Shhh!

When was the last time you were shushed? Several years ago, when I spoke to the Clark County Librarians in Las Vegas, Nevada, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a group of people who were known for silencing people all day long. Anyone who thinks that librarians are shy and quiet hasn’t seen them when they are not at work. It was a very fun day with lots of great stories about things that happened to them at the library.

These stories reminded me of some of the their tales:

•        “One day while giving a group of students a tour of the library, I led the class down the hallway past the staff room. The door was open and several library staff members were taking their lunch break. One was heating something on the stove and several others were eating at the table. Gazing in at this domestic scene, one young student asked, ‘Where do the librarians sleep?’” 
• 
  
•     “The library, where I worked, installed a new security system. If someone tried to sneak a book out without checking it out, a device in the book would set off the security gate's alarm at the library's exit doors. This is similar to the security attachments and gates in stores at many shopping malls. A sign at the checkout desk informed library users of this new security feature. One library patron seemed puzzled by how the device would work. She asked, ‘Will it start beeping when my books are overdue?’”
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•      “Many people think a library is such a nice place to work that librarians should volunteer their time. In fact, librarians in university libraries or public libraries are required to have a Master's Degree in Library Services. A library user overheard the Library Director tell several staff members that the paychecks were ready for pick up in the office. The library patron overheard the remark and in an amazed tone, said, ‘You mean you get paid to work here?’”
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•      “The president of my Friends of the Library group showed me several donated books. ‘Why do people give these to us,’ she asked. I glanced at them and one was a sexy novel and the other a sex manual. ‘I can't put these in the book sale,’ she said. ‘What would people think if they saw them there?’ Puzzled, I asked what she intended to do with them. ‘I'll just put them in my garage with the other donated sex books,’ she replied. I imagine in her years of volunteering with the library book sale she has accumulated quite a stack of these. When she dies, what will her children think when they find her garage filled with books about sex?” 

Today’s gift was to give “library appropriate” hardcover textbooks to our local branch. Tim and I have kept them since our first move to the western United States in 1981. Many of them are books that are still used in classes today. They are full of really important, valuable information. More than that though, they symbolize the knowledge that helped get us to where we are today. Hopefully, a budding young interior designer, recreation therapist or mining engineer can carve out a future for themselves with the valuable knowledge from these textbooks.

In Giving,

Robin