Miss Information *wishes* print newspapers were dead
Miss Information was in the middle of a question about short stories. The high school girls needed "either a science fiction short story or a literary-quality speculative fiction story". Before she could answer an older patron snuck up on her starboard side and interrupted."I need help," the woman snapped. As the girls needed help as well and they were there first so Miss Information turned to the woman and assessed the situation. She wasn't bleeding or frothing at the mouth. She could wait a moment. She told the woman she'd be right with her. The woman huffed. Miss Information directed the girls to the literature department in another part of the library and asked the woman what she needed.
"Get me the Tribune newspaper!" she snarled. In this library the newspapers are either in use, thrown around the lounge or shelved in their proper place--which is hidden so no one can ever find it. It's mean but whatever.
Miss Information checked the hidden place first--no luck. Someone must be on to the system. She then walked around the department looking for an abandoned copy. No luck there either but she did identify 2 individuals happily reading the Tribune at that exact moment. She reported her findings to the lady.
"All of our copies are in use," she said.
"Get me one!" the woman replied. "I have a bad knee!"
Um. Miss Information has a bad attitude but you don't see her demanding special services. She explained to the woman that ripping the newspaper out of the hands of a fellow citizen, who might also have a bad knee, was just mean spirited. She offered the woman another local paper instead and asked one of the women reading the Tribune to pass it to the cranky patron when she was finished. That woman had been glaring at the demanding woman the entire time though and was probably not giving it up any time soon.
2 Comments:
I'm always fascinated by the patrons who expect me to serve them first just because they're adults, or kick the kids off the computers b/c "they're just playing games". Do you not see this "youth services" notation on my badge?
At least you had the papers - we have multiple newspaper thieves and spend a large portion of our time hunched over the security cameras, tracking down the latest paper-snatcher.
We've missed you, Miss Information!
You've been away from your blog much too long. Your fellow librarians know that a whole month doesn't go by with nothing crazy happening in the library!
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