2009/11/12

Night Librarian

6:13

Where to get library card?  Where is the Tallahassee Anxiety Support Group meeting?  Open Henderson Room.  Story of her life.

Books on résumés.

PC for Sheila.

Top off printers w paper.

PC for James.

Anxiety Woman again.  Looking for book about healing with crystals.  Can read "over a thousand words a minute".

Sheriff's Deputy wonders whether I think there are more homeless  these days.  Says complaints about public urination are legion these days.  I remind him that the homeless shelter used to be Tommy's, a rock and roll bar, where I once got so drunk, (drinking Benedictine, oh, you foolish boy), that I vomited.

He reminisces about dorm life and partying at FSU in the '70's.  The drinking age was 18 then, and bars lined the strip on Tennessee Street.  Our time there as undergraduates overlapped, though he is five years younger than me.  He being cloistered with the football players, I would never have met him, whom I would have disdained as a jock.  Yes, we agree, students these days are spoiled rotten, with their off-campus apartments and their cars and their broadband Internet connections.

Back in our day, an undergraduate got a dorm room with a bunk, a desk, and a randomly assigned roommate.  You couldn't have a car until you were a junior, and you bought a big electric fan for relief in hot weather.

James can't start his session.  While I am helping him, another user kicks a power strip and the whole table of six PC's goes down.  Find right strip, power on, sort everyone out.

Books on food delivery and personal concierge businesses.  Do we have jobs open?  Show County web page.  How to apply for Library Assistant position?  Show online application.  He hesitantly begins the process.  Full-grown man a newborn babe in cyberspace.

7:17

Phone:  Mr. L. wants to know if D. has mailed his info yet.  Don't know, please call back tomorrow.

Amanda wants books on Rome we're holding.

Check Henderson Room.  Anxiety Support Group meeting in progress

Karen's card's been set lost.  Give her guest pass.

Report fluorescent ceiling panel outage in Henderson Room to T.B.

Full-Grown Man has taken off jacket and is pecking away at application.  Good man.

Can I check her card for fines?  Yes, but all disputes must be with Circulation.  She's good, card is clear.

7:39

Typical day-after-a-holiday today.  Like a Monday.  Was doing virtual reference chat in AskaLibrarian from 3 to 4, which was itself pretty busy, when the workroom bell rang so long and, well, alarmingly, that I decided I'd better go out.  Brave ML was alone on the burning deck, a knot of patrons standing at the desk, both phones off the hook on hold.  I entered the fray, and we soon had all fires put out.  I had the desk with D. at 4:00 and the fur continued to fly.

Run to Chaos Keep by Jack Chalker.  Find on shelving cart.

Can print in color?  No.

Work on unfinished non-fic send-item list I found at desk.

Phone:  Song for Night by Christopher Abani.  Is checked out, place hold?  Doesn't have card.  Get card to reserve library books.

Help Full-Grown Man w app.

Help her find children's dictionary in catalog.

Finish send-items.  Take down to Circulation.

Phone:  Will wants Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem.  Place hold.  Lethem one of the new literary heavyweights.  Just don't have time for him, or Chabon, which is no judgment on them.

Help Full-Grown Man.

8:30 announcement.

Count & bag change.

Full-Grown Man finishes and submits app.  Yay!

Clean up & straighten, shut down catalog PC's.

8:50  Five people left on Internet up here.

Time to head for the barn.

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