tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35240756948424883262011-04-21T14:38:21.656-04:00Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.comBlogger451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-23769959372224871842009-03-21T10:36:00.003-04:002009-03-21T10:44:12.560-04:00

This morning a staff member reported someone sleeping behind the A/C units when she came in the building. I came in a different way so I didn't see him myself. I felt bad but called the police, mainly on account of the creepy guy we had in the other night exposing himself to young women.After a while I walked around to the back of the building and saw the police car turning around to leave.

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-69059575536497424692009-03-17T20:53:00.003-04:002009-03-17T21:00:36.408-04:00

Today I became aware of a pervy perverson who has been exposing himself to young girls at the library. He sits down next to them at a table and shows them his junk. Of course, by the time I find out about it he's long gone, although I think I know who it is.So we called the police just so they could write up a report. And if he comes back in again we'll trespass him right away, so it's not a

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-14336104917325187292009-03-13T17:16:00.006-04:002009-03-13T17:27:02.305-04:00

Today a customer brought in a box of books to donate. Our clerical supervisor carried them into the workroom and started looking through them to see if there was anything worth keeping. She noticed some blue fabric and thought it might be a handkerchief or something. But when she picked it up, she immediately squealed, "PANTIES!!!" and threw them across the room. They weren't clean, either.I

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-60460933198912941432009-03-11T18:57:00.003-04:002009-03-11T19:25:34.550-04:00

A little while after the events in the previous post I got a call from our alarm company for a burglar alarm. Went to the alarm panel and it said there was a techician in the building, but I could neither find him nor re-set the alarm panel. Called the alarm company back and found out they couldn't reach him, either. He finally got the message from them and came and found me - he set off the

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-68021223065399232862009-03-11T12:23:00.003-04:002009-03-11T12:32:52.738-04:00

I have been at work exactly 24 minutes today and here is what has happened so far:A taxicab was just sitting in our entryway as I was trying to get into the parking lot. Had a nice little confrontation with him to explain how he was snarling up traffic and needed to find an actual parking place.When I walked in the building a woman I have never seen before had removed stacks and stacks of things

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-38072033888340741862009-03-04T19:29:00.002-05:002009-03-04T19:43:31.218-05:00

Librarians who think public libraries are these wonderful places where people can have free access to information aren't in public service. People don't come to the library to be enlightened, they come to use the free computers. They come to check out DVDs. They come to steal from us. They come to break things. They come to yell at the poor clerks who are just trying to do their jobs. They

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-60863478106138739542009-02-26T04:04:00.007-05:002009-02-26T04:43:50.218-05:00

It's the middle of the night (well, about 4 a.m.) and I can't sleep. I've been thinking lately that I should start blogging about the library again - it's the craziest place!Here are some random things that have happened recently:The guy from an earlier post who kept telling me he was moving away and then showing up again has been an almost daily presence these days. I think he has a bit of a

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-78252678762065237752008-12-22T20:34:00.004-05:002008-12-22T20:55:42.860-05:00

I just realized it's been weeks since I posted anything - where does the time go? This is a tough time of year to find time for anything other than working, shopping, cooking, and visiting, but I do have a sweet story to share.Last week a Stephanie Meyer book (can't remember which one but it doesn't really matter - they're ALL heavily requested right now) came up on hold for a young girl. Her

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-26441676132431139842008-11-18T22:26:00.003-05:002008-11-18T22:54:50.979-05:00

In the last week or so we've had a crazy man in the library. He comes in nearly every day and spends literally all day on the computer working on some kind of complicated-looking spreadsheet, so obviously he has some skillz. Most of the time he's pretty quiet (although he clears his throat an awful lot), but every now and then he starts talking loudly to himself about cell phones and

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-70279968935454646062008-11-14T13:22:00.008-05:002008-11-14T18:53:26.099-05:00

Today a man came in asking for information on "duke langers". Never having heard of it (them?), I asked if he knew anything else. He replied that his buddy at work kept talking about it, but all he would say was that it was a species in Cambodia. I searched "duke" and "cambodia" in Google but no luck. Then I tried "langers" instead and, lo and behold, found out that douc langurs are a highly

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-6289342427711965682008-11-06T19:42:00.005-05:002008-11-06T22:11:52.344-05:00

Today I attended a leadership seminar with a man who was until recently (he's been promoted) the manager of one of the other libraries in our system. He related a hilarious story to which I'm sure I won't do justice, but I just HAD to share it here.A couple of months ago he had just finished his workout at the gym and went in to take a shower. As he was coming out of the shower (completely

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-36315406104978899862008-11-05T16:45:00.002-05:002008-11-05T16:58:37.648-05:00

In an earlier post I talked about an accident that happened when I responded to a request for help with the A/V equipment in our conference room. The group using the room had hung their homemade clock over the door so when I went in the room, of course it fell off and shattered into a million pieces. I felt terrible about it but at the same time was annoyed that they were stupid enough to hang

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-3892905354124881592008-11-01T13:43:00.022-04:002008-11-01T14:50:25.873-04:00

Even though we have had early voting at my library for two weeks I have not been able to take a few minutes to go over to the meeting room and take care of it. So I went to a different branch (one closer to my home) on my day off yesterday to do my civic duty. What an interesting experience! There were at least 150 people in line when I walked in and more kept pouring in as I waited. The wait

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-63981121533568888082008-10-28T01:23:00.004-04:002008-10-28T01:47:53.097-04:00

Early voting is in full swing at my library and while I'm ecstatic that people are so passionate about voting for the candidate of their choice, it has been somewhat annoying at times.For instance, there's the lady who called to ask if there was a line to vote - she wanted the person who answered the phone to leave customers waiting at the circulation desk and go all the way out into our lobby to

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-23709502244670986272008-10-13T22:10:00.009-04:002008-11-06T22:34:20.920-05:00

One of the clerks came to my office today to say that a woman was complaining because some guys were smoking cigars outside. Instead of saying "So what?" (which was of course my initial response), I said "Okay, I'll go check it out." Walking out into our lobby I noticed a slightly sweet smell and thought, "That smells good." I walked outside and saw no-one, but then noticed the woman who had

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-13032977636826012532008-10-08T16:47:00.004-04:002008-10-08T18:37:50.838-04:00

Every Tuesday a big stack of our local free newspaper is delivered to my library. It's a popular publication containing local entertainment news and commentary. This morning we discovered that someone had placed hate literature associating presidential candidate Barack Obama with extremist black militant groups into random copies of the newspaper. The flyer includes quotes such as, "Black

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-71563528453188740542008-10-07T20:25:00.006-04:002008-10-08T18:38:35.716-04:00

Here's an update on a customer I blogged about in a recent post: he came up to the reference desk the other night and told me that he had indeed gone to California but decided not to stay. Seems his father (who must be pretty old, as this guy has to be at least in his late 50s or early 60s) and he didn't get along, and his father told him to "just go!"So now he's back. He still hates it here,

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-48161683617729897042008-10-04T15:28:00.010-04:002008-10-04T17:44:23.833-04:00

We have a regular customer (actually, he's here so much he practically lives at the library) named Jim (AKA Hairy Legs). I've blogged about him in an earlier post. He's annoying but harmless. He drives a battered old pickup truck stuffed full of his belongings, with everything but the kitchen sink strapped onto it. I'm not kidding - this man has a rubber raft, six coolers, a bike, a kayak, a

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-61818046480351761462008-10-04T12:43:00.008-04:002008-10-04T17:55:15.579-04:00

About a month ago one of our regular customers (kinda crazy but pretty nice) was leaving at closing time and told me, "This is the last time you'll see me - I'm moving to California tomorrow. I don't like it here." I wished him well and said goodnight.The next night he was back again and said his plans got delayed for a couple of days but that he wouldn't be back after that. "Good luck to you,

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-40784905529437382008-09-30T10:33:00.003-04:002008-09-30T16:39:42.092-04:00

My library system has 2-renewal limit policy, meaning that a customer can't renew an item more than twice. It's a good policy; it makes it harder for people to keep our stuff forever simply by renewing over and over.Unfortunately, over the years, clerical staff have developed an *extension* to the policy that is pretty much impossible to explain or defend when customers complain. There is now a

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-5900434006033079802008-09-17T09:10:00.006-04:002008-09-18T00:05:33.911-04:00

As the staff and I were walking out to the parking lot at closing time last night, a young woman ran over and shouted, "Someone stole my car!"She told us that earlier she had had some trouble with her car as she was parking at the library and called AAA. They came and fixed whatever it was and she went into the library, LEAVING HER KEYS IN THE CAR DOOR (of course she didn't realize that at the

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-68784627746658819342008-09-16T10:56:00.010-04:002008-09-18T00:03:27.917-04:00

About a month ago I noticed that our US flag was looking pretty tattered. It was less than six months old but I guess recent storms and high winds had really beaten it up a bit. I asked our supply clerk to order a new one, which she did fairly quickly, but we haven't gotten it yet.On 9/11 an extremely irate customer informed me that not only was our flag not at half-staff (as it was supposed to

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-51273546313761482772008-09-10T23:10:00.004-04:002008-09-10T23:24:10.591-04:00

A young guy (fantasy, RPG-type) came in today to ask for a book. While I was looking for it, he stated that he used to live near a discount bookstore, where they would order any book he wanted at a cheap price. I countered with, "Now you can get them for free!" to which he replied, "Yeah, but I have to give 'em back." Well, there is that.I still think free beats cheap any day. And (dare I admit

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-79257870643022027702008-09-09T22:25:00.004-04:002008-09-09T22:28:53.462-04:00

I can really tell school has started back again but they're just gearing up for the heavy work later in the year. Tonight I was on the reference desk for two hours and had maybe 5 customers. Wonderful!It's sad that what I'm happy about is NOT having people come in the library, but after the summer we've had, we're thrilled to have a few quiet times here and there. It won't last long.

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-62699631322614450712008-09-06T16:25:00.005-04:002008-09-06T16:39:35.213-04:00

Here's a sad fact: the busier your library gets, the worse the service. Because of course there are never enough staff members to help all the customers who want you to do something for them ALL AT THE SAME TIME. It's impossible to give quality service when you have six people waiting impatiently and interrupting while you are trying to help someone else. Everyone comes in at the same time and

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-73282193521441097112008-09-05T17:31:00.007-04:002008-09-05T17:46:07.076-04:00

Yesterday was a good day at the library. Company X FINALLY sent someone to repair our public printers (which have been down for several weeks), so now we only have one out of service (it needs a part, of course).Our alarm system, which had been malfunctioning for several days, requiring a bypass (sounds like open heart surgery, doesn't it? Sometimes it feels like it - with ME as the patient!),

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-81824968081754883412008-09-04T17:10:00.006-04:002008-09-11T21:14:19.555-04:00

I work in a building that's less than 4 years old. In spite of its youth, we have constant problems with the building. Sometimes it seems like it's falling down around our ears.Our A/C (which I blogged about in a recent post) goes out every time we have a power outage, which seems to be at least once or twice a month. It usually takes an entire day to get it fixed, and since my library is in a

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-69647657191468573962008-09-02T17:42:00.003-04:002008-09-02T20:16:13.058-04:00

Do you ever get the feeling there is another whole reality going on of which you are totally unaware?A man just walked by and said "Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" I have no idea what he's talking about.

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-21772215740386363562008-08-29T13:32:00.004-04:002008-08-29T14:05:49.208-04:00

Our A/C went off yesterday due to a brief power outage. I duly reported it in the prescribed manner (an email to the facilities manager, his assistant, and my supervisor), thinking someone would be out yesterday afternoon to start it back up again. No dice.Sent another email early this morning, this time marking it urgent. Nothing.Finally, about an hour before we were due to open, I

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-17453126539900370642008-08-26T22:48:00.005-04:002008-08-26T23:01:03.485-04:00

Teach a class, any class, as long as you like what you're teaching.I was so bummed this morning about the inevitable decline of libraries that I could barely drag myself to work. I groaned when I arrived and realized I had scheduled myself to teach a PowerPoint class.My branch offers a regular series of free introductory computer classes every month, starting with basic mouse and keyboard skills

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-53939372015027892892008-08-26T10:50:00.006-04:002008-08-26T23:08:23.511-04:00

Lots of people have said that public libraries will soon go the way of the dinosaur as advances in technology change the way we get information and entertainment. Web-based social networking offerings such as MySpace, Facebook, Blogger, Flickr, wikis, YouTube, Google, podcasting, etc., etc., etc., are becoming more and more important in people's daily lives. Even Amazon's Kindle is providing a

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-20123384752812313712008-08-19T17:31:00.005-04:002008-08-19T19:03:51.319-04:00

You might think that providing storytimes for children would be all sweetness and light but you would be wrong. There are few things that upset parents and caregivers more than not being able to get into storytime because it's full, or because they're LATE and the program has already started. I know children's librarians everywhere know what I'm talking about.But when you add preschools and day

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-34521537329309802422008-08-18T12:49:00.003-04:002008-08-19T17:30:48.639-04:00

After our stressful morning the other day, things started looking up in the afternoon when the organizer of the group whose meeting somehow got deleted from our meeting room schedule came over and apologized for getting so angry. It's amazing what a difference a few hours can make. We were both so antagonistic in the morning during the inital confrontation but later on we had both calmed down

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-6985864406383666542008-08-16T14:06:00.005-04:002008-08-19T17:31:22.374-04:00

Well it's only 2 pm and so far today has been one disaster after another. The computer signup system was down when we got here so we called that in. The IT folks had the signup part working when we opened but then we realized we couldn't access the staff client software. This is after having both printers in the adult area go down yesterday, so we were having to move print jobs to the teen

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-57066485023894763752008-08-13T22:34:00.005-04:002008-08-16T12:49:42.946-04:00

Every public library has regulars who are there nearly every day, and my library is no exception. Most of them are, well, a bit odd.For instance, there's the guy the staff calls "Hairy Legs" for obvious reasons. He's in his late 50s and I suppose he's retired because he spends most of his days in the library. He stands impatiently outside the front door at opening time and rushes in the second

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-67783060170894733502008-08-12T22:04:00.017-04:002008-08-16T12:50:33.450-04:00

We've had a public printer down for over a month so today I called the IT department to check on the status of the request and they said "huh, I guess we never got around to calling that in to [company X]." (I'll just call them X from now on.) So they called X about it. Now WE are not allowed to call X directly; we have to go through IT. I guess I should have followed up weeks ago. Sigh...Anyway,

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-51091931456015764722008-08-11T20:39:00.007-04:002008-08-16T12:51:05.369-04:00

We have a group that meets every month in our conference room to watch Laurel & Hardy movies. Their DVDs are some kind of European format (or Japanese format? I don't know) so they bring their own DVD player and hook it into the back of our TV. In my dealings with them before they have been haughty, impatient, condescending and just generally difficult to deal with, so I'm never happy to hear

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-78770440780657821822008-08-10T13:57:00.003-04:002008-08-16T12:51:33.369-04:00

The other day at closing time, I was just about to lock the doors when a young woman slipped in. I told her I was sorry but we were closed. She said "Why?" Why? What kind of a question is that? Why do you THINK??? It's because we close at 6 on Fridays, why else? (Not that I said any of that to her, I just calmly stated our hours.) She then asked what time we closed on Saturdays and I said

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-3787645739850976902008-08-09T11:09:00.007-04:002008-08-16T12:52:00.744-04:00

A few weeks ago we noticed a young-ish (mid 20s?) man coming to the library a lot. He always wore the same camo pants and bright yellow t-shirt, but what really made him stand out was his habit of talking animatedly to himself. He would buy a visitor pass so he could use a computer, and often he would get very agitated, standing up and exclaiming loudly about something he saw online. I would

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-67887584521833948642008-08-08T00:14:00.009-04:002008-08-16T12:52:14.240-04:00

Apparently the library is a very arousing place. Years ago I was working at a small branch library that had those convex mirrors at the corners. It was very quiet and I thought everyone had gone, but I noticed some movement in one of the mirrors. We were about to close so I went over to check it out. It turned out to be a horny teenaged boy who just couldn't keep his hands off of himself. He

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-80545404295831268692008-08-07T23:44:00.005-04:002008-08-16T12:52:24.194-04:00

I am constantly amazed at the number and variety of items people leave behind in the library. We currently have these items in our lost and found: hats, sunglasses, a sweatshirt, keys (car keys, house keys, you name it, we've got it), cell phones, chargers, CD-ROMs, a purse, several wallets, credit cards, ID cards of various types, photographs, stuffed animals, thumb drives, electrical cords,

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-52736184173358912232008-08-07T23:30:00.005-04:002008-08-16T12:49:03.250-04:00

A severe thunderstorm hit about 10 minutes before closing time this evening. Instead of leaving as soon as he heard the thunder, a man stayed until the bitter end. A minute before closing he came up to the reference desk and asked if we could give him an umbrella. Apparently he thinks one of our services is giving out free umbrellas when it's raining. Sigh...Actually, we have people asking for

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-8914620559778427252008-08-07T19:22:00.005-04:002008-08-16T16:13:06.325-04:00

Every now and then we have a day where people (customers, patrons, whatever you want to call them) are just grumpy. I've said previously that the library where I currently work is very busy. This summer we have seen our highest gate count (close to 36,000 in July), highest circulation (over 86,000 items in July - yikes!), and highest program attendance (nearly 2,000 in July) that we've ever seen.

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-40376327108127470412008-08-06T10:50:00.004-04:002008-08-16T12:53:01.276-04:00

I started working in libraries in my junior year of high school as a library page. Typically, library pages re-shelve returned books, but I was lucky enough to have a job that only required me to sit at the checkout desk and check people out as they left the building. This was of course before the days of self checkout (and the Internet)! It was a sweet job - I just sat there working on my

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524075694842488326.post-74537533966880198782008-08-03T14:37:00.001-04:002008-08-16T12:49:03.252-04:00

Yup, I'm another librarian planning to blog about the crazy stuff that happens in the public library on almost a daily basis. For years my librarian friends and I have said to each other, "We should write this stuff DOWN!" when some new nearly unbelievable thing happens. Well, I'm going to try to do just that. Some of it will be funny, some of it will be kinda mean, some of it will be me on my

Wary Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166752888043593998noreply@blogger.com0