave the building today

I let a co-worker get to me today. I got so irritated that I yelled at my co-worker while we were at the reference desk. I sent my supervisor an e-mail about the incident. When I saw him afterward, I just told him that I need to leave for a while. I decided to pick-up my lunch from the grocery store.

It's 7 blocks away, but it takes up to a 1/2 hour on public transportation each way. So I decided to take the underground train after waiting for 10 minutes at the island amongst cigarette smoke from either side of me. I thought, "I'll just go underground, at least they aren't allowed to smoke there."

The ride back is what reminded me of where I work. I thought that I would wait for the street car. I first notice the Bla*k Pa*es guy(bla*k pimp history) standing a little ways down on the island. You know how you just feel that someone is staring at you. I turned my head and there he was. That happened a few times, before I decided that I should take the underground train once again.

On my way to the underground entrance, who do I see sitting on the sidewalk bench waiting for the same streetcar: Web*ter's Colleg*ate Di*tionary guy. I thought, "Man, can I ever just leave work and not be reminded of that place!"

Today's most memorable question

Patron: I want the address of the Church of Sa*an in this city.

I googled the church and it had moved to Hel*s Kit*hen in NYC. I told
the patron this and he still wanted the address.

Patron: I read about it in a book and I want the address.

I printed out the article that I found and gave it to him because there
was a line of patrons waiting to be helped.

The We*ster's Collegi*te Di*tionary guy from last Thursday came in today. When I saw him, I turned my head in the opposite direction. I had hoped that he wouldn't approach me.

Sure enough, he came over to me and said, "OH, IT'S YOU AGAIN!! That dictionary isn't over there." I pointed in the direction of where he should go to find a copy of the dictionary. I wasn't taking the time to search today. He tried to tell me how to do my job last week and I wasn't falling for it today.

Today's tidbits

A patron told me,"Truth can be found in Webster* Collegiat* Dictiona*y."

One of the older custodian's approached me at the reference desk and asked me, "What part of California are we in?".

I was stunned. I asked,"What are you talking about?".

He said it again, with clarification. "What part of California are we in, Northern or Southern?"

Things seen, and said over the past few days

Monday
A man walking the floors holding a palm tree branch (almost the length of his
body,) while also holding a stuffed dog above his head and talking to it.

Tuesday

A man approached the reference desk and asked me for a internet pass so that he
could have extra time. I told him no, and was trying to explain this floors
policy regarding the passes. The patron began speaking over me and said,
"The other librarians give them freely."

My response, "I suggest you go ask another librarian."

The patron goes on to say, "It is your arrogance that is preventing you
from giving me a pass."

My response, "No." I proceeded to try to explain our policy. Once again the
patron began to speak over me."

He said, "Maybe the next time you will be kind and change your answer!"

I told him that my answer would remain the same and once again he began to
speak over me. I finally said, "YOU NEED TO ASK ANOTHER LIBRARIAN!"

Today
A patron approached the desk and asked me if I could tell him where he could
find a book. He had the title and author written on a piece of paper.

I told him that I would first have to check the catalog, to see if we have
the book in our collection.

He said, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T HAVE THE BOOK!"

My response: I have to check the catalog in order to determine whether or
not there is a possiblity that we have the book.

He wanted a biography of a particular author. It turned out that the title he
had was for a collection of biographical essays.

He said, " I don't want biographical essays, I want a biography."

I explained that we had a biography on order, but the order had just been
placed at the beginning of this month.

People who lie about their job title/duties irk me

Last Thursday, a new security guard began working here. Unfortunately for me, I already know him. I don't know him in a pleasant way either. For me, first impressions are lasting.

When I worked at the Department of Human Services as an Senior Eligibility Worker, this guy was a security guard. He didn't even last 6 months. His sister was a Security Supervisor and she had secured the job for him. How he and I met: I was calling a client for an appointment. Dude stepped to me and began asking me if I remembered him and he called me by name. He had me convinced that we had met before( this was a job where I kept running into people that I knew.) Before going into the meeting with my client, I really looked at dude; then I looked down at my badge, and I said, "You don't know me, and by pretending to, you will not ever get to know me." I was pissed to the highest point of pistivity. My co-worker who knew dude from way back, stepped to him and told him to get out of my face quickly!

This week, when I came to the reference desk to relieve a co-worker, he was having a conversation with her. Dude knew better than to speak to me( I had seen him when I arrived, and I spoke then.) If I don't like you, me speaking to you once per day is a stretch. Dude walked away when he saw me.

So, my co-worker says to me, "Yeah, he just said that he worked with you at DHS." I told her that he worked there briefly and I told her that we weren't co-workers, he was a security guard. I also told her that dude was fired. She was suprised that we weren't co-workers, because dude made it seem as if we were.

I broke dude down for my co-worker. I told her, " Dude got the security job at DHS through his sister's connections. He was fired because of harrassing the clients and the workers. He now has this job once again gained because of his sister's connections." I told her that it is probably only a matter of time before he loses this one." I think it's funny that since I know the lowdown on dude, he avoids me at all costs. I will only bust him out when I am asked about him. Unlike him, I not trying to tell people that I know him.

On to pages(shelvers) who tell their friends that they do reference work here. A months ago, a guy approached me at the reference desk and asked me if I knew his friend. I told him that I didn't recognize the name. He then told me that the guy worked in reference. I finally punched the name in the staff directory.
It turned out that the guy is a page on another floor.

Last week, I was in the staff elevator with the guy. He introduced himself to me and asked me where I worked. I told him that I worked on the 3rd floor. I then gave him further clarification because when they see an African American, they never think that the person just might be a librarian. The kicker: After I said that I was a librarian, the guy said, "Oh, I just started library school. I hope to be a librarian one day. This was my first semester and I only took online classes." Before I exited the elevator, I told the guy that he probably would become a librarian one day, but he would eventually have to actually sit in a classroom.

I never knew that being enrolled in a program automatically meant that you held the position for which you have to obtain the degree. The Beckies and Kens of the world seem to teach me new lessons everyday.

Internet access

Yes, we have internet access for the public. If you have a library card, you are allowed 1 hour per day on the internet. We also have 15 minute express terminals. You can use the express terminals as much as you like. You aren't required to log onto these terminals. You are required to wait in line. Use of the express terminals is on a first come, first serve basis. With that said, let's move on to today.

A patron was mad because he couldn't download and upgrade for his MP3 player from the computer. I explained to him that the download capacity of the public computers is limited because of security purposes. I also explained that yes, downloading music onto an MP3 player is possible, but upgrades aren't. Needless to say, the patron was heated.

Another patron got mad because he was limited on the amount of altering he could do on a document that he had saved on his flash drive. Once again, I tried to explain that services are limited.

With public access computers comes abuse. It is hard to explain to patrons that the computers wear out more frequently. The IT department is slowly replacing the public computer in all branches in this system. Because of the upgrade, IT has asked that we not call them about the day to day problems. Explaining that a solution to the problem will not be immediate can sometimes cause an outburst.

Two posts in one day

I was at the reference desk for two hours straight.

1. A woman approached the desk and says, "Have the rules changed at the library? The last time I was here, I thought you still couldn't eat in the library."

I asked her, "Did you just see someone eating?"

She said, " There is a whole table eating over there."

I walk over to the area she indicated. Oh boy, are they eating. They had an open package of generic o*eo cookies, sandwiches, and sodas. I informed them that eating wasn't allowed in the library. They said in unison, "Oh, okay. Just let me finish this." I watched them finish what they had in their hands and grab even more.

I went back to the reference desk and called security. I also called the lirarian at the international desk. I told her, "Maybe if you go over and explain to them why they can't eat in the library, they will understand."

She went over there, spoke with them, and they began packing up their goodies.

2. All of the ADA Computers were in use. Well a gentleman wanted to use a computer right away. He didn't want to wait. My boss offered to give him a temporary pass. He didn't want a temporary pass because they are only good for one hour. He said, " You can use the ADA computers for two hours, you can't give me two passess?" The ADA librarian finally gave in and agreed to give him two passess.

I told my boss,"Now that he has been allowed two passess, he will no longer settle for one."

3. A guy bypassed my boss to ask me a question. I didn't realize until I began
helping him, that I have helped him before. Why does this man think that his search in anyway would make anyone attracted to him?

He wanted books on mind control. He asked, "What can I do if the book is on the
HOLDSHELF?" I began showing him how to locate alternative sources for the books
that he wanted. As I was searching on the computer, dude was looking me up and
down, just giving me the creeps. After I showed him how he could check out a
book from another library, he said, "I think that I am just going to finish
reading the book that I have right here!"

First of all, why would you even think that I might want someone who is seeking instruction on how to control the mind of another?

Today's Message

My first hour on the reference desk. There is a patron standing near a bank of internet access computers and he is telling everyone who walks in his general direction the rules for unassigned computer use.

Once the time lasped for the person who was assigned the computer where he was standing, he yelled a play by play for another patron. He was telling the others when they could begin their attempt to log onto the computer. He also let them know at which point he was successfully logged onto the computer.

As I was walking toward the entrance this morning.......

One of the toothless regulars said, " BACK TO THE HAPPY HAPPY PLACE I SEE!" I said, " Oh yeah( in dull tone.)"

It's 12:55 p.m.

I was walking toward the reference desk. The librarian who I was replacing said as she was walking by, "They are all here today!"

I still held out some glimmer of hope that just maybe, she might be wrong. Surely they decided that the library wasn't the place to be. There's Farmer's Market today, couldn't they loiter there and beg for food.

No such luck, all were here.

At 4:10 p.m., while I was helping a patron search for some books, a man (Ken) stood in front of my face an demanded that I tell the people using the computer near him to SHUT UP!!! I told the man that I was helping a patron and I would go near him when I was done.

When I was done, I looked where he was and didn't hear or see anything unusual. About 4:20 p.m., the same man walked past me and said, "THE SAME PEOPLE ARE STILL TALKING LOUDLY, BUT I GUESS THAT I JUST WON'T USE A COMPUTER TODAY!!!"

As I was leaving the reference desk yesterday evening

I saw two pre-teens posing and taking camera phone shots........This was being done while they were awaiting their scheduled time on the computer.

Another odd thing that happened yesterday.

We have a regular who is obsessed with the Oxford English Dictionary. He calls as soon as we open and asks us to look up words and give him the etymology. They are never big or difficult words. We have learned to piece the words together and get an idea of what is bothering him that day, because he calls all day long. He also comes in daily to look the same words that he called us about up himself.

When he approached me yesterday, he said, " I have something different to ask you and it's not about OED." I said without even looking up from the computer, "That's because you've probably already looked up something and called for clarification!" He laughed, and went on to ask me, "I want to write a murderer, can you find the correspondence information for me?"

He didn't have a name, but the guy was featured on an episode of dat*line. I don't remember the name. I should have typed this yesterday. The guy and two or three others had murdered their math teacher when they were teenagers. I found the information, printed it out and gave it to him. He was so happy, it was weird.

I can't undestand this.....just why

Walking toward the entrance to the building this morning, I noticed one of the security guards posted near a tree. He was on his cell phone, he is always talking on his cell phone. Whenever I was past him and hear bits of the conversation, it seems as if it's an intimate conversation.

Now over the past month, I learned that his main squeeze works on my floor. I always wondered why he came up here to sit with her every morning. So get this, they live together, they work in the same building. The talking on the telephone constantly all day. He whispers, she talks loud enough for you to hear exactly what she is saying when walking past the aisle where she sits.

The is the same woman who stinks. Whenever I make the mistake of entering the bathroom after her, my first thought always is, "she should incorporate more water into her diet."

Back to what I can't understand......What is so important that you have to talk throughout the day on the telephone......Each and every break is spent together.

Last Thursday.......

Two men were speaking loudly, I approached them and asked that they lower their voices. This knee grow waved me off and told me that he was speaking in a low voice( I give folks 2 times to act up before I call security.)

I walked back to the reference desk and called for security to send someone to walk the floor. Meanwhile, the two men kept talking loudly. I finally saw a security guard on the floor and I approached the men again.

This time, dude who was speaking the loudest said, "THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE ANY POWER!" My response, "I guess you must really want to leave the building!" Dude then turns to me and says, "I AM LEAVING!!!"

I walked to the end of the table where they were sitting and waited for dude to leave. This knee grow walked pass me as close as he could without touching me and said while looking at my badge, "YOU DON'T EVEN WORK HERE!"

At that point, the security guard begain walking towards me. All I did was point to the individual who had been giving me problems.

The guard returned to the floor 5 minutes later to inform me that it was the same guy that he had told to lower his voice when he entered the building. They had words, and the guard ended up telling him, "If I have to tell you to lower your voice again, YOU WILL BE LEAVING THE BUILDING FOR THE DAY!" He said that when he entered the elevator, he asked dude what happpened. He said that dude told him, "She said that I was talking too loud." The guard said that he then told him, "You probably were, so you know that you have to leave." The guard then escorted him out of the building.

The patron's friend, who was sitting across from him during the entire time, then approached the desk and said, "I'm looking for my friend, did you see where he went?"

I told him that his friend had to leave the building. He proceeded to walk the floor, "looking for his friend."

I was dismissed by a patron today!

A elderly patron sat down at an internet computer near the reference desk. I kept hearring sh*t, followed by mumbling.
Finally, after 10 minutes of cursing and mumbling at the terminal; the man came to the desk and told me that he wanted another computer.
I asked him what was wrong? He told me that the compuer just wouldn't act right. He said that the internet window wouldn't open.
I went to his terminal and saw that the internet was working just fine. He had reduced the size of the window and opened the sidebar search option. I closed the sidebar, and enlarged the window.
I asked him where he was trying to go,and he told me his e-mail.
I was finally able to get the e-mail provider information out of him.
I typed the ya*oo in the bowser. I was trying to wait and make sure that the page loaded, but.....The old geezer sat down in front of the terminal and told me....."OKAY, YOU CAN GO NOW!!!"

When Librarians meet...

Last weekend, I attended the annual librarian's convention. It was held in Southern California and one of my friends invited me to meet her there and share her room.

The running joke all weekend was how easy it was to spot the librarians. Even if they weren't carrying the bright orange bag that was given to us upon registration.

The bulk of the women dress as if they shop from the Chic*s catalog. The ones who try to dress up, look like they have added granny pumps to a Dres* Bar* special edition suit. Let's not forget to include the younger librarians who think they can now be a part of the cool kids club. You might see a lot of tats, there may even be a few sleeves sprinkled in here and there. Amongst them will be those dressed in goth attire, skater gear, or the left over grunge look.

Where do I fit in, fortunately for me, none of the above. Upon inspection at the convention, I no longer get upset when a patron approaches me at the reference desk and asks me if I am a reference librarian.

I even met a woman this past weekend who said, " I am thankfuly that you don't resemble what is considered the norm for a librarian."

I return to work only to find.....

The support staff placed a moldy book on my desk for me to decide what to do with it. I would've taken a picture, but I was trying to get it off my desk as soon as possible.

I was in a rush.......

I had been in a meeting from 9:00 a.m. until about 1:05 p.m. I was scheduled to be on the reference desk at 2:00 p.m. I wanted to eat lunch. I decided to purchase a bag of chips from Wal*reens, and a sandwich from Sub*ay. Everything was going well, until the woman ahead of me began to order. She was ordering 7 sandwiches, each one,a special order. I finally left the shop at 1:35 p.m. I was trying to rush back to work...........

1st obstacle: 5 feet from the Su*way, a man shook an empty cup at me and demanded,
"GIVE ME SOME MONEY!!!"

I said while shaking my head, " NO!"

2nd obstacle: Not 5 feet from the first obstacle. A man came walking toward me
fast. He had on a shirt that was straining to be set free. His
sweatpants waistband was stretched, almost to the breaking point.
His stomach was wedged in between the shirt and the pants. He had
his hand outstretched while walking toward me.

He said, " BUY ME A SU*WAYSANDWICH!!!"

I said, "Um, NO(while chringing at the same time!)

You can miss a lot in the span of two days

June 13th:
A father/son duo beat a man in the mens restroom. The victim's crime---he refused to give up his i*od. The father escaped and left his son to take the fall.
More lice were detected on the 5th floor. I guess the lice are "moving on up."

June 14th:
A woman reported that she had to break a chair leg and use it to defend herself. It has been said that she used the chair leg to beat a male paton in the head. The woman said she feared for her life and had to defend herself. The alledged attacker wasn't ever captured. The bloody chair leg can be seen in the security office.

Black Star Power

There was a woman walking into the building in front of me this morning. I did notice that she had on new Ba*y P*at Jeans,a red short sleeved jacket, with some kind of red shirt. What threw me off, was the busted slingback flats. I remembered where I was, and kept it moving.

The above mentioned woman, stopped to greet one of the security guards and proceeded to walk toward the elevators.

As I was walking to toward the elevators, I said a silent prayer that I would have the luxury of an empty car. No such luck. The Lady in red spotted the same elevator that I had my eye on. Behind her, followed three very strange looking and smelling patrons.

So, I entered the elevator, pressed the button for my floor and proceeded to wait for the car to move.

What it is that I saw out of the corner of my eye ( because the side of my face was burning,) ol' girl was staring at me hard. She was checking me from head to toe. She was still staring when I exited the elevator. She saw my badge, so she knew that I work here. What was the problem you might ask, my outfit looks better than old girl without even trying. Chocolate Gold 2" Hoops, Chocolate Brown Scoop Neck Top, Wide Leg Jeans, Burberry Wedge Thong Espadrills, Brown Marc Jacobs Hobo, Brown Marc Jacobs shades, last but not least my hair is a hot red curly fro. If looks could freeze frame, that would have been me forevevr stuck in the public elevator #2.

It has taken 10 days since they were first detected, but...........

To All Main Staff:

As part of lice cleanup, IT staff is at this moment removing computers from the tables on the fourth floor where lice were sighted.

To be prudent, IT staff will don white tyvek body suits and gloves, since they will have to work closely around the tables. I am informing you of this to avoid any concerns that the presence of staff in tyvek suits indicates a toxic spill or other chemical emergency. It does not! The body suits and gloves are simply a precaution against the possibility of a crawling bug.

Removing the computer equipment will allow our staff and Pestec, our pest control subcontractor, to really saturate the tables with disinfectant. On top of this, Pestec will steam clean the tables this evening after closing. We’ll continue monitoring the area and will let you know as soon as the problem is cleared up.

The computers and related equipment will be bagged and quarantined for a long enough period to ensure that the bugs are dead, before the equipment goes back in service.

Thank you.

What the 4th floor isn't telling

Last week, I learned that a group of public computers on the 4th floor have an infestation of lice.........HOW DID I LEARN OF THIS YOU MIGHT ASK?????

One of the staff members on the 4th floor sent an e-mail to the woman who sits behind me, detailing the problem. My co-worker shared the information with me and I asked her why they hadn't shared that information with the whole building.

Their excuse: They didn't want the whole building in a STATE OF PANICK!!!!!

Today, I learned that one of their managers finally thought to share their problem with the woman who heads the whole library.

Now, the 4th is unavailable to the public.

It's hot here today and that doesn't happen oftern

Hot for my city is 78 degrees. I know that's probably cool for some of you, but it's hot for us. A few weeks ago, when it was in the 90's, one of my co-workers summed the situation for our city up in this manner.

He said, " When it gets hot here, people seem to wear the strangest items of clothing. It may have been in style and cute at one point in time. Since they don't get a chance to wear it often, it has remained in their closet. We see all types of bodies exposed that should not ever see the light of day."

For Example: We have a man who wears swim trunks, a jacket unzipped to the waist(chest exposed,) knee high tube socks and tennis shoes. He will walk around in here all day.

Update: Yesterday's highest temperature was 85 degrees.

Management's response to Ben and his family members

To All Staff:

You may be familiar with Laura Numeroff’s famous children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Well, we have a similar story to tell about our library facilities, but it goes something like this: If you give a mouse a cookie, or the old baloney sandwich you left on your work station, the Doritos in your desk drawer, the pizza crust in the staff kitchen sink, or the leftover cake from the staff party, the mouse will inform all his or her mousie friends, who will all move into your office space, eat the food, and have large mousie families. At which point there will probably be a lot of mice, and a lot of staff “Eeeeking!” Followed by phone calls to Custodial and Engineering.

The only reason mice enter libraries is to eat. Staff have not observed mice reading or using computers yet.

What You Can Do:
1. Keep ALL your food in HARD containers. No exceptions. Mice will eat right through plastic bags. Hard plastic Tupperware containers will work, metal is best, and tight lids that keep odors in are good.
2. Do NOT leave open food in your desk drawers. The mice will get in there.
3. Be sure to clean up after staff parties, do not leave food out at night.
4. Wipe down counters and sinks in staff kitchen areas.
5. Clean microwaves and toasters!
6. If you see a food mess that is too much to deal with, please notify your custodian or call the custodial office for clean up at 4376, or 4377.
7. If you notice a recurring problem area, please also file a reqform with Custodial on Staffnet.
8. Do report all mouse sightings.

What Facilities Does:
1. Engineering and Custodial keep a written log of phone calls, emails, and reqforms regarding mice.
2. The above problems are reported to the City approved pest control contractor, Pestec.
3. Pestec services the Main weekly, or more frequently when required, and 190 and branches as needed, plus spot checks at all facilities to look for undetected activity.
4. Custodial has redeployed custodians to increase the amount of trash picked up before closing.
5. Custodial has also increased efforts to tidy problem areas, including the Main trash compactor.
6. We do our best to respond to your requests for pest service, and we value your suggestions in controlling this problem.


FYI -The City has legislation requiring Integrated Pest Management (which Pestec conforms to). The legislation is the CITY AND COUNTY ENVIRONMENT CODE Codified through Ord. No. 52-08, File Number 071672, approved March 21, 2008.

Facilities Director

I've been adopted

One of the custodians who regularly services our floor has decided to make me his new friend.

Last week, I had a bag of cookies on my desk( I had made some Macadamia Chocolate Chip cookies,) and he spied them as he was emptying the recycle cans. He said(not asked,) "LET ME HAVE ONE OF THOSE!" I said, "They could be NASTY!" He said, "I trust you, you're clean!" Yes, the cookies were good, but I just couldn't believe that he asked for one. I only had two left, so he proceeded to eat the one I gave him at my desk.

This afternoon, he entered through the door near my cubicle. He said, "I guess that I should look at those bathrooms." I said, "Yeah, they're probably nasty right about now." He then said, "I can't believe some people go days with out cleaning the bathrooms. I am going to start taking pictures." I said, "Put them on BLAST!" His response was, "I'm going to put the pictures on the internet!"

Well, well, well

I arrived to work this past Sunday morning to find two more book trucks filled with dirty old tired books. The reason for my new blessing was tucked away in the office e-mail. Our floor manager forwarded the minutes from last week's manager's meeting.

Our dear old floor manager told a big one. He announced in the May 21st meeting that our floor had finished processing all of the books in storage. You see, the dear old man is retiring next month and he doesn't anyone to talk about the shape he left this department in. Needless to say, it means that he is pushing work on us without warning.

When I saw the additional trucks, I said, "They could have just thrown these books out!" Spines were gone, broken, and torn badly, beyond repair. The pages were all shades of gray, some even boderline black(you know what that means.)