I’ve been wanting to write “Tales of a small library” for a long time. Sometimes I feel like I’m working on the set of a library sitcom, or drama, depending on the day….
Everything is happening all the time. Even in our small town.
There are interesting characters coming in and out, bringing their feuds, standoffs, love affairs, accidents, crushes, small disputes, gossip, moments of mayhem and profound joy to our little library every day. and that’s just the staff. Heh, heh.
On my good days, I feel like I’m standing tall at the center of the universe. Which, of course, I am…at least MY universe. SuperLibrarian.
Other days I’m drowning in quicksand, up to my neck in…..paper, accounting, piles of random runaway books, unanswered letters, broken computers, staff problems, questions, phonecalls, doors that won’t close, security systems that fail, teenage hackers to fight off, scratched brand new DVDs, ILL overdues, wonky cataloguing, a poor but expensive automation system that won’t comport itself properly, slow connectivity, books checked in with strawberry jam smeared on them, broken raw eggs thrown into the bookdrop, pictures falling off the wall, a snowshoveler who makes more than I do but who doesn’t show up on open days, so I have to do the shoveling.
Rant, rant, rant. You get the idea. But don’t get me wrong. I love my job most of the time. Just not when I’m busy hating it.
