Libraries and librarians

I am so proud to be a librarian!  I mentioned in an earlier post that, with my degree in English Literature, I was having trouble finding a job that didn't involve calling the men in my office "Sir" while they referred to me as "their girl."  Granted, this was in the eighties when such behavior was rampant and somewhat acceptable.  Anyway, Drexel University offered a Master of Science degree in Information Studies; I heard it calling to me. In a few years of part-time attendance, I was a full-fledged librarian on the hunt for gainful employment. 

Now here is the important part:  there is a huge difference between academic libraries and public libraries.  My time in the public library did not begin well.  Again, this was a while back, so probably everything has changed.  My first day on the job, I was given a desk in a row of desks in the "back room."  There was one computer that we all shared.  It had a big switch to turn it on and off, and the green blinking light let us know that it was ready.  When I opened the top drawer of my desk, I saw that it was full to the brim with razor blades.  I turned to the colleague in the desk behind me and asked, "Um, what happened to the person who used to sit here?  Did it involve this drawer full of razor blades?"  To which she responded, "Ha, ha, ha!  No, those razor blades are for scraping the due date stickers off the books."  I still don't know what happened to my predecessor, but I assume he/she went on to a better life.  

Here a just a few things that happened in my brief time at that public library branch (note: this branch was not in the best part of town): a woman gave birth in the ladies' room, a man exposed himself in the children's area, a band of teenagers came tearing through with knives up their sleeves, our branch manager won the contest for worst thing found in the trash - a dead goat.  I assume the goat was a ritual sacrifice.  One day a circulation clerk got into a heated argument with a library patron regarding books that were overdue.  It was a loud argument and these women were reaching over the circ desk, to enable the landing of more effective punches.  Our manager came out and said, "There is no fighting at the circulation desk!!!"  So, the women went out to the parking lot to...settle their dispute.  These were exciting times.  

I lasted a little more than a year in the public library.  I got a job in an academic library.  It was much calmer, but the stories aren't as interesting.  I'm grateful for all that I learned in both environments.  Sadly, we no longer scrape due date stickers off books, so that skill is obsolete.