LibraryTechtonics

Normally, I work a Saturday rotation, where I work a Saturday every 3 weeks. However, I’m working 3 Saturday shifts this month (the only Saturday I’m not working I’ll be in Seattle), so I’m here at the desk for the day.

A typical Saturday usually starts with at least four patrons waiting at the door for us to open (if it’s a day with a story hour or sing along, we usually see an army waiting for us), and the usual number of patrons trickle in over the course of the morning, hitting a high point just after the customary brunch hour. Then, ’round about 3:30p or so, we see another burst of people, with a regular rush of calls, questions, and how-do-I-finds about 4:30p, finishing off with a relatively long closing time line at the Circ desk at 5p.

It’s a progressively busy day.

Saturdays, the desk is always staffed with two librarians. If it’s quiet enough, we can each sneak in a little off-desk time in the Workroom, in the wonderful and productive solitude. I was privy to an hour this morning, which was super, and came back down to the desk so that Kathy could go up for an hour herself, then head over to the Children’s Room to cover a 1/2 lunch, while I woman the Information Desk downstairs before it gets super duper busy.

I’ve had three interactions, one after the other, that made me smile. Working Saturdays isn’t normally a problem, but it does shorten my weekend, so I’ve been feeling a bit frazzled and short of my own time all month, which makes working the desk more taxing and less fun.

One gentleman was not only impressed that we have climate information for Reading (there’s a a climatologist who tracks this stuff, but I don’t think he’s a town employee, he just does it), and that he could use any of our computers without having to sign in or comply with a time limit (we do have a 15 minute limit if it’s busy, but we seem to have enough computers that it’s seldom a problem).

Another gentleman was putting a few things on hold, so I asked for his card. He was quite pleased to say he had it on him, and he keeps it in his truck all the time, which is only a problem if he rides his bike to the library. Upon mentioned that we now offer key fob library cards that patrons can switch to from regular cards, we got into a brief chat on privacy prompted by the notion of trying to merge all of those crazy fobs on everyone’s keychains into one, and how that might be just a *little* too Big Brother. He was glad that the library does such a great job protecting everyone’s privacy, and it was worth the little inconveniences (no record of borrowing history, for example).

The third involved a woman with a small boy in tow, looking for a newsletter with a copy of our monthly calendar. While our newsletter is being published weekly via a blog online only, we do have a paper copy at the Circ desk with all of the library events on it. She was talking to her son as she walked away, listing off everything she though was cool on the calendar (DDR for Kids, book groups, etc.) and said out loud, “It’s the latest, it’s the greatest, it’s the library.”

Yet another reason, and a pleasant reminder of why I don’t mind working Saturdays so much.

Tags: work
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