Saturday, February 14, 2004

In the Morning:

Phone number for a different library.
Printer advice.
The email attachments she received keep crashing Wordpad.
More printer advice.
City directories 1926-1948.
More printer advice.
Economics dictionaries.
Big old insurance maps.
Stapler.
Old photos.
"A new book about Al Capone."
An infant cries. Above him, a three year-old tries to look nonchalant.
Consumer guides for PC buying.
Local tax form.
Today's paper.
Another local history book. I bet this guy is going to bug us all day long.
Copier advice.
Stapler.
Stats on how many people sleep with the fan running.
Don't run!
Don't talk!
Reboot.
If we must die, by Claude McKay, but the connection is lost.
Printer advice.
Tax forms are over there, sir.
She wants books on tape for the readers, not the authors. I look up George Guidall for her.

In the Afternoon:

Printer advice.
Sorry sir, we don't reserve the study rooms in advance.
You need to put money in the machine, sir. "I did. You don't believe me?"
Yellow pages.
A long discussion about doing "¡" in Word.
I can't help you with lost book charges. Sorry sir.
Print jobs come out down here, sir.
"How come my voter registration card hasn't arrived yet?"
Pen.
Not enough ID to register her to vote.
White pages.
Reboot.
1996-04 top hip-hop albums, with number of copies sold.
I tell the study room to shut up.
More info on Claude McKay.
How to write business plans.
We're out of Donald Goines books so she tries for Sister Souljah.
Italian instruction tapes.
Bathroom.
Books on the music business.
Copier advice.
This day is as quiet as last week was busy.
Abraham Lincoln.
He can't get a webpage to come up (because he doesn't know how to use a browser and can't type).
"I can't find the link" (same guy).
"What's my email?" (guess who?)

No signup, just choose a computer and sit down, sir or ma'am: 7

Thursday, February 12, 2004

In the Morning:

They'll sell you a disk at the front desk, ma'am.
History of a local mall.
Books by Dave Pelzer.
Local tax form.
"Can I check these books out?"
A brief database lecture.
Salesman. Grr.
From slavery to freedom, by John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr.
Printer advice.
I hate Word templates. Now the patron does too.
Local tax form.
Economists, especially Keynes. Every time I find her something she says "Thanks babe."
Tape.
Local tax forms.
Algebra books.
Presidents and when they were in office.
Stapler.
Local community band.
Copier advice.
Census tract info, which, to my amazement, I locate.
Something about the "impact fees" we were charging him. Impact fees?

In the Afternoon:

Printer advice.
WPs are over there, sir.
Printer advice (same guy).
That terminal won't print her document. It doesn't like her floppy disk either.
Another patron confused with blank pages at the end of his Word document.
Real estate appraisal.
Printer advice.
How to place a hold.
Copier advice.
An old lady with a brilliant british accent has neverseen the Dewey decimal system. All she wants is Bill Bryson books.
Balance of power, by James North Patterson.
Nora Roberts books.
"Do these computers have games on them?"
Cane River, by Lalita Tademy.
Someone is playing a saxophone.
Printer advice.
The civil war.
"Is there a quiet place around here where I can study?" Unfortunately, no.
A child called it, by David Pelzer.

No signup! 10

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

In the Afternoon:

He can't get his Word document to print right and blames it on us.
Home businesses.
Can I help you? "No."
Department of Public Services phone.
That web page just won't print right. Time for cut and paste.
English/spanish dictionary.
St. Valentine's day massacre.
I can't help you with your lost video, sir.
Ingles sin barreras.
Tape. He repairs his clothing.
Kevin Chen, artist.
She loses her entire online form when the machine freaks out.
Info on a poetry contest.
Paper clip.
Reboot.
Printer advice.
I'm blind, so what? by Derrick Phillips.
She nearly loses her online form again.
Reboot.
Printer advice.

In the Evening:

Scissors.
"Where's downstairs?"
How to see different views in Word.
CDs by Eamon.
Library cards at the front desk, kid.
Check out books at the front desk, sir.
"Tobacco and what it does to your body."
Don't run!
Holds are at the front desk, sir.
Quotation books, but she really needs a Shakespeare sonnet.
We lose a man's ILL.
Holds at the front desk, ma'am.
"I froze computer 11 ... again!"
Mexico history books in spanish.
Quote books, or something that shows the meanings of sentences when you reverse the words, or something like that.
Copier advice.
Nutrition books, mainly apples.
That's a novel, sir. That's why there's no call number.
Tax forms are over there, ma'am.
No food in the library!
All the internet machines are taken and people are upset again.
Clive Barker.
I leave to teach a workshop. I come back.
Pen.
Yearbook. It's the wrong one.
Dr. Livingstone.
Copier advice.
We close in 10 minutes and the place is still packed.

No more signup: 4

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

In the Morning:

Reno travel guides.
Computer workshop schedule.
His daughter returned a dozen books and she needs them all again.
He wants to protest his property tax.
I suppose going from "religion" to "christianity" is narrowing it down, but ...
Sorry sir, no computer workshop tonight.
City directories.
Copiers are ten cents, ma'am.
Click there to open the picture file, sir.
Click there to read your email, sir.
Blue book.
He lost his ID.
I'm told by a patron not to look so bored.
Location of a local street.
Did her tax check go through?
Pencil.
Printer advice.
Printer advice.
They'll stamp your parking ticket at the front desk, sir.
A local history book.

In the Afternoon:

Cajun cooking.
Press the underline button, sir.
Printer advice.
Front desk will make change for you, sir.
She calls about a lost floppy which was returned last night and is now missing.
A catcher in the rye, by J. D. Salinger, and Of mice and men, by John Steinbeck.
Harriet Tubman.
She needs a copy of her GED scores.
"I wanted a copy of Always running but you got me something called La vida loca instead."
Email attachment woes.
When we say we have their form, why do they always ask if it's the latest one?
Today's paper.
Copier advice.
Tax counseling information. I had to repeat every fact twice.
Pencil.
I break up congestion at the internet terminals.
Books on "history," in spanish.
When I say we have Word available to the public, why do they always ask if they can use it?
I can't find a missing floppy. She thinks I am lying.
We don't have that database, sir.
The battle of Gettysburg.
Statistics.
Daniel Boone. Now I have that song stuck in my head.
Yesterday's paper.
There's the stairway, sir.
Keep it down!
A floppy is stuck.
Today's paper.
He wants to write a letter to every library in the county.
The 12 year-old runs to catch the 3 year-old.
Tax counseling is downstairs, kid.
A map of some tiny town somewhere.
Shut the fuck up!
Action movies.
Diego y Frida, by J.M.G. Le Clézio.
He can't find the G's.
Don't run.
Printer advice.
Don't run.
The one minute manager, by Spencer Johnson, on tape.
Sorry sir, no fax.
Goddamit don't run!!
"I need books about these people." A long list.
All the computers are taken, ma'am. No, that's the print server. No, that's an online catalog.
Bathroom key is over there.

We don't sign people up for the internet anymore: 18

Monday, February 09, 2004

In the Evening:

The meeting room is downstairs, ma'am.
She needs a book at least 250 pages.
1987 Cadillac Brougham repair manual. He settles for a Fleetwood.
Everything about England.
Careers in art.
Jamaica Kincaid. Sorry, no cell phones.
Peaches.
History of a local landmark.
2 notarizations.
Bush's brain, by James Moore and Wayne Slater.
"Abraham Lincoln was our first president, right?" No. "Who was?" George Washington. "That's right! Lincoln was the sixteenth!" And off she ran.
"How much to print." He looked suspicious of everything I said.
WPs are over there, ma'am.
"The names of the fingers."
Pit Bull books.
Check out books over there, sir.
Divorce books.
Shut up!
Help with printing a too-slick web page.
No, you can't clip out articles from our newspapers.
Somebody's angel child, by Carman Moore.
He needs a pen, and a cigarette for later.
Ask at circ if you need the phone, sir.
She once had a book that had all the religions in the world and when they started, with a couple pictures of each. But that's all she remembers.
Sorry sir, we don't have that newspaper on microfilm, sir.
Sunday paper.
Citizenship books, and bible study.
I almost step on another kid.
Large print books.
Affirmative action.
Sorry ma'am, I can't teach you how to use Word.
Another sonnet.
A sheet of legal size paper.
Pen.
American Jesus, by Stephen Prothero.
Stapler.
The last-minute printing people ...

We no longer sign people up for the Internet: 8

Sunday, February 08, 2004

In the Afternoon:

It's a stampede! The doors open and one minute later all 35 machines are occupied.
Techie X gets a lecture about cars.
They'll issue you a card over there, sir.
Anthem, by Ayn Rand.
Stapler. She breaks it.
Today's paper.
Crit on Shakespeare's sonnets.
There's a dog loose in the library!
Microfilm reader lecture.
Sandra Cisneros.
"Hide your gum!" cries the girl.
Those aren't state form ma'am, they're federal.
A constitution book in spanish.
John Gotti.
Reboot.
Pencil.
Out of the stacks, kids.
Pencil.
Lots of hispanic author guides.
Microfilm reader refresher course.
To kill a mockingbird (film).
The kid's section is downstairs, ma'am.
Copier advice.
Hernando Tellez.
Pablo Neruda.
Shakespeare's sonnets again.
Microfilm reader advice.
Today's paper.
Local history.
Printer advice.
Consumer reports for 2003.
Boxing.
Today's paper.
Check books out over there, sir.
Biographies are over there.
Microfilm reader advice.
Another damn sonnet.
"The interpretation of EKGs."
Stanislavsky.
I nearly step on a kid.
Today's paper, and yesterday's, and a phone book.
Jesse Owens.
Reboot.
Ralph Abernathy.
Frederick Douglass.
Lady of Spain for accordian.
"World war one, and religion."
Wal-Mart, and how their lawsuits are going.
Yes ma'am, that number on the spine is the call number. I don't care what your teacher told you.
Maya Angelou.
Local building history.
Library history.
Phone books.
Gabriel Garcia-Marquez.
United States Rangers. What they do.
Pencil.
It's five minutes until we close, and no one wants to leave the internet terminals.
All our SQL server books are checked out. He is not happy.
This is the busiest shift I can remember.