The Age of Myspace and Runescape

So when I was little, the library was a wonderfully quiet place you could go to get a good book, or study quietly. If you haven't been to a library recently, those days are Gone!
Now, the library is used less as a book place and more as a community center and internet cafe. I thought it prudent, that I include the most used sites and funny things about them on this library blog. yes, that seems prudent....

First and foremost use of the library, and not just by teenagers, Myspace. You can reach thousands of people at once online in Myspace, and I bet about 75% of those people are in a public library at the time. http://www.myspace.com/

And then there is the second greatest use of the public library, again, not just teenagers...
Runescape! I had lots of fun playing this game and telling Laffy taffy jokes to all who would listen... anyways... once again, if you go ont this gaming site, you will be confronted by thousands of people all at once.... half of which are in a public library. http://www.runescape.com/

So you see, the library is a place to meet imaginary friends and kill imaginary goblins, not a place to read.

And Now Back to "Frisbee Golf", Game of Gentlemen Who Can't Afford Golf Clubs

So there are always Interesting topics that people come in the library looking for information for. And with the internet now, the questions that they can't find online (which should be very few) are weeded down to us.

Things like the origination of the Vorpal Sword....? Where did the idea "Raining like Cats and Dogs" come from....? How long were the toes of the longest toed person....? How do you install a Home Solar Panel System....? How do you translate the Bible into Arabic....? Was Abraham Lincoln really raised in a log cabin He built with his own Hands....? Can I Have the Same Powers that Neo has in the Matrix...? Are Vampires Real and Where Can I Find One to Bite Me...? And my favorite (yes, I have a "follower" who asks me these type of quesitons all the time, and I can't ever answer them really), what is the linguistic background of the city name, Santa Catarina Mita or Quetzaltenango or Xela...?

Well, there are just a few of the fun things I get to answer and try and learn as much about as I can in less than two minutes.

Today it was whether we had a book about Frisbee Golf. Truth is, no we don't but we absolutely should! There are thousands of Frisbee Golfers who would like to know more about thier gentleman sport!

"Can I Leave?"

I had quite the interesting experience as a patron quietly approached me. She had just been given her new library card and she had used it to get onto the internet.
She came to me after and asked, "Is it okay if I leave now? I didn't check anything out."
It took me a second to follow her logic. What I finally figured out was that she thought that she couldn't leave the library without at least checking one item out. I almost said "no, you need to check something out," but I refrained and explained to her as simply as I could that using her card was completely optional.
If only all of our patrons thought that you had to check something out everytime you came to the library. We'd have a lot more books coming in and out, and I'd have a lot more job security. ;)

"I Need Books!"

So I was just minding my own business at the library, trying to shrug off and avoid all the political questions run my way, when a little boy approaches me and in desperation says, "I Need Some Books!"

I smiled. It was nice to have a question I could answer without losing my job. I pointed all around me to all the stacks and stacks of books. He looked around, thanked me with a nod of his head and ran off.

Wow, my job is so simple.

"I Have to Do My Homework"

Today was a phenomenon.
We have teenagers here all day everyday after school complaining that they are bored. They don't want to read so we give them other activities to do. LIke today, we had these Professional Pumpkin Carvers come in to show off thier work. Which was very impressive. They even made a pumpkin with a kid reading just for our library! Well, we invited all the kids to go and check it out. And they mostly said, that's boring. And then to make it even more frustrating, they would say 5 minutes later, "I'm bored." ... Teenagers....
Well, one kid came in and made me proud of the teenage world again. I invited him as he came in to the pumpkin carving extravaganza. And he actually said this, believe it or not, "No, I can't today. I have to do my homework." What!? I was so impressed, and doubtful, that I check on him periodically and yes, he was actually doing his homework. Maybe I should tell the kids that are bored to do thier homewrok since they seem to like it more than pumpkin shows...

Anti-Lingual Man and the Search for Recovery

Recovery Inc. is a group therapy program that comes to Kearns Library every Saturday to help people recovering from Depression.

Well, Anit-Lingual Man found a mystery and felt a need to solve it. Being a bit inebriated, he wobbled from employee to employee until he came to me asking about the crazy, depressed group that was meeting at the library. I told him about the program and gladly sent him back to get enrolled. We didn't quite understand if he was interested in getting some help, which we would love to grant him, or if he was about to terrorize them and tell them that crazies aren't aloud in the library... either way, we figured any help from some professionals would help.

Stay tuned as we follow Anti-Lingual Man from his search for Recovery, to, we hope, a Change of Heart....

The New Library Card

A man comes in and wants to get a new card. Yes, he had one before and lost it. I know, I know, it's one of the worst sins to lose a library card.

Well, we looked him up on the computer and he had a significant fine. He said, "Well, I want a new card."

We explained to him that he would have to pay off his fines first. He noded in understanding and walked back to our library catolog computers and we figured that was that.

He returned a few minutes later and requested a new library card.

We looked up in amazment.

"Okay, we'll have to pay the fines first and then we'll get you the new card."

He turned red, "But, I just signed up for a new card! I don't want to pay for that old one"

We almost couldn't control our laughter. People can be so creative, it amazes me.