Things I Should Have Said

99.8% of the time, being a librarian is the most wonderful job in the world. Honestly. You get to hang out in a quiet, peaceful environment, surrounded by books and people who love books and information. You get to talk about books all day. Each person who walks up to the desk can ask you any question in the world - it is challenging, exciting and teaches me something new every day. Of course, there is that other .2%.

For example, today a woman came to the desk with her 5ish daughter, pulling on her arm and whinning.
Patron: "I need to fax something. Do you have a fax?"
Patron offspring: "whine whine whine."
Bethany the Librarian: "No, I'm sorry, we don't..."
Patron, cutting off Bethany the Librarian: "Is that a fax?" She points to the large machine behind the reference desk.
Bethany the Librarian, slowly turning to large machine, then back to patron.
WHAT Bethany the Librarian SHOULD HAVE SAID: "YES. IT IS A BIG FAX WE ARE TRYING TO HIDE ON YOU. DARN. YOU FOUND IT."
Bethany the Librarian: "Nope. It's a printer. Here is a list of nearby businesses that have faxes."
Patron, answering cell phone that has just played loud, obnoxious music: "Hello?"

Example number 2:
Patron: "Excuse me. I can't find my library card and I want to use the computers."
Bethany the Librarian: "Ok. I can print you a guest pass for today."
Prints guest pass, which is a sheet of paper with a temporary barcode and password.
Patron: "What is this?"
Bethany the Librarian: "This is your temporary barcode and password."
Patron: "What a waste! It's a whole sheet of paper! For just these numbers! Can't you find a better way to do this?"
WHAT Bethany the Librarian SHOULD HAVE SAID: "We did find a better way. It's called a library card. If you didn't loose yours, I wouldn't have to print this."
Bethany the Librarian: "That's true. If you bring the paper back to me when you are done, I'll put it in our pile of scrap paper to be used again."

Sigh.

Check out Book Mama!

Terry, our new part time librarian, is also the owner of a bookstore here in the Hamptons. She started a blog and it's super fun! Check it out.

What Could Happen In 400 Years?

Well, the adult summer reading program is just about ready to launch. It has kept me quite busy over the past few weeks. Our library does a series of genre discussion groups throughout the summer instead of regular individual book discussions. Each librarian coordinates a meeting for a particular genre - Mystery, Travel Narrative, Nonfiction That Reads Like Fiction and, yours truly's ... Historical Fiction! So I have been reading up big time, trying to fill my Historical Fiction gaps but of course I'm drawn back to my old favorites. Currently I am reading two historical fiction books set in London with female main characters...oh, what a surprise. One is set in the 1530s, one is set in the 1930s. The Lady Elizabeth is just what I expected ... wonderfully written with all the details of the time period that only Alison Weir could provide. To walk with Elizabeth as a 7 year old girl, recently declared a bastard, into the house that her dead mother, Anne Boleyn, grew up in brings tears to your eyes. Well, mine at least. As I am enjoying the book immensely, I must think of intelligent things to say about it as I will be meeting Mrs. Weir on Wednesday! I'll let you know how it goes.

Fast forward 400 years. I cannot get enough of my new BFF, Maisie Dobbs (by Jacqueline Winspear). She is a smart, independent British woman living in 1910s - 1940s London. She was a nurse during World War I and now she has her own detective agency. Each book is a new mystery and the one I am on now (# 3, called Pardonable Lies) won the Macavity/Sue Feder Best Historical Mystery Award. The second book, Birds of a Feather, won "Best Novel" for 2005 and her latest adventure (#5, An Incomplete Revenge) is a New York Times Bestseller! This is quite impressive for a "cozy" historical mystery series.

Next on my to-read list is something a bit different. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton is a mystery set in early 1900s London. Hmmmm. I need to read my own historical fiction bibliography.

Three Cheers for the Alphabet

When I was in high school, our English teacher was trying to explain why it was so important to expand your vocabulary, reading and speaking skills. He told us, "Try to think about something without using any words." You may bring an image to mind, but any further thought requires some language. It's an interesting point. What would happen if you tried to write a book without using the letters of the alphabet? Our new librarian, Terry, was telling me about such a book. I'll explain.

Ella Minnow Pea:(pronounced like a 1st grader reciting "L M N O P")a Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn was published in 2001. The book is set in a fake town off the Coast of South Carolina where the inventor of "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog". A monument in town holds this sentence and as each letter falls off, no one in the town is allowed to use that letter. As the book progresses, less and less letters are available to use.
What a fun and challenging way to write a book! Terry said it was a lot of fun and very quirky. I can't wait to read it.