The quirks of public service
Memorial Library public services staff collected information from Jan. 31 through Feb. 13 on all the questions they field from people in the library. This included at the reference desk, in personal offices, at the card window and even roaming the halls. The first day alone yielded 557 questions and more than 5,000 were collected during the two-week period. Listed below is a sampling of the quirky interactions that demonstrate some of the interesting avenues public services can take.
Q: Would you be willing to help out with an experiment?
A: It depends what it is.
Q: [Next to the stack guide posted by the elevators.] Excuse me, where
do I find AP J's; they're not on here?
A: I started to point to the AP section of the guide and say to her "1M
South" when she beat me to it, said thank you, and walked away. My
telepathic powers saved me from having to speak.
Q: How do you spell 'kitchen' in Greek?
A: MadCat-->Eng/Greek Dictionary.
Q: I need to know how much my brother owes you. I want to pay his fine for him.
Q: Is this 816 State Street?
Q: Is there anything that can be done about the people who sit on the staircase behind the ID check, talking on their cell phones and blocking the way for others who, like me, need to use the handrail?
A: Referred to the security guard, who happened to be right there.
Q: What is your Favorite cookie?
A: Why do you ask?
Q:
I am seeing if Oreo cookies are as great as they are made out to be.
A:
Oh, my favorite is Nutter Butters.
Q: What is that?
A: [Proceeded to Google it and showed her what a nutter butter looked like.] She remembered, said they were awesome, and went on her merry way!
Q: Can I exit through your building so I don't have to walk outside that much?
A: Yes you may - please use the west corridor.
Q: We would like to speak to Mr. Naeseth.
A: Unfortunately he is deceased. [Note: Patron referred to Vesterheim Genealogy Center which used to have an office in Memorial under the direction of Mr. Naeseth.]
Q: I'm trying to get the correct bibliographic details for a recent Italian scholarly CD-ROM edition of the south Italian exultet rolls, illustrations included. My source says that it comes from a department at the Universita' di Canosa.
A: Your source seems to have substituted "Canosa" for the correct "Cassino." Here are the details. [Information supplied from Casalini's_I Libri_database.]
Q: How many books can you check out at once?
A: 250
Q: Are you for real?
A: Yes.
Q: Serious?
A: No joke
At the card window:
"I was told to come here for ice cream."