My kids started their spring break today. Sam, Fern, Angelo and I celebrated by going to the library to stock up on books. Jocelyn celebrated by waking up with a sore throat. She’s still working her way through Stephen King’s The Green Mile so in terms of reading material, she’s set. But I hate that she’s not feeling well.
Anyway, Angelo went upstairs to the children’s section and Fern headed to the teen center. Sam and I went to the stacks to search for a specific book. While we were there, a gentleman came up to me and asked me a question about the library’s 3-D printer.
“I’m not sure,” I told him. “I’ve never used it.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought you worked here. You have that look.”
I’m not sure what “look” he meant. I was (and am) wearing mom jeans, a turtleneck and Chucks. And as someone who has been to the library hundreds of times, I will tell you the librarians at Hart Interim always look professional. There’s a clerk who has worked there as long as we’ve lived here; he always looks dapper in his sweater, tie, pressed pants and tidy shoes.
After the man went away, I focused my attention back to book-finding. Sam and I continued scouring the stacks for The Road to Serfdom. When he told me it was published in the 1970’s, maybe earlier, I had a lightbulb moment.
“It’s too old to be in the stacks,” I told him. “I just assumed you were looking for a newer book.”
I said we had to ask the librarian to call down for it because they keep “old” books downstairs.
“I would,” she said, “but I’m the only librarian here so I can’t go down to the basement.”
“No worries,” I said. “I’ll just order a hold online.”
We have plenty of books to tide us over and I don’t mind ordering Sam’s book online for him. What concerns me is that she was the only librarian on duty. Doesn’t that seem unsafe?
Rockford, population 150,000, isn’t an enormous metropolis, but any building open to the public should have more than one person working in it. I will say there was a security officer there, too, but that still isn’t enough.
And that poor man who wanted to get into the lab? He’s probably still wandering around, asking strangers for help, desperately telling them, “You have that look!”
I’m being silly. He’s probably figured it out and I’m sure the librarian knows how to take care of business.
All in all, I’m glad the library was open and I’m looking forward to digging in.
Thanks for reading! -Connie
Reminder: Under a deadline to finish a play so my blog entries are shorter and less “thought out” than usual. Read at your own risk.
Connie Kuntz 