Week 3 - Flying Solo

This was my first week on the desk by myself. When I arrived there was a note from my branch manager explaining that only one of our public access computers was working. One of the non-functioning computers was turned off (explains why it wasn't working!), but three remained non-functioning for the whole work day. I started the day by calling the IT department, but they were not fixed by the close of business.

There were only a handful of people waiting when we opened and the first hour was very slow. 3 weeks in, I recognize some of the regulars and they are all very friendly - making a point to say hi. This definitely reminds me that we are a neighborhood branch!

My interactions for today were:

• A regular patron brought me two books (The Queen Gene and Sufficient Grace) and asked me to put them on hold for her. I'm not sure why she didn't want to check them out now, since she was here, but I did and they will be waiting at the circulation desk when she returns.


• A woman came to the desk looking for books for her children's school projects. There was a book list provided by the teacher, but almost the whole system had almost none of the books. I doublecheck a few of them on Amazon to get author's names, etc, and they were fairly old books (one from 1953 on the Magna Carta, etc). It made me wonder how the teacher had chosen those books. I was able to reserve a copy of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on CD for the patron to be delivered to the branch closest to her house, but on the whole she struck out, I am afraid.


• A patron was looking for books on photography, and I directed him to the appropriate section of Dewey. I should find and print out the general Dewey breakdown, because at the moment I am having to do a subject search and check the Dewey numbers of several books that come up. A little librarian homework for me.


• A couple came in looking for guidebooks to Egypt. I directed them to the appropriate part of the non-fiction section.


• Another branch called asking if our copy of The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman was on the shelf. It was and I was able to trap the hold for their patron.


• A high school student came in looking for books that dealt with East African history during the period 8000 BCE-600 AD. Such a specific topic area is a little bit beyond the breadth of our small collection, but she said she had already been to the central library and had not found much that was helpful. We did find one book that covered that period and I also gave her the appropriate article in the Encyclopedia Britanica and showed her how each entry ends with a bibliography that could suggest other sources. I think we found her some relevant information, but I don't think we completely met her information need by any stretch.


At the end of the day, when we were closing, she came back looking for a copy of the Kite Runner, but, even though the catalog showed us having 2 copies, I wasn't able to find either one on the shelf. She didn't want to put the book on hold, so I fear she will have the same problem next week.


• I placed holds for a patron for "the latest James Patterson" (The Quickie), The Happiness Myth, and "the new mystery by that author, i can't remember, her name begins with E" (Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich).


• Received a phone call asking if we had White Pages for the surrounding suburbs (we do). The patron was looking for the phone number of his old roommate, there were two possible numbers in the phone book, which I gave him. Then, because our White Pages were from 2004, I also checked whitepages.com, which confirmed that the second number I gave him was the one he was looking for. He was very happy and grateful, which felt pretty good.


• Another branch called looking for The Transformation by Mette Newth. I eventually found the book shelved in the Adult section, even though the librarian who called described it as a YA book. I was then I able to send the hold to that branch for their patron.


• A patron called with his daughter who was looking for The Boyfriend Trick. We didn't have the book, but I read off the branches that did and they found a branch close to them to try to get the book at today. I then gave the patron the branch address so that they could drive over.


• Another branch called for a shelf check for Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. Our copy was on the shelf and I was able to trap the hold for their patron.


• A young woman came looking for Charlotte's Web. Although we were supposed to have two copies available, neither was on the shelf - either where they were supposed to be or misshelved in YA or Adult. I did place a hold on the item for the patron to be delivered to another branch more convenient to her.

Other Activities:

• One of my duties as a Sunday Librarian is to reshelve the new books in our front display areas. I am amazed by how many financial planning books we have - such a popular subject matter!


• Gave a patron her pin number so that she could renew her books online.


• Directed a patron to the circulation desk so that she could get a library card.


• Helped out with the computers, to the best of my ability. Gave a patron a guest user card. Having only two computers available was definitely limiting and it is good that the day was relatively slow.

Final Thoughts:

The missing copies are frustrating and I wonder what we could do to limit them. I wonder how often the shelves are read and if that would cut down on some of this. I also wonder if I should be marking these books as missing in some way to prevent folks from coming to the Branch for materials that aren't actually available.

I still find SIRSI to be clunky and it is especially annoying for trying to search for only age appropriate materials (I still can't seem to limit to only YA or Juvenile or Children's). Advice from SIRSI users kindly welcome!