Blogging Reference

 The Reference Desk

10:00  Open

He wants Batman and Superman novels, not graphic novels.  "I call 'em comics!", he says.  Find him Batman:  No Man's Land by Greg Rucka, Batman:  The Ultimate Evil by Andrew Vachss, Batman Forever by Peter David, and Superman Returns by Marv Wolfman.

It's Homecoming weekend for FSU, with the Seminoles playing the Virginia Cavaliers tonight.  A beautiful day, bright and cool, perfect for a football game.

Do the Dewey numbers in the reference collection match the ones in the circulating collection?

Stapler.

Open conference room for Sister-to-Sister Support Group.  She wants to post a flyer.  Tell her where the community bulletin board is.

Stapler.

Where can he check out a netbook?  Media desk.

10:45  S. has to see a doctor.  I have the second floor to myself for a while.  It's quiet, but all public PC's are in use.

Do we have a study guide for the Commercial Driver License?  Yes, for in-library use.

Mr. Ellis says he wants to find out who has died, and may he see the Thursday paper?  Thursday?  Yes, that is when the black funeral homes publish their obituaries.  I've wondered why the Thursday paper goes out so much, and occasionally goes missing.

Cartoons by Charles Addams.  Find her The World of Chas Addams, Night Crawlers, Drawn and Quartered, Creature Comforts.

Phone:  Mr. L. wants contact info for The Minka Group, a lighting company.

PC 45 has a fake antivirus virus.  Power off and restart.

PC for Ellery

Phone:  She wants Prison Writings:  My Life is My Sundance by Leonard Peltier.  Both copies lost.

Help woman find articles on end-of-life care for the elderly in Gale.

Today's NYT.

Mr. Ellis trades Thursday's paper for today's.

PC's for Marvin, April.

11:34  NYT comes back, WSJ goes out.

DC introduces me to her sister, down from NJ for the holiday, and may they have copies of Sunday's and today's NYT crosswords?

PC for McKnight.  He doesn't like the location, turns it down.

Teen boy doesn't know how to work copier, make copies for him.

Show man how to upload résumé to a job application.

Phone:  How to spell "Cheyenne", as in Wyoming.  Put Mr. L. on hold.  S. is back, yay!

Books on liquidation and corporate taxation.  Sorry, try FSU.

12:50  Back from lunch.  Holding a book for Shapiro, Call Center Success.  He goes down to check it out.

PC for Isaiah.  PC's for Samuel, Dante.

Call Audrey D. back.  She wants to donate books to the troops.  Suggest Operation Paperback.

Where is program room?  Tallahassee Authors Network is meeting.

PC for Lamont.

Today's paper.

He wants Facebook & Twitter for Seniors for Dummies and Easy Computer Basics.  Just returned, find in check-in room..

S. goes to lunch.

Returns paper, how can he get a library card?

Phone:  She wants The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  Pull, place hold, take to circulation desk.

Does he need a library card to check out books?  Yes, tell him where to get one.

Restart her PC.

Jeff returns USA Today, gets PC.

2:08  PC for Eric. Check sound for another man.

Holding The Friday Night Knitting Club for Carol G., who is here to pick it up.

Mr. Ellis is dismayed.  He is writing a paper on territorial Florida, and has discovered that someone has already written on his topic, 70 years ago.  He must take a new tack, but it's due Dec. 1.

Help her find articles in Gale on budget issues for non-profits.

He needs to pick a play for school.  Take to shelf.

Do we have A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot?  No, offer interlibrary loan.  She doesn't have a card yet.

PC for Yolanda.

Job listings?  He is a carpenter.  Has he ever done a job search online?  At Workforce, the state employment agency, but I can see in his face that he's not "computer literate"  I give him the Sunday classifieds.  Later, he wants to copy an ad for an apartment.  I show him the copying machine, but he says he doesn't know how to use it.  I'm helping someone else, but S. does it for him.

He gets to talking with S.  He's 54, has his wife and kids in a motel room.  The children are in school, at Cobb Elementary.  "They didn't ask to be brought into this world.  I'm out here for them", he says.  He must earn at least $45 a day.  He wants to get them into an apartment.  Says he'll do anything.  It breaks my heart.  But I see hope and determination.  St. Joseph, pray for him, a good father.

3:51  Just had a flurry of ILL renewal requests.  Girl asked for anything on "Juneteenth", the celebration of Emancipation Day.  She's looking through the Black History vertical file now.  Tallahassee's local celebration is earlier, in May, Juneteenth having originated in Texas.

Phone:  How can she get to the Favorite Authors Notification page.  The FAN club lets people "subscribe" to new hardback releases for bestselling authors.  Talk her through the links to it.

PC's for mom & daughter, Bridget & Shyla.

Today's paper.

4:30  30 minutes to closing.