What To Do...

Today I attended a meeting with one of the Clerks held by the Nassau County Police Department at Adelphi University called Active Shooter Briefing (It was about what to do if someone came into a building and started shooting up the place) and boy it was a downer.

We were bombarded with information on how to deal with various aspects of having an active shooter within a building, photos and videos from past tragedies, etc. It was all very informative but I don't think that I was the right person to send seeing as I am not a person in a position to make decisions on what our library should do in terms of having some sort of plan to deal with the issue.


Honestly the whole thing just brought back memories of being in college and worrying about what to do if there was a shooter because they showed pictures and talked a a lot about what happened at Virginia Tech. I was away at Binghamon when the Virginia Tech massacre occurred and I distinctly remember sitting around talking with my friends about what would happen if someone went crazy in our building and decided to shoot up the place. Unfortunately the answer was we'd be screwed because we lived on the third floor of a building and there was only one exit we could possibly get to. It really is just as scary to think about now as it was in April 2007.

On top of that now all I can think about is how unsafe our library is if something was to happen here because the advice of lock your doors and take cover in the back somewhere really doesn't work in our building. So I'm interested in knowing what one would do in a building like ours and what kind of plan should be put in place. I guess I'll have to wait until the follow up meeting (Which I think my Director and Assistant Director should attend) and find out.

Crap Crap...

The Clerk who I mentioned that was trying to get me in trouble for using the word "crap" in a note had the nerve to pretend like nothing was going on and that everything was fine when I walked into the building this morning. It kills me that she and the others were standing there smiling at me when I know for a fact that five minutes before I walked into the building they were talking about me. Thankfully the Head Clerk was there for everything and she was defending me.

I'm done. If these women wanna play games, it's on and I'm gonna win. No more nice librarian.

Crap...

I cannot catch a break. Today I go to work and find out that one of the Clerks (One of the only ones I previously wasn't annoyed with) complained that I used the word "crap" in a note I left on a book for my Department Head. The note in question was a note that was meant for my Department Head's eyes only, she didn't take it off the book when she went to point out to the Circulation Clerks that they aren't doing their jobs properly. The note said something along the line of "Please deal talk with the Circulation staff because they aren't doing their jobs properly and I don't know why I have to deal with this crap. This is Circulation work..."

The fact that this gossipy Clerk had the nerve to complain pisses me off. "Crap" is better than the other expletives that I wanted to use to describe those lazy pieces of shit who work our Circulation desk -- Sorry for cursing, I'm just so annoyed. And the person who complained was über friendly with me last month when she was asking me about internships at Justin's job and having him help her son. I put an end to that, my boyfriend will not be helping her son and I could careless if it costs her son anything.

My Department Head warned the Head Clerk that if her Clerks wanna play games like this with me that I'll take them down because I am super observant and I know everything that everyone does wrong. Plus she said that if they made a formal complaint that she'd have to side with me because 90% of my actions have been justified.

This was the last straw. I'm done with all of the Clerks except Head Clerk, whom I am friends with. None of them better utter a word to me from now on.

And Rumors Begin...

I walked into the building a little before 12:00pm and was bombarded with questions about what happened yesterday. I clarified my version of what happened with a few of the ladies at the Circulation Desk and left it at that. But unfortunately I heard "Aubrey" and another not so friendly Clerk whom I shall call "Olivia" talking shit in the stairwell. God knows what they are up to because they hate our Security Guard and "Aubrey" hates me with a passion. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Swimming With The Fishes...

Okay, I'm so fed up with "Fish Clerk" I want to scream. Every time I see her she makes some stupid ass comment about how I'm not taking care of Red Fish properly. She says things like "He's bored... You really need to put some rocks or new plants in his tank..." or "Do you talk to him? You really should talk to him..."

It's getting ridiculous. She is at the point where she is annoying the hell out of "Mini Page" and other various staff members about it. She really needs to mind her own business and leave everyone alone. I swear I'm thinking about flushing the fish so I don't have to listen to her anymore.

Crazy Page...

Within five minutes of walking into work this afternoon I witnessed one of the Pages from the Adult Department ("Crazy Page") have a freak attack. She ran behind the Circulation Desk screaming about books coming from everywhere. She was panting and she looked like she was about to cry as she told us about all of the books that she has to put away and how she found a full cart of books hidden in the stacks. She was flipping and everyone in the library was staring at her. One of the Clerks walked with her into the back to see what was wrong and helped her shelve.

Apparently the other day something similar happened and she was throwing the books all over the place and beating them. One of the Clerks had to tell her she couldn't do that because she was afraid a patron would call the police on her or something. I swear my library is like the Island of Misfit Toys.

Damn Caffeine...

Today wasn't the most exciting of days, I worked in the morning instead of the evening (I'm typically the Tuesday night librarian) because Justin and I had tickets to the Mets game and I ended up leaving at 4:00pm -- Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but we didn't end up going because we thought the rain was gonna be bad and it wasn't. Whomp whomp.

So, the first half of the day I was zonked out because I'm not used to going to work at 9:00am on a Tuesday (Yeah, I know I typically work 9:00am-5:00pm every other day of the week, but I have a mental block thing about Tuesdays) and I ended up drinking two cups of coffee (Which the Clerks forced me to make and then they complained that I make coffee too strong. I'm Cuban bitches, I drink coffee the equivalent of rocket fuel at home) and taking a caffeine pill. This was a bad idea, because I overdosed on caffeine in the morning the rest of my day was crappy -- I had this nauseous/dizzy feeling for the rest of the day which I blame on the pill because as I stated above, I drink strong coffee at home and I can take a nap after I drink said coffee. Thankfully everyone else was feeling crappy so they weren't paying attention to me. So I hid in the office the majority of the day, which I probably didn't really have to do because it's spring break this week and our patrons are MIA.

After escaping from the library I went home to find that my diploma finally came in the mail. I was super excited and I did the obvious, took at picture of it and posted it on my Facebook. I'm so happy it finally came, I now have proof that I am a real librarian!

Problem Solving, Newsletters & Shopping...

I spent my work day solving problems for other people and proof reading the newsletter. I was actually very nice and didn't have to solve the problems that I did because they were basically all crap "Julia" should have had to figure out.

Every year "Julia" does this poetry magazine (which she calls a zine and it's really annoying) and every year she needs to find a teen volunteer to put the thing together because she is extremely stupid when it comes to computers. This particular year she is running super late so our Department Head has been on her ass. Because of this "Julia" started bothering "Mini Page" to see if she wanted to do it and not get paid for it, she wanted this poor girl to volunteer -- "Mini Page" is way too nice and doesn't know how to say no even if she really doesn't want to do something. After she grilled "Mini Page" I suggested to her that she have "Favorite Page #1" do it when she comes back from college and that she get paid to do it seeing as she works in the damn library. She stuttered and did her normal thing, then our Department Head said it was a great idea since "Favorite Page #1" has done it before. I texted "Favorite Page #1" and she said she'd be happy to do it, thus lots of problems solved.

Problems Solved

1. "Julia" has someone to put her magazine together
2. "Mini Page" isn't being forced to do something she doesn't want to do
3. My Department Head no longer has to worry about "Julia" messing it up

I am yet again the hero in the Youth Services Department.

On the newsletter front I had to figure out whether it was my Department Head who messed it up or the lady who puts it together (She's a Clerk). This entailed that I check all of the dates with our master calendar and with the master sheet our Department Head sent to the clerk in charge of it. Verdict on the matter, they both screwed it up and I have demanded that they be sent back to elementary school to learn how to read a calendar and their days of the week.

After work I hung out with Erin and Maria. We went out to dinner and did a little shopping. Not a terribly exciting evening but we always have fun together.

Library Bitch...

I got roped into doing a lot of random things today. First I was suckered into coming into the library at 11:00am (I was scheduled to work 1:00pm-9:00pm) to pay the caterer for our Assistant Director's going away party, as well as set up the food in our staff room. I also had to make sure everyone that paid got food and that people didn't just wander upstairs to nosh on food they didn't pay for. I also had to clean up and listen to one of the full time Clerks bitch that "Julia" ate six sandwiches -- "Julia" is constantly on a diet plan (She is currently on Weight Watchers®) yet she is always over eating, so I wasn't surprised she did what she did.

I had to sort through, label, deliver and collect the money for the Girl Scout Cookies® my coworkers bought from Justin's sisters. There were five boxes of cookies that I had to move from my car into the library. It was annoying.

In addition to all of that I was somehow stuck teaching a den of Cub Scouts about our local history -- I was only told about this today, so even though I've lived in the area my whole life I had to do a lot of reading up on our history. It was a pain, I had twelve little boys who honestly didn't care about anything I had to say running around and pushing each other around for forty-five minutes. What was worst was that neither their parents nor their leader did anything to help me.

It was a very long day.

Snowy Sunday...

Despite there being a blizzard outside today I had to go to work. And what did I do at work? Nothing because all of five people came in and they just came in for DVDs, so they didn't even ask my Department Head or I anything. We did get to close all of 45 minutes early. Going into work was a total waste of my time today.

I did get a phone call from the wrong side of the phone chain about the library being closed tomorrow -- I used to be a Clerk so on the old list I'm on the clerical side, but I haven't been a Clerk for a while and they put out a new list last week. I had to tell the person calling me that I wasn't on their list so I had no idea who was next and she'd have to call someone else.

So Long, Farewell...

I forgot to post that the Circulation Clerk that I hate, the one that was trying to get the job in my department quit. I was in all my glory when I was told -- I feel like it was a little victory. I'm so happy I don't have to deal with her Annie Hall looking self anymore.

Just Killed Another Career, It's A Mild Day...

If you recall a few weeks ago I mentioned that one of the women from Circulation applied for the job opening in my department and that I hate the bitch. Well, she didn't get the job and the person they did hire starts tomorrow.

Seeing as I am cocky I'd like to attribute my hatred for the Circulation bitch not getting the job. My Department Head claims that my hatred and the fact that two other people don't like the woman played no role in the decision not to hire the woman -- I think this is a crock, but whatever. I'll let you know how the new woman works out.

What You See Is What You Get...

This blog is basically going to be about the randomness that is my life. As you will eventually be able to tell, I am an obnoxious and unique individual -- or as Lenni (my best friend at work) would say, I'm a "special snowflake." So, if you enjoy the ramblings of a crazy librarian-to-be join me on my adventures, if you don't peace out!

I'll leave you will some random tidbits about myself...

♥ I'm a quarter of a century old
♥ I've worked at my public library for almost six year
♥ I've been a page, a circulation clerk & a processing clerk
♥ I enjoy dying my hair odd colors & wearing wigs
♥ I am a wealth of stupid knowledge
♥ I have a BA in English
♥ I'm addicted to nail polish
♥ My collections at work are non-fiction and comics/manga
♥ I've been dating my boyfriend (Justin) for seven years
♥ I love being a librarian
♥ Almost all my friends are gay
♥ I curse like a sailor