The Gender Gap

I was making a library card for a gentleman today and while I was entering his information into the computer, he said to me,

"Be sure that you enter my gender as male. Because I'm a guy. And I didn't put it down on the form."

I looked at him for any sign of joking or humor. I didn't find it.

I made sure to enter him as a woman.

The Library Heartthrob

We have a new clerk here at our little library and already he is having an effect on the ladies.

A few days ago, this older lady said to him,

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look like a younger, cuter Woody Harrelson?"

"Um. no."

"And you have a really nice torso. You could be a model. But I bet you get that all the time. I'm not hitting on you, though."

"Uh, okay."

Hmm... Maybe B. SHOULD quit his day job. Wouldn' t that make a great story?

"I was discovered when I was working as a library clerk. Now, I'm a world famous torso model."

It would be like an E! True Hollywood story. In the meantime, I'm sure we will all enjoy watching the little old ladies swoon over B.

The Queen of the Non Sequitors Returns

Before I share today's brief anecdote, I would like to stress once again that you, gentle reader, only hear the very worst of library life. Most of our customers are quite lovely people. They are pleasant, friendly, polite, return their library items on time and cheerfully pay their fines. Some even bring us treats at Christmas. It's just the few bad apples that we tend to write about at the Dewey Diaries. But, they are the most interesting.

The Queen of the Non Sequitors (see earlier post) is actually a very sweet lady and we like her. When we see her walk in the door, we always eagerly anticipate what she will say because she has such a unique way of viewing the world.

Today, she came in talking about how hot it was outside.


"Whew! It's really hot out there."

I replied, "Oh really."

She paused and said, "Yeah, you know. From the sun."

OH! From the sun!

She then told me it was HOT enough to give you a sunburn.

I love that lady.

The Unaccountable

One of the things that makes me angriest about working at the library is the fact that most patrons do not want to take responsibility for themselves. They all come in with this sense of entitlement like the library owes them something. They don't seem to understand that using the library is a PRIVILEGE and not a RIGHT.

Case in point...

I was having a pretty good workday yesterday until about the last fifteen minutes. This woman comes in with a collections letter. Evidently, her daughter told her she had nothing checked out. In reality, she had thirteen books hidden in her room that were due in December. So, the mom gets this collections notice and finds nine of the books in the child's room. After checking those nine books back in, the fines went down to about $190.oo. I explained to the woman that if she found the last four, her fines would go down to $150.00. (basically, a maximum fine of $10 for each book and a $20 fine from the collections agency) Well, the woman throws a fit and refuses to pay saying that it is all the LIBRARY'S fault. She says the library has a responsibility to tell people if they have overdue items.

I know $150 seems harsh. However, we already have a 39 day grace period for children's items. And we DO give an automated phone call if an item is 10 days overdue. And send a letter after that. But we did not have the woman's correct info since she had moved.

The library is a great deal. You can check out all the DVDs, CDs, videos, books and magazines that you want for FREE! All you have to do is return them on time. It's not that hard. And yet, people like this woman continue to try to shift accountability for their actions onto the library. Amazing.