This will be pretty quick, because while this charming book contains many, many gems, it is a very slender little thing and doesn’t require a great deal to say about it. Only, that if you are looking for something to uplift your spirits and make you chuckle, reach for I Work at a Public Library. Gina Sheridan has catalogued her many encounters with library patrons and uses the Dewey Decimal system to organize these snippets of joy.
There is a section on “Reference Work” and Sheridan quips, “Peruse the following stories as a frame of reference, and keep in mind, common sense is often past due.”
Yes, Ms. Sheridan, working in academia and surrounded by some of the best and brightest minds often has me saying the exact same thing! (Now I’m wondering if I should start doing a better job of collecting the stories for something like “I work in an academic institution”. :-) )
There is a wealth of humour and goodness found inside, items such as:
“Note found in the patron suggestion box: “You have SIGNS up near the computers that say BE QUIET, but people don’t be quiet. They laugh out loud and talk out loud. Libraries used to be quiet, but they aren’t anymore because you let all the assholes in!!!!!”
Many of the other experiences she has catalogued will make you laugh out loud, and her closing story of how weird and wonderful it was to work in a library will warm your heart. Many thanks to Adams Media for suggesting this one and sending it along for our enjoyment. I will be sharing with the fellow Hoarders, but also have one librarian friend in mind that I’m certain can add many more of her experiences from working in a public library too.
