Thursday, June 23, 2016

Thursday

What I'm doing between questions: not cataloging any of the (no exaggeration) 1000+ items in my backlog, and looking at subject heading changes from March through May. Librarian J is on vacation this week--after calling in sick Tues-Fri last week--and Librarian B is sick today, so I'm filling in as usual. And there's really not a lot of "in between" time.

12:00
  • Report back about Sunday hours at a nearby local library [and they have study rooms there too, which is what he's mostly concerned about
  • [Big-City] newspaper comes back so I can keep it safely behind the desk
  • [phone] Three paperback mystery books we don't own--we'll buy the two published this year and hope the other one is available to ILL
  • Help with scan-print station
  • Books to help get ramped up for taking nursing classes [and by gosh we have a lot!]
  • Nonresident registration to use internet
  • "Why won't my card let me log on the net?" [expired, easy fix]
  • That takes us to 12:25
  • "Where do I print?" [she's an oldie who knows where the printer used to be, but not how to use the 15-month-old system, lol]
  • ILL is done and entered
  • Sunday hours dude needs a study room, so I go evict the person here the longest
  • Another guy comes in for a study room, so I empty the middle one since the tutor using it has disappeared from sight
  • I go to check that I'm not going to get kneecapped for doing that; by the time I get back her stuff is gone--hope it was she who took it!
  • Help printing from wi-fi
  • Help with creating a tear-off public sign
  • Same guy needs to print something else from wi-fi
  • Cuh-RAAzy person arrives and talks to my relief person, Librarian K [I get to the workroom and summon K. for a "question/conference" back here]

2:00 [children's dept.]
  • HOLY CRAP -- Summer Reading Program checkins galore!
  • Nonna here with here grandchildren whose cards are so expired they aren't even in the system anymore; no she can't sign for them--has to be a parent--no she can't take the apps home and bring them back signed...poor kids, Nonna has also had a pop or two today :'(
  • Mayhem in the playing area, by the way; and loud giggling 9-year-old boys playing Minecraft on the computers
  • I know I keep saying this, but holy crap...it's never-ending in here! Bathroom keys, 1000 Books stuff, SRP stuff, Nonna From Hell....
  • Gigglers leave. Thank God. Refreshingly quieter, despite the squealers in the play area
  • Just realized I never ate lunch....

4:00
  • Ran to a nearby gas station and picked up a small bag of popcorn and an oatmeal cookie for lunch, at 3 p.m.; yay eating like an adult!!
  • Library MR: "Please read this and tell me if I missed something or it's not clear" [because we suspect the director should not be allowed to work the SRP desk if he can't follow directions--multiple complaints]
  • YA guest internet pass
  • Multiple kids (tweens) out here playing Minecraft--I can see six eight screens from where I'm sitting. And three of them are in front of boys with snacks so I get to go be the mean librarian....
  • "YA reading checkins are upstairs today.." [I love this girl though--she's from Uganda and smart as a whip academically and socially]
  • Earbuds purchase
  • ...and the snacking continues so I go remind them that I literally can't help but see them whenever I look up because of the way the desk is situated in relation to their computers; last warning before ejection
  • Of course, the smart girl (above) is wandering around with a lollipop in her mouth...ugh
  • Change internet password
  • "I reserved a study room"--well, there's (luckily) one free, but we don't do reservations..."The woman who is on vacation this week said she's write me in The Book" [we don't have A Book, not for anything like that]--email to staff asking WTF?!
  • Smart girl and her two cousins can't seem to get online; we change passwords, I look up the cousins' card #s and eventually they're all settled online
  • When I look up, six fewer Minecrafters, including the snackers -- hurrah
  • Cousins' dad (uncle?) needs to use the stapler 
  • "Can I copy these somewhere?"--very nice lady, and yes
  • Travel stuff for [town near where I went to college]--I show her the area we keep brochures on the metropolitan area it's in
  • [phone] Tech/Circ person calls in response to WTF email that four or five people got an email from Librarian J on Saturday about this because they were on the schedule for 4-6 today so that's all who would probably need to know [which is ludicrous since the schedule changes minute-by-minute around here!! why not throw caution to the wind and send the email to {{gasp!!}} everyone?!]

5:00
  • Somewhat nutty patron wanders by and stops to say "Hi, Girl!!" She's a riot--though she doesn't always make sense and she can seem rather combative
  • "How do I get online?"
  • How to get the microfilm back on the original roll once you've looked at all of it
  • "What time is it?" for study room sign-in
  • How to print (for the new online person), and then how to get home [she's using the map from the local phone book, so I Google Map her a bigger map so she doesn't go blind walking]
  • ...for some reason that reminds me that it's garbage night, so I have to get all the stuff to the curb when I get home....maybe I won't stay late at work after all....
  • Interview lady is done
  • "Can old magazines be checked out? [Yes] Eyes light up: "is there a limit to how many??" [not really...wow, he's excited!]
  • Stapler returned, with pencil as interest
  • Tech: "I need candy--where's the adult prizes!?" [so I have a piece with her]
  • Can't log in--card is expired
  • Help scan-print
  • Card expired, and he doesn't have it anyway--back to circ for a new one
  • Tech (different one) asking about room thingy