Like many of the Klub Kat bloggers I am a baby librarian. In fact, I have worked in a library only twice as a shelver in high school and my internship in library school. Second fact, I am probably the most grammatically challenged of our group. (Yogurt Moon correct me. Please.) Sorry.
Despite this, I have my first library job and this was my first day on it. Approximately two weeks ago I was interviewed and offered the job as a reference librarian in the Adult Services department for a county public library in rural North Carolina.
Admittedly I was anxious about the first day at the new job which I dealt with by obsessing over which cardigan to wear (gray with flowers, pink with flowers, hot pink,green, turquoise, dark raspberry...) and painting my toenails (OPI's Absolutely Alice because nothing says I am prepared to deal with the public like bright blue glitter polish). All this angst was a bit unnecessary as I spent the day reading policy manuals and guidelines, filling out paper work and touring the library.
Still, there were a number of things I learned from my coworkers and patrons about life in the public library that day:
- There's a neat online database our library has that shows you the order of books in a series. Helpful for all those obsessive compulsive readers who must read the series in order (like, um, me).
- I am to watch out for two types of patrons: persons with less than perfect dental hygiene who wish to marry me and a man who wants some legal documents typed up for him (not to worry, he knows how to sign the judge's name himself)
- If you need to bury your dead, they must be six feet underground wrapped in a sheet. (Don't worry if the hospital won't release the body directly to you. It can be sent to a funeral home and then turned over to you for burial.)
- Color prints cost more. (Half price for employees --- same deal with FOL book sales)
- The 3 and a half inch floppy disc drive can fit $2.50 in quarters. (They also can be retrieved easily by simply tipping the tower.)
Spoken like a true librarian, Sarah! I like your cardigan and nail polish choice.
ReplyDeleteKeep up with the fun facts you learn at the library! I'd also like to know how these fun facts were found to be true (did you put the quarters in the disc drive?!)
A patron came out of the computer lab and said she was having trouble with paying for her print outs. As I was walking with her, she admitted that she may have put the money in the wrong place. At the print station, she pointed to the disc drive saying she put in two dollars in quarters. She thought it was alright because she could see other quarters were already in there...
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA.
ReplyDeletealso, love the tags you used for this post.