Call The Police...

Oh boy, I just had a frantic patron come up to me at the Youth Services Reference Desk asking me to call the police because she was just threatened by another patron downstairs in the Adult section of the library.

Apparently this lady was downstairs in the library's quiet study area and there was a person talking loudly on his phone, so she went to Adult Reference to complain because he was being rude to elderly patrons when they asked him to quiet down. Whoever was at Adult Reference didn't do anything about it and when she came back into the quiet study area the man proceeded to curse her out, calling her a snitch, threatening to shoot her, etc.

So she said she picked up her stuff and went back to Adult Reference extremely upset and she claims that again, whoever was down there was no real help but they made the man leave. As he did he threatened to have her jumped and killed.

Frustrated and scare she came up to Youth Services and asked me to call the police. I called our Director down and proceeded to call the police for her.

Our Director talked to her then went and checked to see if a man by the description given was anywhere near the building. He wasn't, so our Director talked the woman into going downstairs with him and waiting for the police officer to arrive.

After that I don't know what happened but I hope I don't have to deal with a psycho trying to shoot up the library.

I Need To Stay Away From The Public Restroom...

As you're all very much so aware of I work in a public building and with public buildings come public restrooms and for some reason this past week I've had odd things happen as I've walked past or walked into our public restroom -- I know, I know... I just shouldn't use the public restroom but it's closer than the staff restroom which is on a totally different floor.

Incident No. 1: When I was walking past the hallway where the restrooms are I see one of our normal (badish) teens outside the women's room talking with our security guard and the dude that works on our newsletter/website. Stupidly I asked what was wrong and then I had to listen to the teen tell me that the homeless woman (Who I know isn't actually homeless, just a bit off her rocker) was in the bathroom and she didn't want to go in there because she was in there and that she smelled, blah blah blah... Then the teen starts begging me to check to bathroom because she had to pee. I walked into the restroom, which was empty and tell her that there is no one in there anymore and that the automatic air freshener must had sprayed because it didn't smell bad in there. She was still antsy and didn't want to be in the bathroom by herself if the homeless lady came back in, so she begged me to stand watch outside the bathroom door until she was done.

Incident No. 2: I go into the restroom to wash my hands a different day and inside there is a lady who looked like she was in her mid forties. She says "Excuse me... You look like you're about my age, can I ask you a question?" Even though I was offended that she basically said I look like a forty-something when I'm really a twenty-something I said sure. She starts asking me about if you live and work in one place but have nothing there but failed relationship and you have family in another place but no job and would have to live with a family member for a while as you get back on your feet, where would you go and what would you do (If this sounds confusing, good because that's what whatever she said to me sounded like). I basically said if you're not attached then go for the new life. She asked me to explain, then she told me her whole life story, etc. By the end of everything (Which went on forever) she looks at me and goes, I guess you're actually a little bit younger than me and don't know exactly what I was talking about but thank you. I looked at her and just told her good luck with whatever she decides.

So yeah, I need to stop going into/near the public restroom.

Patrons, Programs & Problems...

Yesterday I had a craft program at work that only had seven children signed up for ahead of time. Because of a lack of attendance in all of our other craft programs in the past I only had a few extra crafts prepared thinking that no one was going to show up. Oh boy was I wrong.

Tons of mothers and their children showed up trying to get into the program, and their attitudes were in tow. Every mother that tried to get in was a complete bitch to me and when I did let the people on the waiting list in they caused problems.

I cannot tell you how frustrated I was. Because of all of these people I didn't get to do the program the way I would have liked to and I'm a craft perfectionist. I typically make sure everyone has what they need, I walk around to see who needs help and tell the kids what an awesome job they are doing, etc.

I was annoyed beyond belief by the time I cleaned everything up and was back in the office. It totally sucks having a four-year-old look at you all pouty asking which one is hers because her mother sucks and doesn't understand the concept of signing up ahead of time so we know how much to buy and how many people to set up for. Ugh!

Mini Rant: Bringing You Kid On A Date With You...

I'm sitting at the Reference Desk and I hear this new (weird) mother that has been coming in as of late talking to one of the nannies that comes in all the time and she is telling her that she brings her toddler on all of her dates with her. How odd it that? Why would you bring your small child on dates with you? Why would you want to expose your child to random men? This just seems so weird to me! What do you guys think?

UPDATE - 6:30pm
The originial nanny left and a new one came in and she started talking to that one. "I'm single... I think I should just keep talking to men until I find one that accepts me..." The new lady wasn't even talking about dating with her. So weird.

I Pay Taxes. I Pay You Salary...

I just realize that I totally forgot to write about what happened to me on Tuesday. So, I had to cover the Adult Reference desk for an hour while all of the adult librarians had a meeting. Everything was going awesome until 10 minutes before I had to get off of the desk. I get a phone call from a little old lady asking me for a person's phone number (She tells me their name, address, etc). I tell her politely that I'm not allowed to look up other patron's information for her. She goes off on me "The other librarians do it for me all the time! I pay taxes thus I pay your salary! You need to look this number up for me!" I tell her she needs to hold and I buzz up to where all the adult librarians are having their meeting and tell them I have a rude person on the phone. My Director sends down one of the adult librarians to deal with the phone call.

Apparently since 411 isn't free anymore the Adult Reference desk gets tons of phone calls inquiring about various phone numbers, I am a youth services librarian thus I don't know this crap. So if someone calls inquiring about another patron's phone number we apparently can give it to the individual calling if the person's number is in the phone book, if not they are out of luck. I didn't know this...

Aside from all of that, the woman didn't have to be rude to me. I hate people who have the nerve to tell me they pay my salary. Don't ever, no matter how mad you are, tell a librarian you pay their salary because they will want to punch you in the throat.

Since When Do The Freaks Come Out During The Day...

There isn't going to be a full moon until next Wednesday but it sure feels like there is gonna be one tonight. I've dealt with so much weird crap today it isn't funny. I wasn't even in for five minutes this morning when a mother rolled in with her five kids, one of them being a toddler who was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a diaper. I flipped when I saw this little boy running around the department with no pants on. I immediately ran to a phone to call my Director to see if I had the right to say anything to this mother. Unfortunately he was dealing with a crazy patron who claimed she paid a fine for a book she lost from another library that we actually paid for. Because he was dealing with her I never got an answer from him (Apparently he had been dealing with her since 9:30am, I came into work at 11:00am), so I ended up have a pow wow with "Amy" and "Julia" to try to figure out what to do. We decided that we needed to ask her to leave so "Amy" walked into the picture book room and told her that her child needed to be wearing pants. The woman didn't even look at her. She came back into the office to tell us what happened and then she walked right back into the room and repeated herself. Again the woman didn't answer, but five minutes later she called the rest of her children over and told them they were leaving and they left. She came back fifteen minutes later with her kids and this time they were all wearing pants.

A couple of hours later we had a patron hand "Lori" a picture book and she told her that the book had booklice. I didn't see the book or bugs on it but "Lori" did say there was a little bug on it. I called my Director when she and "Emily" asked me what they should do with the book and he told me to withdraw and chuck it.

Maybe an hour later we had a man bathing himself in our mens room. According to a patron some dude was just in there without a shirt on just giving himself a good rub down. Thankfully it was around the time that our Security Guard was in because he dealt with that one.

"Emily" got crazy attitude from a babysitter after she told her the name of an author and told her to look under the letter of the authors last name. The babysitter peaked in the stacks, told "Emily" she didn't know where to look because she wasn't a librarian. This just caused "Emily" to go on a rant about her knowing that the girl learned in school how to look up books. It wasn't good.

Then everyone was spilling drinks all over the place. We don't even allow food and drinks in our department because the carpet is still relatively new, so these people were super wrong.

In addition to all of the stuff above, I just had a lot of patrons with problems today. They weren't necessarily library problems but I had to play therapist to several mommies throughout the course of the day.

On top of everything else "Marie" called in sick claiming that her daughter wasn't feeling well when she got back from camp. We all knew she called in sick because she lives about forty minutes away and there is supposed to be a crazy storm tonight. She didn't want to drive home in the storm. So now I was supposed to get off at 7:00pm and I am working an extra two hours to cover the reference desk while "Amy" does all of her Thursday night programs.

NOTE: Our Department Head is on vacation this week, so everyone in my Department is coming to me with questions.

Need Swim Trunks? Ask A Librarian...

I've been so busy trying to get this years summer reading club together I forgot to write about this over the weekend...

On Friday mid setup a man walks up to myself and "Mini Page" and proceeds to ask if I could help him with something. I said sure even though I was obviously busy and asked him what he needed help with. He begins to tell me that he is new in town and that he is having trouble finding a bathing suit that fits properly. He goes on to tell me what size he wears and how one size is too big, while another is too small even though it should fit. He explained to me about his trunks falling off in the water, etc. Without laughing at the guy because the whole thing was so odd, I tell him various places on Long Island where he could find himself a bathing suit. He says thank you and walks away.

"Mini Page" just stood there with her jaw open after he left and couldn't find the words to describe how odd the interaction was.

Gotta love weirdos in the library...

Computer Chaos...

I just went on my break and came back to "Amy" telling me that she just had a grandmother call and say that her grandson was coming to use the computers and that he was probably going to download porn, blah, blah, blah, blah... "Amy" proceeded to tell the grandmother that we have policies against using filters on the computers and they we don't stand over the children and monitor them while they are on the computers, but if we catch them looking at porn we kick them out. Apparently the grandmother made "Amy" think that she wasn't allowing him to go on the computer, so when the kid came "Amy" told him that his grandmother said he couldn't go on. The boy started to complain that she was doing this because he didn't clean his room. "Amy" told him he needed to go speak with his grandmother and work it out with her.

Just a second ago I answered the phone and had a woman yelling at me that I didn't let her grandson go on the computer. I said to her that I just got back from my break and didn't deny anyone computer access today and that I'd get her that proper person. So "Amy" got on the phone with her and told her that she said he couldn't go on and the woman just argued with her. Apparently her grandson is coming back at some point. I'm looking forward to this one...

Death Wish...

While I was doing one of my programs today I had a mother grab my camera out of my hand and she started taking her own pictures of her child. Her excuse for taking my camera? She claimed that she has three of her own DSLRs and she knows what she is doing. I wanted to kick her teeth in so badly, but I stopped myself from going ape shit on her.

When my Department Head came in I told her about it and I told her that if anyone else ever takes my camera out of my hands again that I will beat the shit out of them and that I will never again take pictures for the library ever again. She didn't know what to say. We'll see what happens next time I have this program.

Problem In The Public Restroom...

"Marie" just ran back into the office to let my Department Head and I know that there is an old woman half naked (from the waist down) in the public bathroom washing her underwear in the sink. This is honestly a new one, we've had men pass out drunk with their pants around their ankles but never exposed genital. Thank God that my Department Head is around because I really wouldn't have wanted to deal with this.

Is It 5:00pm Yet?...

I swear today is the day of douchey patrons. I was just in the middle of helping a little girl out and this man totally cops an attitude with me. I'm sorry, I'm the only person here and you're gonna have to wait to be helped. I cannot stand these people today. I wish it was 5:00pm already.

We Suck...

It's Saturday and I'm stuck in the library. It's been a relatively quiet day but as of thus far "Marie" and I have had two patrons basically tell us that our library sucks.

Patron #1 came in dresses like a dominatrix asking if we had a fax machine that she could use. I said no and she starts rambling on saying things like "What kind of library doesn't have a fax machine... Blah blah blah blah blah..." I told her we have fax machines but they aren't for public use and I directed her where she could go to fax her documents. She left mumbling. "Marie" doesn't think that I should have told her where to find one and started talking shit about the way the chick was dressed.

Patron #2 comes in and ask if we have audio books for two/three-year-old. I tell her where she can find them and point her in the right direction. She comes back and starts bitching at "Marie" and I about how the majority of them are cassette tapes and how we should join the 21st century. I point out to her that I don't order them and she'd have to talk to my Department Head about that. I also inform her that when we got rid of all of our VHS tapes a bunch of patrons complained to us. She proceed to tell us that we should have everything for the children and there must be a place to store things. I looked at her and said the space you see is what we have. Then she started complaining about the way the building was set up. Eventually she asked if she could write a note to our Director. I gave her a piece of scrap paper and told her she could leave it in the suggestion box. She went to sit down and write something but walked out without putting it in the box. Oh well...

While You Were Gone...

Apparently interesting things still occur even when I'm not in the library -- Who would have thunk. While I was on vacation last week "Marie" and "Julia" had it out over ceiling fans ("Marie" ended up blowing up on "Julia" after she got snippy with her for turning the fan off), a man came into the department with his child wearing only a Speedo® (There is obviously more than one problem with this, but the main one was that he had a huge package and you could see everything. They had to call the Director down. It wasn't pretty I heard) and they interviewed replacements for that evil bitch "Sarah's" job (I wish I would have been around for it because I know within 5 minutes of meeting a person if I'll get along with them or not. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens). I honestly wish I was around when all of these things happened, but I still enjoyed my vacation and Miami still beats the library.

Aside from all of the above, I was told that the department was extremely quiet without me around -- This was half due to the fact that people weren't talking to one another and half because my awesomely obnoxious self wasn't around. My Department Head was telling me that it was deathly boring with out me around. I guess they need me around for there to be some life in this department.

RE: Stalker #4...

While Lenni and I were setting up for Drawing Club she looks at me and asks me if I heard that one of our crazy patrons died. I said I hadn't so I asked her who it was and what they looked like. The first description out of her mouth was it was the "guy who was always reading the Bible by the magazines" -- This description didn't help me seeing as I work with the kids in a different department, in a different portion of the building. So, I asked for a bit more information and it turns out that it was "Stalker #4" she was describing. Apparently he died in his sleep on Tuesday night. I guess I'm glad I was kinda nice to him when he blew kisses at me and told me he hoped God blessed me during the day on Tuesday. Lets hope he has better things to do than come back and stalk me in his after life.

Adult Verbal Abuse...

Apparently I missed all the fun at the library today. Some patron went nuts and cursed "Derek" out while he was on the Adult Reference Desk.

As soon as I found out I texted him and asked him what he did to prompt such a response from a middle aged white woman. He claims he didn't do anything but try to help her -- I don't believe him because he can be kind of an ass sometimes. I'll have to investigate some more and find out what actually happened.

Access & Request Denied...

I somehow managed to avoid an angry patron today -- Yay for me, even though I would have liked to watch. Apparently "Amy" and "Marie" both had separate encounters with a lady complaining about various aspects of our library in regards to her special needs grandchild.

"Amy" got reamed out by the woman for denying her and her grandchild entry to a program because it was filled to capacity by families that had registered. The woman was apparently acting as if her grandchild was being denied because of being special needs, which is obviously untrue.

After dealing with the woman "Amy" was extremely paranoid about her going to the Director and getting her in trouble. I had to keep assuring her that she did nothing wrong and that the woman was just being a bitch.

Once the woman was done with "Amy" she went into the Youth Services Department and began to complain to "Marie" about one of the foam climbing toys that we have in out picture book room. She claimed that it was being uses inappropriately and wanted it removed because she didn't want her grandchild playing on in. "Marie" denied her request and told her that if she had a problem with the toy she would have to speak to the Department Head about it, which the woman didn't do because she stormed out after no one bent to her will.

I'm so glad I didn't have to deal with this woman.

Neck Rolling Mothers...

After having the most peaceful first half of the day, "Emily" and I began the evening by getting screamed at by one of the kid's mothers. She came in rolling her neck, yelling at us for kicking her daughter out with all of the kids that were being bad -- Her daughter and a bunch of others were running around being loud, etc. She kept saying that her daughter didn't do anything, that she was nothing but respectful, that it wasn't fair that we lumped her daughter in with other kids, etc. -- She spent fifteen minutes yapping her mouth about how her child is an angel and how she is her mother, not us. We argued with her a little, telling her if her daughter wasn't being bad then she needs to learn to walk away from her friends if they are, blah blah blah... This wasn't a good enough answer for this delusional woman. She eventually left, but apparently as she was leaving she ran into our security guard who put her in her place and changed her mind about her daughter's behavior. I heard that once he talked to her that she started screaming at her daughter -- Which she deserved because she is bad.

After this woman left one of the tutors that was there walked up to me and whispered "That bitch is crazy. She got me in trouble with my assistant principle because she said I was disrespectful..." She went on for several minutes telling me about all of the problems this woman has caused her -- I mentioned it in my note in the incident book.

This wasn't the first time I've dealt with this crazy woman. She actually yelled at me several months ago for "screaming" at her daughter -- I almost cursed her out because of it. I really hate this woman.