She was such a nice old lady.....

[bookgirl]

Okay, so I'm a librarian at a large system but my branch is in the suburbs (around 75,000) + we get all the surrounding small towns in the north end of the county that have no branch or only a small outreach branch. So large clientle but not huge.

I get a lot of phone customers and know alot of them by name or voice, plus a lot of people come in and I may or may not know thier name, but I know thier books.

I had a women come in yesterday with a list of books she wanted me to pull for her or to reserve from another branch, soft spoken, about 50-60, chubby little old lady type. It was 5 or 6 books, a few on generally morbid death types of books (tour of the worlds dead, crime scene clean up, a couple of books about death in other countries, and a Oscar Wilde book (?) LOL), while thinking "wow, got death on the mind much?" I realize that I recognize that baby doll ultra polite voice.

It's one of my regular phone customers. She calls often for me to look up stuff for her on the internet. She's been studying/converting to Hindu/East Indian type religions, and she calls up asking about really obscure gods and goddesses. They all have common themes women dominant, death, vengence, warriors, EATERS OF THE DEAD which honestly I never thought of in terms of Hinduism or East Indian culture, but these are all really old obscure types of deities, which is why she and the info stuck in my head.

I put all that together and nearly fell out of my chair. Caniblism, crime scene clean up, famuous dead sites of major religions...Holy Dr. Lecter's white haired mother, Batman.

My manager and assistant manager were out on the desk and by the time I got out all the connections, there were absolutly wide eyes and going "where is she, where is she"

Honest to God we spent the next 30 minutes trying to figure out exactly what she was planning, for her next church meeting.

So next time you think the library is a great annonymous place to get info...remember...I know who you are.

 

[sunnyday123]

I would give a new name each and every time I answered the phone. And especially when she calls.


And be very, very nice.

 

[happily single]

Thanks. I just went to the library today and couldn't decide what I wanted to learn about. I'm going to print out your post and show it to my librarian.

 

[simba20]

Okay, so I'm a librarian at a large system but my branch is in the suburbs (around 75,000) + we get all the surrounding small towns in the north end of the county that have no branch or only a small outreach branch. So large clientle but not huge.

I get a lot of phone customers and know alot of them by name or voice, plus a lot of people come in and I may or may not know thier name, but I know thier books.

I had a women come in yesterday with a list of books she wanted me to pull for her or to reserve from another branch, soft spoken, about 50-60, chubby little old lady type. It was 5 or 6 books, a few on generally morbid death types of books (tour of the worlds dead, crime scene clean up, a couple of books about death in other countries, and a Oscar Wilde book (?) LOL), while thinking "wow, got death on the mind much?" I realize that I recognize that baby doll ultra polite voice.

It's one of my regular phone customers. She calls often for me to look up stuff for her on the internet. She's been studying/converting to Hindu/East Indian type religions, and she calls up asking about really obscure gods and goddesses. They all have common themes women dominant, death, vengence, warriors, EATERS OF THE DEAD which honestly I never thought of in terms of Hinduism or East Indian culture, but these are all really old obscure types of deities, which is why she and the info stuck in my head.

I put all that together and nearly fell out of my chair. Caniblism, crime scene clean up, famuous dead sites of major religions...Holy Dr. Lecter's white haired mother, Batman.

My manager and assistant manager were out on the desk and by the time I got out all the connections, there were absolutly wide eyes and going "where is she, where is she"

Honest to God we spent the next 30 minutes trying to figure out exactly what she was planning, for her next church meeting.

So next time you think the library is a great annonymous place to get info...remember...I know who you are.

The same thing could be said for bookstore patrons. we had quite a few regulars who would ask for some very interesting topics.

 

[Tracy Savage]

I hope she doesn't invite you for tea!

 

[Scurvy]

Maybe she's planning to write some sort of murder mystery and she's doing research? I've toyed with that and I've often wondered what the people at the library and book store think of all the things I'm reading.

 

[LoriABil]

Maybe she's planning to write some sort of murder mystery and she's doing research? I've toyed with that and I've often wondered what the people at the library and book store think of all the things I'm reading.

I was wondering (hoping?) the same thing.

 

[december]

I'm still trying to get past the 50-60 year old being an "old lady."

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I'm still trying to get past the 50-60 year old being an "old lady."

 

[bookgirl]

I'm still trying to get past the 50-60 year old being an "old lady."

LOL, little old lady type.....looked like she should be making cookies and she always calls me 'dear'

 

[bookgirl]

Maybe she's planning to write some sort of murder mystery and she's doing research? I've toyed with that and I've often wondered what the people at the library and book store think of all the things I'm reading.

I actually get a lot of those as well, but one of the first conversations I had with her she was telling me all about how she is studing the Hindu religion because she was converting.

I was just talking to one of the selectors today and she was telling me about an interview she saw with the writer or director of the new Leo DiCaprio movie, which the name excapes me but it's the one about lucid dreaming. Anyway he talked about how he had done all his research at the LA library and how great they were and they let him check out like 50 books at one time.

We've done oh about 3 or 4 programs with writers and those things are absolutly packed, there are a lot of people out there who want to write. I've learned lots of things from them, that's kinda the fun part of working the reference desk.

 

[staley7580]

I'm still trying to get past the 50-60 year old being an "old lady."

Right!!! Thats like my son.. My teacher is REALLY OLD mom. She said she is 42!!

 

[antmaril]

I'm still trying to get past the 50-60 year old being an "old lady."

Me too. I read that line three times trying to wrap my brain around it since I'm 59 years old and could lose a few pounds

 

[Carly_Roach]

Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.
Topic: Proverbs
Source: (Greek)

heh heh heh

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I do write for a living, and I've often thought about what my poor librarians must think about my book choices! My reserved books have run the gamut from boring to crazy and everything in between. I wonder if I should go explain myself before I scare them too much.

 

[Magpie]

I'm not that old, but I'm pretty sure I've been this lady!

My latest book has required me to take out huge stacks of books on torture, hermaphroditism, sex changes, and, um... ornate libraries around the world. In the past I've taken out every book on S&M.

I get some odd looks sometimes...

 

[tonilea]

You think you get strange looks! Try buying all the KY jelly Wal-Mart has on the shelves plus ten to twenty bags of kitty litter!!

(for the vet clinic I worked at!)

Speaking of old women, some people get old much earlier than others. My MIL was old in her fifties, my mom was not.

 

[Carly_Roach]

All I gotta say is, "God Bless the Internet!" No worries about someone wondering what I'm looking up and why. Although Google must have a file on me 3 inches thick by now.

"She's been through the Manson murders, the Michigan militia, bleach alternatives, firing pins, and allergies to deodorants. Last week she was checking out flights to Florida, theories about taking down the electrical grid and recipes for no-bake rolls. There's no telling what she's planning. Keep an eye on her."

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm still trying to get past the 50-60 year old being an "old lady."

Me too...bookgirl must be 16!

 

[Gigi22]

We used to have professional writers of various types, including some well-known authors and their research assistants, hunkered down at our library too. The reference staff, and circ. staff always went out of their way to ensure the writers could get whatever they needed--including stacks passes. Of all the writers, those working on research bibliographies were the most voracious in their reading needs--hundreds of items a day, each!