Library Life April 2024
by amandamae · 26 things on NewTwos
- Question of the day: Can my pets be outside during the eclipse? (yeah, they're okay - they're naturally adverse to bright light, and are not inclined to look at the sun anymore than normal)
- We frequently get misdialed calls - our number is one digit off from other city services. But every few months we get someone who chats or emails in that they can't call us and instead are getting the local university pharmacy. We can't figure that one out because the numbers are not similar, and the patrons are insisting they're dialing our number correctly. My boss is determined to find the answer!
- Patron who previously came in to have us print a bunch of articles from sketchy websites about his 2024 astrology predictions was back today to ask "what are the omens for the solar eclipse?" He first wanted to know what the Ancients thought (but could not/would not say which civilization he was interested in), then on what the predictions are for the one happening Monday (I found a number of articles debunking said myths, which this patron did not want), what is the effect of the solar eclipse on the environment and animals (a few things have been noted, but nothing serious), and what is the effect on humans (not much aside from eye damage if you look at it). I found an article from the Hindustan Times about how the eclipse is a time for self-reflection and that apparently hit the nail on the head for the patron and he left.
- A man with a dog wearing a service dog vest asked where he could locally buy a better service dog vest. Now, I could tell very easily that while this was an obedient dog, this was not a service animal, but legally all we can do is ask if it's a service animal and if the patrons says it is we leave it at that. Then the patron said his dog was a good girl, so comforting, took good care of them, and then decided to say, "Not to offend, or anything..." That generally means you're about to. He started saying something about how women have been in the nurturing role for centuries, so of course that system still works, and I pivoted to, "Can we help you with anything else? No? Okay, have a good day!" He said something about getting him the winning lotto numbers, but then left.
- A regular, chronically unhoused patron, who is normally quiet and perfectly fine, decided to talk at me as soon as he entered the reference area. He was slurring a little bit, and the words he was stringing together didn't make much sense, all I could make out was "Tesla," "flying," and "Kim Kardashian," and I think there was something about someone regressing to their past lives, and this patron saying he was 160 years old. He seemed to be expecting a response, but all I could do was smile and nod since I had no idea what he was saying. He sat down at a public computer and continued to talk to himself, and the only words I could make out were "Tesla," "flying," and "Kim Kardashian."
- We currently still have solar eclipse glasses, but my children's librarian has some leftover trauma from the 2017 Solar Eclipse Fiasco (EVERYBODY ran out of glasses - shipments from China were delayed), and she's banking on the stash she has that she will only release the day of.
- Someone across the street from the library called to say that someone did a u-turn on our street to park in our 20-minute parking spots (meant for people picking up holds or returning books), and then watched them not enter the library but go elsewhere. She didn't know if wanted to take the opportunity to ticket them or not. Generally, we don't have the time or ability to care about that. I did tell the Maintenance staff (who at least have the ability to go out and do a visual check), but they can't really do anything and commented how nice it was that the community is looking out for us. The public library absolutely does not have the staff, timing, or financial ability to be a police state when it comes to our parking spaces, despite what everyone seems to think.
- I got to tell a patron about Zenni Optical today! She complimented my eyeglasses and I said they were super cheap, and she had me write the website down. She was excited!
- Solar Eclipse Day: 46 calls in the first two hours of opening - mostly all asking if we have eclipse glasses (a stash of 1000 we will release at our event at 12:30pm). We normally get 46 calls over the course of two days (and I got one more call as I was typing this. 47!)
- Frankly, if you're calling us just before the actual solar event starts, I have no sympathy for you. You've know this was happening for a LONG time, and have had ample time to either pick up a pair from us earlier, or buy them at a local retailer
- co-worker's loud and raspy cough continues into what I believe is now Week 3
- Hey folks, when you call the library to have us do anything with your account (put a book on hold, renew a title) we need your library card number! Maybe have that handy. "No one else asks for it!" is a lousy excuse and not true. I bet there are at least three people in the database with your name.
- Patron called to ask if we had a particular USB in our lost and found. That happens. I asked where and when it was left. She gave a very detailed description of where in our computer area she left it, then said she left it "three or four months ago." Oh ma'am. That is long gone. We have to clear out our lost and found every month due to the volume of stuff.
- When one of the most annoying patrons is back from their library suspension (and, I can assume, some legal entanglements), and everyone on staff just has a look of shock and annoyance as they realize it. We have many patrons we don't particularly like, but we're able to tolerate them in a professional capacity. This person... no one likes them, and we all wish they would go away. If you act in such a way that it elicits a trauma response in library workers, you have gone down a dark path.
- Many blessings to the woman who called who hoped someone at the library could help her discern why the screen for her AOL Mail didn't look right. Ultimately, I couldn't help her, as other tabs or windows she opened appeared (to her) normal, and thought it might be a setting in AOL she'll need to change. I asked if she could come in to the library so we could better assist, but she's out of town. Then she asked how she could change the name of a file, so I walked her through that. Then she wanted to know how to move a file to a different folder. That took some doing, but we figured it out together. She complimented me profusely at the end of the call. I needed that today.
- We have a volunteer who has been with this library for years. He always has an old pair of headphones on connected to what I think is a Discman (I don't think it's a Walkman, but I can't quite tell, it's in a pouch strapped to him). Today I see that he has the outline of a smartphone in his back pocket. Way to go, old dude, for sticking to your old tech despite having the new!
- It's Tax Day here in the US, and our tax help folks stopped their help sessions last week. Best I can offer to folks is links to the free filing software, and probably my midday it'll be extension filing.
- To the patron who enthusiastically recommended Sam Walton's book "for anyone looking to start a business"... no I will not be reading that book. For many reasons, but the most relevant to the situation is a business book from the early 90s is now historical, not exactly up to date for current needs.
- we now have TWO staff members in the same area with deep hacking coughs right now, and I'm ready to scurry back to my office and disinfect all the things
- Patron called to put some books on hold (usually by people he just saw on Fox News), and he noticed the date. "Oh! It's 4/20! That's Hitler's birthday, you know."
- Had a WHOLE THING about a patron complaint from last night for one of my co-workers who is absolutely not the way this patron describes them, and it sounds like this patron was actively in the wrong (trying to access the building 10 minutes after we had closed and were trying to lock up, in order to find a lost item that was not where they said it was, but it was found in a different location) and said some nasty things to my co-worker. This co-worker came in today to follow up because it kept them up last night. Having bad interactions with patrons will do that to public servants, regardless who might have been in the wrong. We agonize over that. I've encountered this patron myself, so I'm aware of how they are. (You know the joke that hippies are the meanest and bikers are the nicest? This patron proved that point by being a hippie-looking Karen.) I think my co-worker feels better knowing that I was also weirded out by this patron, and emphasizing that the patron was in the wrong in this instance. Libraries have to set boundaries, y'all.
- Two older, slightly confused patrons in a row: one wanted to renew his library books (they aren't due for another two weeks, so too early to renew), and one sounded like she wanted to put some movies on hold, but really she just wanted to know if she had any movies on hold. She did not. Our library has a very robust online presence with a great mobile app. I've been saying it will be fascinating to see how our services evolve when the people who call us the most die off because all those questions can be handled online in the app.
- We have a patron who comes in and types on the computer. Nothing productive. She just types up pages of gibberish - not even actual words. Sometimes she'll be on a computer connected to a different printer that's not setup through the printer release, and we'll end up with 60+ pages of her typed gibberish on the glossy printer on accident.
- my library's current version of "mobile printing" is having the patron email the documents to a specific library email account, and the librarians working the reference desk have to download and then print the documents. I really wish we had a different setup because goodness knows none of us want to handle people's sensitive materials. It's like people who have speakerphone discussions with their doctor or lawyer in the middle of the computer area. No one wants in on that.
- Coworker passing the ILL (inter-library loan) shelf: "How did I go over 60 years of life and not know that Corey Feldman wrote an autobiography??" I had a similar thought when I noticed that book on the shelf last week, too!
- Today the patron who comes in to get Wikipedia articles printed out (and zoomed to 200%, print on both sides) wanted the article on Guatemala.