I flew solo on the Do-Nothing Desk today and decided to list all of my questions just for the heck of it.
Is my Tom Sawyer reserve in?
I looked up the youngster's account and she had reserved some thing called Tom Sawyer, but it wasn't the Twain book. I could've said, "No," and left it at that. But, no, I said, "Let me see if we have a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer..."
After that I had a homeless guy that sat down in front of our big dictionary and began to read the dictionary out loud in Shakespearean dramatic tones. Captivate! Captivating! Captivation! Captive! It was pretty funny for about five minutes. Security quelled his ardor.
Reserved a study room.
Reserved another study room.
Here's how the next one went: "I wanna know. Do they buy books?" "Uhhh. Do you mean can you buy books here?" "No." "Uhhh, well, I mean we do buy books. Are you wanting to sell a book to us?" It went on for awhile before she said she had a book called The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. Eureka! "And you want to know it's value?!" I said. That was it. I looked it up in Alibris. I said mostly they're worth about $2-5 unless it's original. It is. Well, I said, here's one for $40,000 signed by Douglass himself. Well, this one is, too she said - and Abraham Lincoln. Oh, I said. You'd probably better take it to a rare book dealer and gave her the info on that.
Reserved another study room.
Where are your love poem books? 800s here we come...
What is the meaning of the word herlamic? That one defeated me.
Where are your books on Jingis Khan? 950s here we come...
What is the meaning of apricentric? Do you mean afrocentric? That word fit the bill.
What is the meaning of essessist? Do you mean essayist? No. Ethicist? That was it.
Did a shelf check and placed a temp tracer
How do you spell ethos? No problem.
How do you pronounce eunuch? Asked and answered.
What is the meaning of polemical? Got it.
Can I return my books anywhere? Any of our libraries...
Where are the stairs?
Where can I do homeschooling in OKC? Is that a trick question? I found some local clubs.
Do you have an Evinrude repair manual? We did.
Can I get a card if I live in Piedmont? Only one way...pay for it.
Is there an Orbis Books? Yes and I gave them the number
Can you tell me if there is a chemistry professor at Stanford named XXXXXX? There wasn't.
He could be dead, can you tell me that? If he is, he didn't get Social Security benefits.
Do you have a book that can tell me who will buy a book I wrote? Writers Market is what you need.
Do you have a list of acrylics businesses in the region? Thomas Register
Where are your bible commentaries? Let me show you the 200s
Where are your astrology books? Let me show you the 130s
Where are the Alexandra Stoddard books? Let me show you the 746s
Can you show me a book on engraving tools?
What is the meaning of archaic?
Can you help locate Lund University? I have a citation from a Mr. Munga there. It's in Sweden...
How do you pronounce 'rhys'? Reese
Where are the firefighter books? Are you taking a test or just want to read about them? Just read them...628s
What is martyrdom?
What is the meaning of shariah?
Do you have books on immigration law in Oklahoma? No, but I found them some elsewhere
Can you define enculturation?
Do you have project management books?
Did a shelf check and placed a tracer
Is there a seminary in Ivory Coast? Yep.. in Abidjan
Do you have anime books? On first floor
Reserved a meeting room for 10.
Is the Grandmother of Europe there? On first floor
How many books can you check out? 30
Do you have any ghost stories? 398s
Do you have any Broadway show scores? 782s
Can you give me the number for XXXXX in Rogers, AR?
Looked up another for the same guy
I have heard there was an airport buried underneath Lake Hefner. Is that true? Not according to the information I have but there was one next to it...
Can you give me the number for XXXXXX in Moore? I can't find it in the book.
Do you have an OKC business directory? Not exactly, but I showed her a much better source than that
My last one for the day was a 70 something guy who asked one of the most agonizing questions in the library world, "How do I research my family tree?" It was near closing time, but I found him on the 1930 census and told him to come back next week...
Sorry so long and boring, just thought I'd give you a glimpse of a day at the Do-Nothing Desk!
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3 comments:
Are you sure that "do nothing desk" is an accurate description? well, on second thought maybe you're right.... ahhh the days of the librarian's life.
Need me to send you some more business? (Sounds pretty busy to me.)
What, you didn't have to answer the classic, "Where's the bathroom," or my personal favorite, "Can you help me make some copies?"
The one that lives in infamy (at least in my mind) is the time I was asked, "Do you have a directory of hookers?" I told him to check with the police department as I was sure they had an updated list.
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