At The Library

[callmemadam]

What a beautiful song, what an earworm. I only have to hear Bob Dylan’s Make Me Feel Your Love once to have it fixed firmly in my head and I'm obsessed with it this morning. The version you hear on the radio all the time is by Adele but I prefer Bryan Ferry from Dylanesque.

Watch on YouTube

Our library has had a makeover. As everything has moved and I have no sense of direction, it’s harder than ever for me to find the books I might want. Before the change I was forever wandering around hopelessly, muttering, ‘What’s wrong with Dewey, for goodness sake’ as I made my way round stands marked ‘Quick Choice’, ‘Something Different’ or ‘New Books’. That and wondering which genre a particular author might be deemed to fit and shuddering at those horrible carousels which hide two thirds of the books from you.

We are now a do-it-yourself library, where the reader is responsible for borrowing and returning books, without stamps. It’s not really self-serve, as no sooner do you approach the console clutching your books and reader’s card than a librarian appears from nowhere at your shoulder, enquires kindly if you are ‘all right’ and proceeds to do the job for you. Old habits, eh? I said to one that I hoped this system would not be putting any of them out of a job. ‘Oh, we’ve got plenty to do’, she replied rather smugly, and whisked back into the librarians’ lair. I must say they’re all very cheerful these days.

I haven’t counted to see how my Library Challenge is going. All too often I prowl around and come out empty handed. You want the latest books? They might come over from Swanage or Bridport. You want the book before last in a series? Sorry, the early ones have gone. The 10p trolley is always full of more books they’re getting rid of. I could reserve books but to get anything from outside the county costs £3.85. Some people will think this very mean of me but I don’t see why, because my library is small, I should pay extra for what is supposed to be a free service, when I already pay Council Tax. Besides, for £3.85 I could buy a book, or several.

Comments

[lurpak.livejournal.com]

I drive a mobile library van, and I must admit when I first started I was taken aback by the number of Mills and Boon and western books we stock. Now I've been in the job a while, I can see that these are actually some of the most heavily borrowed books... people will borrow twelve at a time, and are starting to ask for more as many of them have read them all several times!

We do have a Saturday service here at least, but they are our quietest days by far. There are some stops where in all the time I've worked on the van I've only ever seen one or two customers.

[debodacious.livejournal.com]

I knew M and B had a dedicated readership, but I din't know cowboy books were still popular - I thought, like the films, they were a bit old hat these days.

I would love your job!

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

If M & B and Westerns are what people want, you're meeting their needs, which is nice.

I wonder what keeps the clients indoors on Saturdays? Can't be the telly as there's nothing on!