I hope I'm not that nosy.

A patron is browsing for some materials and has left her basket on my desk. Too much to carry apparently.
Then another patron walks by and peeks into the basket and sticks his hand in there and starts rooting around what she's got.
"That's another patron's materials," I try to say as politely and smile-y as I can.
"I know," he says, "I'm just looking."
What would compel a grown man to look at another person's stuff? (I can't say I've never done this, nor will I try to deny it, but not in the library. I don't care what people are checking out. Even when working in circulation, I opened the books to find the barcodes but did not pay attention to the actual books.) Have we become a society that needs to know what other people are checking out from the library? And you'll argue that the lady should keep the basket with her, and I won't disagree, but it just seems ballsy and rude to poke around another patron's stuff that they've left on a librarian's desk with a librarian sitting there.
Ah well. What do I know?

The librarians are stripping!

Thought that might get your attention.
The weather is a strange 60 degrees for the tail end (tip of the tail, even) of November and because the heat is turned on in this large, brick oven--I mean building--we're all a bit warm. It's not so bad in the mornings, but in the afternoon, well, we start rolling up our sleeves or revealing our t-shirts.

On another fully-clothed thought, one of the grade school classes came in for a visit today, and as they were leaving one little girl looked up at her teacher and said, "Is it almost time to go home?"
With two hours of the work day left, yes little girl, I can confidently answer, it is almost time to go home.

Two books in one neat package.

I finally finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and it was incredible. Remarkably written. Beautiful story. I cried for the last 50 pages (seeing as it is 550 pages, I didn't think that was too bad). It's the story of a young German girl, Liesel, who steals books. Not an excessive amount of books, just a few, and considering everything else that's going on in the story, it's a small (but connecting) plotline. The story is narrated by Death as he (it? she?) comes in and out of Liesel's neighborhood and life (the story takes place during World War II, so Death is around fairly frequently). It's hauntingly beautiful. There are moments, as one of my colleagues said, that you stop while you're reading to re-read a sentence or paragraph because it's that good and there's so much packed into just a few words or lines. I mean wow. I like it as much as I like The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox.
The second book I finished in only a few days (back on track, but again, it's a teen book) about the "true" story of Alice in Wonderland, and it's The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. Alice Liddell is actually Alyss Heart, princess and heir to the throne of Wonderland. Her mother, Genevieve, is killed by Genevieve's elder sister, Redd. Redd throws (hosts? incites?) a bloody coup to reclaim the throne, kills Genevieve and sends The Cat (love it!), her assassin, after Alyss to ensure there will be no more claimants to the throne. Alyss naturally escapes and ends up in Victorian London and eventually adopted by the Liddell family. Her adoptive family convinces her to let go of her silly imagings (imagining is a very very important skill for Wonderlanders, especially the royalty) of the silly place called Wonderland. Alyss (er, now "Alice") tries and sort of succeeds until something happens to bring her back into Wonderland. Can she be the Queen the rebels (calling themselves Alyssians) believe she can be? It's the first in a trilogy and it's good enough to make me read second book, when it's published.
And now, as a bonus, the book I'm reading currently is Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser. I've read The Wives of Henry VIII by her and enjoyed that. This however is French history and besides not knowing much about French history, I'm not certain how interested in French history I really am. Although this is one of those social and personal histories, which I tend to like. Being a history book, it's going to take me a bit of time to work my way through it, but I'm certain it will be worth it.
Sitting on my to-be-read pile (along with a book of Frank O'Hara's poems and a children's book called Larklight and another called Notes From the Midnight Driver) is The Trial of Queen Caroline: The Scandalous Affair that Nearly Ended a Monarchy by Jane Robins, which I'm looking forward to, especially after reading Carolly Erickson's Royal Panoply. Also interested in reading a book about George III's daughters, which I can't remember what it's called, but as I've got a lovely little pile from the library (as well as books I've purchased that I haven't gotten around to yet. The Fourth Bear!) it will probably be awhile.
I'm also interested in reading a book about Leopoldina, the first Empress of Brazil, but there's not a great deal written about her so I'll have to interlibrary loan that book when my pile has diminished (something tells me it never quite will).
So technically this is more than two books, but I've never been one to stick to technicalities.
Happy reading.

Virginia, here I come.

I got a scholarship for Rare Book School! My whole tuition is going to be paid! Yay!
I am so excited and will be even more excited when I get into a class.
This is definitely good. It's a good sign. It's a stroke of good fortune.
I may just get a job in rare books or special collections yet!
Thanks for sharing my good news.

You were breathlessly waiting, I can tell,

For my next entry.
I've finished another book. Monkey Town, by Ronald Kidd, about a young woman during the Scopes trial. It wasn't bad; rather interesting, and well told. Frances was a little flat, but the story was good enough to keep reading. Did you know that the whole thing originated as a publicity stunt? I've never seen or read Inherit the Wind or read anything about the Scopes trial prior to this, but I never would have guessed it was all done for publicity. I figured people when genuinely outraged. And maybe some were. I suppose this requires further research.
When my stack of books to read has dwindled somewhat.
Currently reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusack which is slightly incredible so far, especially as I'm only 25 pages in. It's different. It's dark. It's narrated by Death. It's a big thick honkin' book, so it may take me awhile to get through. And sometimes--I admit--I'm just not in a mood to read. Alas! What's wrong with me!
No other library-related news to impart. Pleasant patrons are always welcome.

As much as librarians want to make the library a welcoming place, sometimes patrons need to remember the library is not their home. This sounds old and fuddy-duddy-ish, but it's true. The library deserves respect, just as one's home does.
A bunch of teens have divested of shoes and dumped their backpacks, leaving trash and bottles, coats and hats all over the place. Makes getting around a bit difficult. They are relatively well-behaved, but it would be nice if they would be just a bit neater. Perhaps I'm asking too much of teenagers. It would be even nicer if we had the space to allow them to stretch out. I wish we did. Sadly, we don't. So far it hasn't been too much of a problem (other than noise) so we'll see how it goes.
Moments like these make me feel like an awful librarian.
At least they're here, I remind myself, instead of outside in the cold, or in trouble somewhere else.

Finished a book

I finished a book this morning, The Anybodies by N.E. Bode. (Ha, clever pseudonym.) It was actually quite enjoyable. The third one in the series was recently published, and one of the reviews said the writing style was similar to Lemony Snicket. Which it is, only more upbeat.
The book is pretty good. Enjoyable, funny, a few hartwarming moments that don't feel forced, and moments of author interruption. Which is great.
I felt compelled to share this sentence with whatever readers I may or may not have, simply because it's funny and gives great images:
"Now I'm no psychologist who's going to sort through the Miser's [the "bad" guy] mental closet and try to rehang his pants so the pleats stay creased, but maybe he was afraid of more rejection." (Pages 262-3)
I like that the author gets off on these somewhat non-related tangents and talks about mental closets and pleated pants. There was also discussion of his abhorrence for talking animals, and it reminded me of a few children's librarians I know who don't like stories with talking animals. Which can be kind of difficult to avoid if you're a children's librarian. Nonetheless.
It's entertaining. Give it a read if you've got a chance.
Or give it a chance if you've got to read.

In the beginning . . .

There was a librarian.
And she decided she wanted to talk about books and being a librarian.
On the internet.
So she started to.

I've discovered of late that I am a much more patient person than I ever expected. There are questions (and more appropriately, people) that I imagined I'd get frustrated and annoyed with and pass off to other people, but I can answer them. I can point people in the right direction and help them.
It's a fabulous feeling, being a librarian.
Just wanted to start with that.