Confession #14...I cheat...

Today at the library I had a patron come in looking for a specific article in a magazine from 6 years ago.

I tried to use the library's resources and found myself getting frustrated that I couldn't find what I was looking for. I looked for about 5 minutes with no luck.

What to do? Oh what to do?

So, I cheated.

I logged onto Emporia and accessed the William Allen White library on campus.

I found the magazine he was looking for and with just a few keystrokes, found the exact article he was looking for.

I printed it out and sent him on his merry way.

Best use of library resources? Probably not, but the patron was happy and that's all that really matters to me.

Confession #13...What is Yu-Gi-Oh and why are grown men playing it...

I love to read kids books. I can talk mysteries, humor, adventure and especially fantasy. I like most books I have read and love quite a few. There are some I haven't liked quite as much, which usually means I was distracted while trying to read it and couldn't get into the story/experience/etc.

However, there is an enigma that continues to elude me...what is Yu-Gi-Oh? This whole phenomenon is something I don't understand. I've googled it so I have a basic idea, something like an offshoot of Pokemon, which believe me, is a whole different concept I don't understand, but I digress...

So, the Donkey Kong of this generation? I thought that was Mario Kart. (Sidenote: my 6 year old nephew smokes me at Mario Kart on a regular basis...so much so, I have quit playing with him)

Anyway, back to Yu-Gi-Oh. I still don't get it. Anime? Cartoon? What's the draw of this?

The library where I am working today is having a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament. To be honest, I thought there would be a few kids, swapping cards (at least I think they are cards, they have big, huge, binders with clear plastic sheets that look to be the size of baseball card holders). I walked in the room, because the lights were being weird, and I was slightly taken aback by what I observed.

This tournament was not just kids, but teenagers and adults. I assume these men are parents, although some of them looked like they had just crawled out of their mother's basements...not really, but you know what I am talking about...AND their leader looked to be about 22 years old. What is a 22 year old doing in a library on a Saturday afternoon playing cards with kids and grown men?

So, if anyone knows what this mystical thing is, please feel free to share your vast knowledge and understanding with me.

Please.

And on that note, how is Ninjago pronounced? Nin-jah-go? Nen-yahhhh-goooo? I give up.

Confession #12...I will uphold copyright laws...

Today I had this question from a patron...

Patron: How do I burn a cd?

Me: You need to have a cd burner. The library computers don't have them.

Patron: Can you burn cd's on the library computers?

Me: Um, no.

Patron: Huh. Why not (as he glances at the 10 cd's he has sitting next to him)

Me: Well, sir, it is against copyright to "burn" cd's and the library computers don't have CD burners.

Pause.

Me: Anything else I can help you with?

Patron: No.

Addition to confession #11...

A librarian friend just sent this to me...

I give credit to librarianproblems.com for this content...

Some One Asks, do you have to have a degree to be a librarian?

Confesssion #11...Librarians do NOT get to spend the day reading...

I used to get this question all the time when I worked at the bookstore...

"So, since you are surrounded by books all day, do you just get to sit and read?"

Nope. Doesn't happen at the bookstore and definately doesn't happen at the library. If it did, how would I be able to help you when you need helping finding that book club book, or how to print a document, or where the closest post office is.

In all actuality, since I have begun working at the library, I HAVE read more books, although, not the kind I used to read. I have found myself on several different committee's, reading for upcoming reader's choice, beehive awards etc. Some of these have been a pleasure to read, some, not so much.

While I don't get to spend the day at the library with books and a cup of tea, I have had the great opportunity to read some great books, recommended by patrons, friends and librarians.

Here are a few such books:

Confession #10...To Shhhh or not to Shhhh

The other day, I shhhhhh'd my first library patron. I had a bun in my hair, was wearing my glasses and had on a long skirt and cardigan. I seemed to be the epitome of a old school librarian.

This is not necessarily how I looked, rather how I felt

Some kids were being a little unruly, as children are and I shhhhh'd them. It felt great! I had been waiting for this day since I started library school...the day I could shhhhhh and feel good about it.

What I find humorous is this...a few days after the day of shhhhhhhing, a library patron walked up to me and said "You know, librarians are louder than patrons. Librarians talk at the top of their voices then make those around them be quiet.".

Needless to say, this made me pause. I wondered if in fact, I had been speaking too loudly for the library and I was in the wrong for shhhhhing these kids.

Then sanity took over. Nope, I was just fine.

Confession #9...Kids make me laugh

This past week while subbing at a local library, I had a little girl come up and ask me about the book flies in diarreah. It was hard not to laugh, but inside the whole time, I was thinking "I can't think of a single book about flies and diarreah. Flies and dead bodies, yes, but not flies and diarreah."

I looked and looked and didn't find anything. She said she had read it at school and I couldn't come up with anything. She went away and came back and said, "I know the author is Doreen Cronin". At this point, I figured out what she meant...Diary of a Fly...

I went and found it for her, then suggested the following books:

I love seeing kids with books and I what I love even more than that is their funny questions. So kids, keep them coming. They make my day!