I like to keep up on library news and this one I’d like to share. An update on the Occupy Wall Street Library.
Image: chanpipat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
No sooner am I back to work than I have something neck-punch worthy to complain about. I’m not talking about the general consensus that it’s acceptable to sneeze or wipe a drippy nose before handing a librarian (or anyone) your card. I’m talking thievery. it really ticks me the hell off.
I am very proud of the collection of graphic novels I’ve built for my library. I do my best to stock a wide range of mainstream and indie comics catering to as many tastes as I can. So imagine my rage when I come in to have someone tell me a patron ripped the barcode out of one of our Batman books and stole it. Because it’s totally off the grid if you damage the book before you snatch it.
Stealing is bad as is but if I believed in hell, I would like to think there was a special hot stabby circle for people who steal from libraries. It is just a disgusting thing to do and, as I said on my Twitter, I hope whoever stole it gets a horrible, festering paper-cut. They can get cured but I hope it fucking hurts.
Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
You wake up one day and think “Hey! I like books, I like reading, I like research, and I tolerate like helping people! I should TOTALLY become a librarian! Nothing gross could possibly happen there!”
You. Are. SO. Wrong.
While working the desk, I hear this retching sound. Turns out this guy was throwing up blood in one of the stacks. He RUNS out, leaving the mess – and his hat – behind. I go and see the damage and put a chair over it so nobody can step on it before the custodian gets the flamethrower cleaning materials. The guy comes BACK in, puts the chair BACK at the table, puts his hat BACK on, AND PUTS THE BOOK HE BARFED BLOOD ON BACK ON THE SHELF. I find it dribbling onto the metal shelf (thankfully not onto any other books). I take a bunch of tissues and nudge the thing back onto the floor and put the chair back over the entire mess.
What gets be about this is be didn’t say a damn thing. If people haddn’t heard him throwing up, nobody would have known.
This is not when I signed up for when I went for my MLS. XD
Currently, I smell like the inside of a hand sanitizer bottle and I STILL feel soiled. I feel like I wanna shower in bleach. Bring on the drunk tranny anytime who calls me a Cracker anytime. She’s much easier to deal with. >_<
Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I proclaim today that for every person who calls us and asks us if we’re open today, I get ten bucks. T_T
Anyway, in the flurry that was this weekend, I did NOT get even half of what I wanted done finished. But seeing as how I can stand without feeling light headed or nauseous, I’m calling it a win.
I try to greet every Monday as a chance for a fresh start and aim to get to Friday with a list of accomplishments. On the list for this week is to get to Friday. >_< Ok, maybe it’s not THAT bad. XD
This week is NYCC, and I will be attending as a guest. I’m not such hot shit that I get a booth or have anyone know my name or anything… But I will be there this Thursday all day milling around and being one of the coolest librarians on the planet. 😉 I’ll make sure to take pictures of all the swag I get (free and non-free) and of actual famous people that I see.
Also, I will get back on the Wii now that I’m sure I won’t fall off the thing. I didn’t wanna risk it while I was sick. Either way, I’m healthy(-ish) and back in the saddle!
Personally I tend to go for the classics but, have at it! XD
It’s sadly official. Borders is closing. No, I am really upset about this. I ADORE going to Borders and found the entire shopping experience much better than Barnes and Nobel, and Borders was the only place I knew of where I could purchase Paperchase products on clearance or with a coupon. It was also my go to store for comics and manga.
Briefly, I considered finally making the switch to an e-reader. On the rare occasion I actually purchase a book, it’s a paperback. These are becoming few and far between, seeing as how I work in a library which gives me inside info on when my favorite books are coming out and I can read them for free. I don’t even mind waiting. It gives me time to read other books. :p
But comics are not available on your average mainstream e-reader without jumping through a thousand hoops to get the jpeg files to display. And if you’ve ever seen my Shelfari list, I read A LOT of comics.
What concerns me most about Borders closing is, as a graphic novel fan and a librarian, I see kids sitting in stores AND in the library reading their favorite series because they simply can’t afford to buy them. In my years as a fan, I’ve seen volumes go from $5.99-$7.99 to $9.99-$24.99 for your average collected book. Kids (and parents) just can’t afford to keep up when some series can go as high as 30 volumes. That’s $750 or more per series. And don’t even get me started on having space for all these things!!
This calls to mind the last time I went to my local Borders where a man working there scolded the kids for standing around and reading the books. The kids complained the libraries don’t have “cool books like these.” The hell you say! I told them flat out “Not only do we have cool books but the one you have in your hand I just ordered for the library!”
They didn’t believe me.
I feel for these kids because they can’t afford to buy them, can’t stand in a Borders and read (cause Borders is gone), and don’t KNOW these books are in a library! This is really sad and troubling to me.
As to why I was considering an e-reader, I will need space in my house for all the comics I will now HAVE to purchase from Amazon (some comics I get are not appropriate for a library… Not all of them are yaoi so shaddap… XD) so if I want novels, I’d like to save the space and use an e-reader. I mean, if I’m going to spend the money, I might as well save the space, right?
Eh, screw it. I’ll just use the desktop applications for now. I’ll need to save that money for comics. XD
But alas, Borders will still be gone. Some of my best memories are of going to the bookstore with my Ma and I looked forward to sharing that with my daughter. It’s amazing what she will come to know as normal concerning her reading as opposed to what I knew at her age. Is this really farewell to brick and mortar bookstores? This librarian hopes not. 🙁
If you see something in your local library that you enjoy? Tell. Your. Librarian. I really can’t stress that enough.
Today I had a very nice man ask me how many graphic novels he could check out and my answer was simply "As many as you can carry." XD He’d come from several towns away because he saw online that our collection was so good. I take a bit of personal credit for this because it was my idea to have a graphic novel collection in adult in the first place.
But seriously, circulation statistics are not the only way we gauge if a collection is working or not. Tell the staff when you love something so they can do it more. And so they can smile, because we get yelled at a lot, too.
In other news, the nice men came to knock down the top of our house today. I haven’t seen how far they’ve gotten yet. 0.0
My writing experiment is going well so far. I’ve got one story mere lines from completion, one 3/4 of the way done, and one I’m just beginning. The genres are all over the place so nothing ever gets boring! 😀
And of course, I get a ton if ideas for my two main novels as I work on this experiment. Just lovely. But my muse has always been an attention whore. He likes to mess with my head.
Watch, he’ll give me 2 weeks of writer’s block for that.
If a book is so disgusting you cringe to touch it to put it in a bag? Don’t bother to donate it to a library. Please. Your friendly neighborhood librarian is tired of getting rashes from old, dirty, moldy books. I know you feel bad throwing them away, I understand that feeling, but if you can barely touch it, how is anybody else supposed to read it?
And I’m tired of getting rashes from these things. It’s just gross.
Signed,
Lenni the Librarian.
Lenni will be at New York Comic Con! 😀 Not that I’ll have a table or anything (maybe one day). But I’ll be attending on Friday as a representative of my library. ^_^ Last year, I met Jeff Somers so who knows who I’ll meet this year! 😀
The day I get a table will be the day I get throngs of fans imploring to meet me. 😉
Hint hint.
I’ll only be able to go on Friday since Ma has chemo on Saturday and I have OT on Sunday. But one day is better than no days. 🙂