Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, “A Typical Day in My Life”. I’m as-yet unmarried and as-yet still working, so my day to day is fairly predictable. I wake up at 7, make coffee, read substack and blogs, and then get ready for work. It’s at work where things get…..unpredictable. I work at an urban public library, and we get all kinds. I don’t mean a delightful mix of crotchety old bibliophiles and giddy kids, either, but a rogue’s gallery of eccentrics, cranks, and downright nuts — some dangerous. (I’m not kidding: one former ‘patron’ of ours is currently in jail for straight-up murdering a woman in a bookstore.) My day to day work varies: while I have consistent library-man things to do (monitor the computer lab, answer reference questions, conduct historical research, shelve books, fax, scan, etc), my department gets all kinds of requests. People might ask us to help them with something with their phone, for instance: one man so frequently created issues for himself on his phone that I’ve learned a lot about Android just having to search for answers. While some days it’s quiet and I can dig into old newspapers with the contentment of a nesting hamster, other days I’m asked so many questions I will eat lunch in my car just so I can steal some peace and quiet. After work, I generally go home, unless there’s some social event in town where I can pop in. Last week, for instance, I went to a historical preservation society meeting, and sometimes there are talks at the local bookstore. Since so many of my friends left town after the tornado, I don’t get to hang out with them in the evenings the way I used to. I sometimes have responsibilities like board meetings or choir practice, but generally I go home to read, listen to podcasts/lectures, and watch a movie. (Not all in the same evening, of course.)
WWW Wednesday
WHAT have you finished reading recently? Take Me To Your Leader, Neil deGrasse Tyson, as well as the full cast audio presentation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
WHAT are you reading now? I started reading Lincoln by Gore Vidal; it’s part of a series of novels he did on ‘American Empire’. It’s a fatty with small text, so I may be chewing on it a while.
WHAT are you reading next? Most likely Brad Birzer’s new release: The Declaration of Independence: A Radical Experiment in Liberty.
Firefly-O-Versary
Facebook reminded me that 16 years ago today I posted, “Watching the first episode of Firefly”. Firefly has been one of my favorite stories since, so…why not share ten favorite quotes?
(1) “May have been the losin’ side. Still ain’t convinced it was the wrong one.” – Cap’n Mal
(2) “Somebody tries to kill you, you try to kill them right back!” – Cap’n Mal
(3) “No more runnin’. I aim to misbehave.” – Cap’n Mal
(4) “Well, look-at-this! Seems we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?”
“Big damn heroes, sir.”
“Ain’t we just?” – Cap’n Mal & Zoe(5) “You know, they say mercy is the mark of a great man. (stab) Maybe I’m just a good one. (stab) Well, I’m all right.” – Cap’n Mal
(6) “This landing is going to be interesting.”
“Define ‘interesting’.”
“‘Oh God, Oh God, we’re all going to die'”? – Cap’n Mal & Wash(7) “I cannot abide useless people.” – Warwick Hallow
(8) “What’d y’all order a dead guy for?” – Jayne
(9) “Ah, I love the pitter-patter of tiny feet in combat boots. SHUT UP!” – Cap’n Mal
(10) “Can’t stop the signal.” – Mr. Universe
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Reading Freely 
I’d love to work in a library but I think it would be a mistake for two reasons: one, I’d be too tempted to read rather than work, and two, it sounds a bit too people-y for me. 😊🫠
Ohhh, we really don’t have time to read. I barely have time to do my actual ‘work’ — constant questions!
I don’t think I could handle working with MOPs all day (Members Of the Public). Part of my job was ‘customer facing’ but as our ‘customers’ were in-house it wasn’t too bad. I like the idea of non-standard days (I’d hate to know *exactly* what I was doing *every* day) but your days at work seem to be a little TOO chaotic!
The guy who was arrested for killing a woman? I had to confiscate hedge-trimmers from him every day. There’s a reason when I go home I often just spend an hour reading under a tree. I need my ‘solar therapy’.
BIZARRE! Presumably he has mental health issues? Is he safe being ‘out’ in public? Scary stuff!!!
Well, fortunately he is no longer out in public. I imagine the judge will be sweet and lenient on him, but for the time being he’s in jail
More power to you. Getting up at 7am sounds wonderful though. What time do you end up getting to bed usually?
Asking for a friend, who is NOT casing the joint. just saying.
Is telling people you “just don’t know” about stuff and so can’t help them an option? If it’s not book related I mean? I just can’t wrap my head around asking librarians for help with my phone or some such. Do you think those people have no one else? I’ve wonder how much “community” is part of it. Ie, they don’t have any, and I do (in church), so I don’t understand them?
I don’t know if it’s official policy, but we’re certainly discouraged from telling people ‘we don’t know’ and stopping at that. We’re required to find information or people who DO know, and connect our patrons and them. Our patrons want help with everything from church programs to planning trips to ….um, cashing out their retirement savings? That just happened today. I constantly have to remind newer staff that we cannot give financial / legal / etc advice even when people expect it from us. It’s rather bizarre in ways. Just because we work in an imposing building does not mean we have all-encompassing knowledge of the modern world.
I think I would last 5minutes there, 10 at the absolute top 🙂
I worked for several years in our public library before LASR/GoddessFish got too busy to keep a day job and loved it. I so understand. Nobody tells you that part of your job description as a librarian might be to remind patrons that the public bathrooms are not there to take a bath or that you need to be careful about getting books out of the bookdrop because you’re never quite sure what else might be there beside books. I’m glad the libraries are there for people… for some patrons, we’re the only people they get to really interact with.
And in some cases, the only place they’re treated with a modicum of respect!
I’m sorry so many of your friends have moved away. I have that problem, too.
The library closest to my house has had some violent incidents, too, including a stabbing some years ago. It’s a location that many people who struggle with homelessness or drug addiction like to gather, partially due to the services offered there and partially due to how nicely located it is to all sorts of other stuff. I’m glad they have a safe place to go.
I was working as computer help in a public library for 6 years, yes, we get everything, some great people, and some more challenging, especially on full moons!!
There was a bomb threat at my library last week. Probably just kid having fun seeing all the commotion. so sad.
Last #book I finished: The Chinese Bell Murders (#JudgeDee), by #RobertvanGulik
#Amreading: The Blind Woman of Sorrento, by #FrancescoMastriani
#Amlistening to: Anthem, by #AynRand
#TBR Reading next: The Truro Bear and Other Adventures: Poems and Essays, by #MaryOliver
Anthem was my first Rand read! Always a sucker for man vs state stories, but it took a few years before I tried Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged. Is the narrator of Anthem good?
He is pretty good. Pete Cross
There are days I want to shut off my phone for the same reason, Stephen. Sometimes we just need alone time. Never thought of the library as a dangerous place. Wow! That story you told is scary. So sorry your friend group moved away., though it sounds like you have filled that time up with neat things. Thanks for sharing.