Blogging Reference: Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008

Town very quiet. Didn't see another vehicle until I came to College Ave. at Gadsden.

With Susan E. again.

10:00 a.m. Doors open.

Today's paper. Hasn't come yet. Waiting for 25th and 26th as well.

Help girl start Internet session.

Help puzzled man find PC? No, he's good.

José bids me good morning.

Susan and I agree to take down the holiday cookbook display. I haul Paige, the library's mannequin/mascot, who is wearing a Santa hat and an apron, back down to the first floor.

"Is my tutor here?" Don't know, where does she normally meet her? "Third floor." Suggest she check up there.

Computer with zip drive? No.

Susan has mislaid penny wrappers.

PC for Nakaya. PC's are already full. 25 min. wait.

Phone: Joyce M. wants mailing address for Caroline Kennedy. C/O Hyperion Books.

Papers are here.

Penny wrappers turn up.

Woman asks me to thank Susan, "for allowing me to use the computer". I will.

11:00 a.m.

How many papers can she have? Wants last three days. In luck. Haven't given out desk copies yet.

Remind 15-min. PC users to get sit-down PC if they need more time.

Can have another PC reservation? Not without card. Others are waiting for turn.

Starting to pick up. Browsers at New Books shelves. Children's voices rise from the first floor.

Phone: FTCE Prof. Ed. test prep book. Hold.

PC for José.

Caller tells Susan Value Line not working remotely. Works fine here. Suspect remote logins at limit of 18 users. Susan calls her back, suggests she try later.

Take FTCE book down to circ. reserve shelf.

Magic Marker.

God is an Englishman. Don't own, ILL.

Woman says she is unable to request video of Eagle Eye. Card ok. Already has hold & didn't know it.

Susan's husband Tom comes by with pics of Port Leon expedition.

12:03 Lunch. Turkey sandwich, Pepsi & D.I. Rebus on Park Ave. bench. Bright morning has turned grey and gusty. Check my new Xmas pocket watch! Just time for postprandial smoke.

12:35 Back.

Plumbing books. Take to shelf. Susan to lunch.

Can she use copier? Wake up copier.

Woman looking for husband who was downloading audio books. Haven't seen him. Susan hasn't either.

1:06 In Media to relieve JL for lunch. Volunteer Owais is doing sign-up.

Is there a charge to check out DVD's? No, free with library card.

Busy down here. Lots of DVD & CD browsers, people in line for 15 min. PC's

Reservation printer jammed. Get it feeding, sort out whose slip is whose.

PC for Christina.

PC for Mark.

Cancel reservation for woman who selected wrong floor.

"Do y'all have wi-fi?" Yes. "Whereabout?" Whole library. "So it doesn't matter where you sit at?"

She is supposed to have that computer at 1:35, but it says "locked". It is 1:20. Explain current session locked by user.

Ask boy to turn down game volume.

PC for Sean.

PC for Teresa.

35 min. wait now for PC's.

PC for Ivory.

1:50 Back at refdesk. Susan takes turn at Media.

White-Out.

PC for Samuel, with backpack and reflective sunglasses. "I need to learn some social skills. I had 'em. Then I lost 'em. Now I wanna get 'em back."

PC for Dennis. He is winded. "There must be a better place to park!" He has come up from Park Ave., where there is no entrance on the first floor. Explain main entrance on other side.

African professor from FAMU wants economic journals. Show him Gale databases. His first visit here, though he's been in Tallahassee for two years. Restricted library hours at the universities over the break prodded him to search us out. He's disappointed that we don't have paper subs to academic journals. Says the public library in Michigan had them. But he spends rest of afternoon in Gale db's.

Regular, Dave L., needs chemistry textbook. See one recently returned. Down to check-in room to retrieve.

PC for girl, Tyronica.

PC for her little sister, Unique.

Minutes later, Tyronica says she's "lost" her reservation. She's trying to scam me, not wanting to wait and hoping she'll luck out with a better reservation. I won't give her another.

Man wants The Horse's Name Was...: A Dictionary of Famous Horses from History, Literature, Mythology, Television, and Movies, from the Northeast Branch. Place hold.

Deaf lady friend wants today's paper.

Girl wants application. Downstairs.

Her brother wants a card. Downstairs. What do we have up here? Books for grownups.

Darryl's session expired before he could sign in. Give him another.

Do we have the Plum Book? (Book of jobs in Obama admin.) No. Is available online .

PC for Patthias.

Scratch paper.

Give ID back for paper.

Garfield books, or Zits. Have Garfiield, not Zits. Take to shelf, get stool for boy.

Quiet. Work on new display of medieval murder mysteries. Make sign and pull books.

I hear the 30 min. announcement while I'm in the stacks.

GRE test prep book, personal finance books. Take to shelf. Tell her about online test prep, Learning Express.

See a couple of black guys at a catalog PC. Finding what you need? Where are the "fishun" books? "Fishing?", I reply, helpfully, in my white boy manner. No, FISHUN. (Fission, I wonder? Are they researching a physics assignment?) Seeing my clueless expression, he kindly translates for me, "Fic-tion". "Oh", I say, "sorry, fiction's over there, in the west wing." (The "reference interview".)

Matthew Lesko Free Money books. Place holds. Show her newer college money books.

Turn off PC's.

5:00 p.m. Closed for the day.