It’s been over three months that I’ve been working at the Edgewood College Library. My shifts at the reference desk there (usually a few hours a day) certainly have been a different experience compared to staffing the reference desk at a public library.
I’m sorry it’s been two weeks since the last post. As you can imagine, I’ve been very busy lately. Today I finished my first full week working as the Web Services Librarian at Edgewood College. After five days, I think I’ve had enough experience to say that I’m going to enjoy working there.
In other news (if everything goes as planned) I should be permanently living in Madison by the end of next week. Speaking of which, I was browsing through some moving and packing websites the other day and found out how to pack hippos (from the US Postal Service, no less). Does anyone have a 1000 gallon tank I can borrow?
I got the job! Oh wait a minute… I should probably back up for those of you who don’t know the whole story.
Last week I had interviewed for the position of Web Services Librarian at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. After the interview I felt pretty good about the whole thing and was very excited about the possibilities of working there. The position’s responsibilities are an interesting combination of website development and librarian duties.
While at work this afternoon, I walked into the bathroom to use the facilities. I was dressed for work as I usually am, in a shirt and tie, with my name tag that says “Librarian.”
There was a library patron in there washing his hands (one of our regular internet users). He notices me come in and asks “So, do you clean the bathrooms here too? It’s always so nice and clean.”
For a few seconds, sarcastic (and perhaps smart-ass) answers flooded into my brain. I am glad to report however, that I summoned a great deal of self-restraint and gave him a polite answer. Since the question deserves a proper response, I thought I would do so here.
This post is inspired by the weblog, Ref Grunt. I couldn’t agree more with the librarian from that site when he writes: “Some days I love working the reference desk, some days I hate it and it’s often the same day.”
In the Morning
“My computer froze.” I’ll reboot it for you sir.
Information on the Coral Castle in Florida.
“How do I download to a floppy disk?”
“A window popped up that said I won a prize.” I think that’s an ad. If I were you I would not give them your email address.
There was a cute little girl (about two years old) at the library today who had a delightful case of the giggles. I think one of my favorite sounds in this world is that of a child’s laughter. It’s such a pure, innocent and joyful sound that we adults have long lost. Even if you’re having a bad day, hearing such a sound can do wonders for lifting your spirits. I was glad I was around to hear that little girl’s giggles today.
Tomorrow I will have worked at the Oak Creek Public Library for fourteen years. When I first started at Oak Creek I figured I would probably be there for five, maybe seven years. Fourteen years have past and I wonder where the time went. As Groucho Marx once said, “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.”
In other news, today the planet Mars is the closest it’s been to the Earth in 60,000 years. Head outside tonight and take a look.
