"Star Wars books?": lady in her 30s.
The usual reference interview, revealing that what she is actually looking for is a clear picture of the Death Star so that she can use it to make a birthday cake for her son.
We find a few books with great Star Wars pictures, but all of the Death Star ones are over two pages (staple in the middle) or too small, so while she's still flipping through books, I tell her I'll try to find one online.
When I hand her the Death Star (sounds like the title of some avant-garde novel, doesn't it?), she practically squeals with excitement. "You just made a little boy's birthday!"
Monday, April 21, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
A jump and a wave
The dude who came to install our new library sign this morning (just in time for our big Library Commission meeting, held at my branch library this afternoon) left his radio on while he was doing the installation. Dead battery, no jumper cables.
He came into the library for help, and because our middle name is LET ME HELP YOU (so that's not as much a middle name as a middle phrase, but you know what I mean), and because my car does not beep when you leave the lights on and I have found myself in the position of "Oh crud, I need a jump" too many times to count, AND because I happen to have jumper cables at the ready in my trunk, I helped the fellow out.
"Can I pay you?" he asked, once said cable was jumped and his van was running again.
What a baffling question. "Of course not! Just go forth and do something nice for someone else."
Yes, I actually uttered these words. I am a librarian. I help people, but I want to live in a world where that means it will inspire someone to help someone else.
Small good thing making for more small good things PEACE OUT.
He came into the library for help, and because our middle name is LET ME HELP YOU (so that's not as much a middle name as a middle phrase, but you know what I mean), and because my car does not beep when you leave the lights on and I have found myself in the position of "Oh crud, I need a jump" too many times to count, AND because I happen to have jumper cables at the ready in my trunk, I helped the fellow out.
"Can I pay you?" he asked, once said cable was jumped and his van was running again.
What a baffling question. "Of course not! Just go forth and do something nice for someone else."
Yes, I actually uttered these words. I am a librarian. I help people, but I want to live in a world where that means it will inspire someone to help someone else.
Small good thing making for more small good things PEACE OUT.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
"Where do you keep your beautiful things?"
I'm at a small branch library right now while my beautiful-yet-ragged Central Library is renovated, and while I miss the space and the people of my original library, I feel fortunate for the opportunity to work more closely with children that a branch library gives me.
(Okay, to be honest, this is true MOST of the time. Occasionally, I could use a little less child-interaction of the screaming or crying kind. But veteran children's librarians have assured me this is true for them, too.)
One of my favorite things about the children at my "new" library is how they love to give us their drawings and artwork. They know these creations are gifts, and I really am thrilled to see what new things they sprouted from their growing brains.
Last week, a little girl (around 4 years old, though with a vocabulary of a much older child) came to the desk after making something at our "Creation Station" table. She was a little shy with me, but told her grandmother, "I made this for HER" (meaning me).
I played it up big, of course. "You made this for ME?!!? Wow! Thank you so much!" I described what I saw in the picture and asked a few questions ("Oh, look, there are some red circles here... What crayon did you use to make these squiggles?")
At the end of this, she asked me, "Where do you keep your beautiful things?"
Of course her artwork was a beautiful thing: she wanted to know where I was going to put it!
"I have a bulletin board at my desk in there" -- I pointed to the back staff workroom -- "where I keep all of the beautiful things that little girls and boys give me. I like to look at them when I work!"
She smiled, I smiled, and for that moment, and truly a long time afterward, I really did feel fortunate to be there.
(Okay, to be honest, this is true MOST of the time. Occasionally, I could use a little less child-interaction of the screaming or crying kind. But veteran children's librarians have assured me this is true for them, too.)
One of my favorite things about the children at my "new" library is how they love to give us their drawings and artwork. They know these creations are gifts, and I really am thrilled to see what new things they sprouted from their growing brains.
Last week, a little girl (around 4 years old, though with a vocabulary of a much older child) came to the desk after making something at our "Creation Station" table. She was a little shy with me, but told her grandmother, "I made this for HER" (meaning me).
I played it up big, of course. "You made this for ME?!!? Wow! Thank you so much!" I described what I saw in the picture and asked a few questions ("Oh, look, there are some red circles here... What crayon did you use to make these squiggles?")
At the end of this, she asked me, "Where do you keep your beautiful things?"
Of course her artwork was a beautiful thing: she wanted to know where I was going to put it!
"I have a bulletin board at my desk in there" -- I pointed to the back staff workroom -- "where I keep all of the beautiful things that little girls and boys give me. I like to look at them when I work!"
She smiled, I smiled, and for that moment, and truly a long time afterward, I really did feel fortunate to be there.
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