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In the News!

My library was mentioned in a recent TIME article about how libraries are re-inventing themselves to keep up with the current technology trends!  The Gimme Engine is our invention in the mobile app world as we try to connect customers with reviews and recommendations made by our very own staff members.  I feel very proud (and lucky!) to be part of a library system that is as forward thinking as Scottsdale.

Also, interestingly enough, my library did try to the "Text-a-Librarian" option a while back, but found that it was under utilized and therefore stopped using it.  I wonder if there's a secret that other libraries know to encourage usage that we haven't found yet.

And some of my not so favorite things

Yesterday, I talked about a few of my favorite things at my job.  Today, I'm going to talk about the not-so-favorite things.  Actually, the most hated and dreaded part of the job: dealing with angry customers.

Sometimes, there are people who come in who are just angry for no reason, and they like to take it out on people like me who work in a customer service oriented field.  Every now and then, the customers are angry for a justifiable reason, and a few of them are nice enough to recognize that even though they're angry, they shouldn't be yelling at us about it.  And often times, I'm able to diffuse the situation or offer an alternative that the customer will accept.  But there are also the customers who are so angry they won't see reason or logic, and nothing we do or say will placate them.

I had a customer like that today.  I'm not going to give any specific details, but she was so angry at what I did - which, I'd like to add, was perfectly legit - that nothing I did or say was good enough.  In fact, I don't even think she was listening to any of my solutions or suggestions; she just wanted me to do what she wanted.  Worse part was she yelled at me in front of her kids, so her kids also thought I was the bad guy, even though she was freaking out for no good reason.  It was not a good situation, and it ended with her demanding my name and informing me that she's going to file an official complaint against me.

Luckily, people like that are the minority, and most of the time, staff can see the humor in the situation afterwards and know that the staff member didn't do anything out of line.  Unfortunately, when you're being screamed at an irrational customer, it's hard to find anything funny about it in that moment. 

These are a few of my favorite things...

I just realized recently that I spend the majority of the time here on my blog reviewing books.  While I love doing that, it doesn't really give much insight into what I do as a librarian on a daily basis, and why I  enjoy my job so much.  So, here are five things that I love about my job, in no particular order:

1.  The people I meet - This includes all the babies, kids, teens, and adults that I have the pleasure of getting to know.  Some of them are an absolute joy (mostly the babies and kids), and some of them are...wacky, for a lack of a better word.  However, each and every one of them show me how different people can be, and how wonderful it is that we live in a world with such diversity.

2.  Storytimes and programs - I know for some of you, babies, kids and teens aren't your favorite people in the world.  But for me, they're awesome, and I love being able to do fun programs with them and be silly.  Because, really, how many other jobs can you think of where you can go around dancing and singing fun songs without being stared at like you're crazy?

3. Being surrounded by books all day every day - For a bookworm like me, it's heaven.

4.  My coworkers - Because we can talk about dinosaur farts and butt books and know we're completely immature and silly, but be okay with it.

5.  Being an important pillar to the community - As a child, I always wanted to help the world, or change it in some significant manner, but I never really thought I would be able to.  Becoming a librarian was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.  Not only is it FUN, but I feel like I'm helping people too.  I teach parents literacy skills that they can pass onto their babies so they're ready for school, and I get kids excited about reading, and I'm there to listen to the teens when they're troubled or sad or just want to talk.  I help adults find what they're looking for, like books, or business information, or tax information, or information about genealogy.  And the best part of it all is that I actually enjoy doing all the above things.

Well, there's a little peek into my world of being a librarian.  It's wonderful and amazing and I'm always learning something new each day.  Whenever I tell someone I'm a librarian, most of the time the follow up question is, "What do you do?" For anyone who is interested in what I do, I'm going to try and write an entry every week or so about a different aspect of my job. 

Would YOU check this book out?

 Check out what I found in my library (click the picture to enlarge it)!  True story folks, I found this book still circulating in the stacks a couple of weeks ago.  Not only does the cover make me want to giggle every time I look at it (yes, yes, I'm judging a book based on its cover, but seriously...would YOU want to check this book out?), this book was published in 1985!  It's as old as I am!

For more hilarious, outdated library books, check out Awful Library Books.  And for anyone who is wondering, yes, I weeded that book out of our collection.