Ask me about weirdos in public libraries!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about weirdos in public libraries!

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

I'm interested in hearing the "The woman who got shot to death outside that first library job" story, if it's not too awful.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2018 19:24

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 13:23

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Holy loving poo poo, that was way more intense than I expected. I'm glad you survived and didn't gain a phobia of libraries.

You're a good storyteller, btw.

# ¿ Nov 7, 2018 01:21

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

The only time a librarian has given me the stink eye over checking out a book was when I was like, 14, and I wanted to read Lolita. The librarian was all "uhhhh should you be reading that"

I genuinely do not remember if I checked it out or not in the end, just that shock of a librarian reacting to a book I was checking out with anything but vague interest. (Or excited interest, in the rare case that I check out something they like!)

# ¿ Nov 12, 2018 19:11

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

DONT TOUCH THE PC posted:

How about the story about the widow of a guy who was shot in front of the library i used to work at?

If you're up for it, I'll take it!

# ¿ Nov 13, 2018 16:15

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Another story with a happy ending! :toot:

Thank you, that was sad, depressing and ultimately uplifting.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2018 14:36

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Cythereal posted:

More from memory lane.

You know exactly why a student would try to make off with pizza, c'mon

# ¿ Nov 26, 2018 13:05

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

JacquelineDempsey posted:

Did you guys carry that series of romance novels that were --- swear I'm not making this up --- about Vikings that got time travelled to the present day, and met up with a bunch of Navy SEALS? And all these rough-and-tumble Viking ladies, with their bosoms heaving out of their bodices, seduce the SEALS?

I heard about these books thanks to a webcomic and thought "aw, nah, that can't be real" and then looked it up on Google, then looked in our catalog and said "AW, NAH, WE DONT REALLY CARRY THAT, DO WE?!"

poo poo was hilarious to read, especially since I worked with a couple ex-Navy guys and had fun reading certain passages aloud to them, but made me ashamed to work there for a hot minute.

Buddy, pal, romance novels are there to cater to EVERY need:

quote:

New York Times bestselling author Sandra Hill continues her sexy Deadly Angels series, as a Viking vangel�s otherworldly mission pairs him with a beautiful chef who whets his thousand-year-old appetite . . .

Once guilty of the deadly sin of gluttony, thousand-year-old Viking vampire angel Cnut Sigurdsson is now a lean, mean, vampire-devil fighting machine. His new side-job? No biggie: just ridding the world of a threat called ISIS while keeping the evil Lucipires (demon vampires) at bay. So when chef Andrea Stewart hires him to rescue her sister from a cult recruiting terrorists at a Montana dude ranch, vangel turns cowboy. Yeehaw!

The too-tempting mortal insists on accompanying him, surprising Cnut with her bravery at every turn. But with terrorists stalking the ranch in demonoid form, Cnut teletransports Andrea and himself out of danger�accidentally into the tenth-century Norselands. Suddenly, they have to find their way back to the future to save her family and the world . . . and to satisfy their insatiable attraction.

e: lmao it IS part of the same series:

quote:

It's not easy being a Vampire Angel.

No one knows that better than Trond Sigurdsson. In the centuries since he last went out drinking and wenching with his Viking buds, Trond has been a gladiator, a cowboy, a ditch digger . . . even a sheik. But now he's the baddest of them all: a kick-rear end Navy SEAL kicking butts of terrorist immortals with the help of his hotter-than-Hades female partner, police officer-turned-Special Forces operative Nicole Tasso�whom Trond dearly hopes to "partner" with very shortly in a whole different way.

The "cop" part of Nicole tells her there's something bizarre about her gorgeous godlike teammate. But her "all-woman" side can't help wondering how great it would be to have a virile Viking in her bed. Trond has secrets galore, but Nicole feels certain she can dig them out�and really get to the heart of this powerful, unnerving stranger whom she may be risking her soul to love.

StrixNebulosa fucked around with this message at 13:09 on Nov 29, 2018

# ¿ Nov 29, 2018 13:07

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Pitbull? Please explain!

# ¿ Dec 3, 2018 12:27

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Dear public library system, I appreciate that you finally got a book in that I want to read.

I do not appreciate that the only library that got the book is up next to the Canadian Border and too far a drive for me to justify for one book.

And I really do not appreciate that you can't inter-library loan this book yet.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2018 15:18

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Cythereal posted:

Try putting a hold on it, everywhere I've been as employee or patron lets me choose which branch to hold it at.

ILL is specifically for requesting stuff from other counties and institutions.

No, no, it's specifically mapped in the system as not eligible for holds. Normally I can say "put a hold on this and send it here, thanks" but this book is still so new in the system that it ain't leaving except in the hands of someone who walks into that particular library. (And then it's not up for renewals, either - two weeks and bring it back in pristine condition or the librarian will be upset)

# ¿ Dec 15, 2018 15:38

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

My favorite public librarian was named Rita. She was eternally friendly, helpful, and best of all: when I'd forget my library card and the mile-long number that would let me log into the computers, she would helpfully look it up for me so I could hang out on the computers.

I remember one bad day in high school ending with me in tears leaving the school and walking the blocks to the library where I could calm down and refind myself. I don't remember if I talked to a librarian there, but that library was and is a safe place, where I could always go for friendly staff, comfy chairs in nooks away from people, and good books.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2019 02:28

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Paul.Power posted:

My mum used to be a librarian so I'm loving this thread.

I don't have any anecdotes myself, but I do have a book called Is That The Library Speaking? that's the memoirs of someone who worked in a library for a while and it reads... well, very much like this thread, albeit rather dated (it's from the 70s I think). Should I post some extracts if I have time?

That sounds awesome, do so!

# ¿ Jan 1, 2019 14:35

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

# ¿ Jan 1, 2019 18:10

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Cythereal posted:

I grew up on a diet of Tom Clancy, Orson Scott Card, and Greg Bear.

I'm surprised I wasn't damaged worse, honestly.

What's so bad about Greg Bear?

# ¿ Jan 4, 2019 19:41

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Cythereal posted:

He tends to get weird, and one of the novels I loved most as a kid was Anvil of Stars. That book is seriously messed up and bleak as hell.

As long as it's interesting weird and not Orson Scott Card the homophobe or Tom Clancy the conservative jerk, then phew. I loved Heads and I'm reading Queen of Angels now.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2019 20:15

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Cythereal posted:

The premise of Anvil of Stars is that a group of ten year old kids who survived Earth's destruction are given a ship armed to wipe out interstellar civilizations and are sent on a mission of genocide by a race careful to hide everything about them from the humans for fear that humanity would destroy them, and the crew grow up incredibly mentally and emotionally dysfunctional and stunted even as they arrive at their target.

The cutesy names the crew have for everything just make it worse. It wasn't until years after I first read the book that I realized the protagonist was schizophrenic and offloaded all the emotions he couldn't deal with onto his 'friend' who had never actually existed.

That sounds intense and interesting, I'll pick it up! Reminds me of Peter Watts' Starfish - a corporation sends broken people to the bottom of the sea and it's relentlessly depressing yet interesting.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2019 21:54

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

JacquelineDempsey posted:

As long as we're in a Book Barn derail: what's some good fantasy out there, with lots of mythological creatures to scratch that itch of mine?

Tamora Pierce writes solid YA and her Immortals series has LOTS of mythological critters.

In the Night Garden by Catherynne M Valente is a really cool series of nested short stories, really well done.

To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts is more fantasy kidnapping mystery -> intense horseback chase sequence, but boy is it exciting and there are some important encounters with mythological critters.

Banner of Souls by Liz Williams features a really baroque far-future where Mars believes it colonized Earth and so on - there are kappa and far stranger things and I love it.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2019 23:00

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

JacquelineDempsey posted:

Nah, not for me anyways. I was always turned off by that series simply because one of my co-workers at the library, who I butted heads with all the time, just wouldn't shut up about it. I was a dumbass and deliberately refused to read it, just to spite her. (We're actually cool FB friends, now that we don't work together.) But Ive seen a lot of savvy goons saying how awesome it is, so I'll give it a look-see. What book should I start with?

Thanks to Strix and Vavrek (love your Pilot av, speaking of things worth revisiting --- I'm home sick with a sinus infection that just won't quit, and some Farscape would do me good) for the other recommendations!

Guards, Guards is the best place to start imho. I've tried things earlier in the series multiple times and bounced off, but GG is really good!

# ¿ Jan 5, 2019 00:25

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

A few more books for the rec pile: I asked the r/fantasy discord about this because I love their recs, and:

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeanette Ng: "Catherine Helstone's brother, Laon, has disappeared in Arcadia, legendary land of the magical fae. Desperate for news of him, she makes the perilous journey, but once there, she finds herself alone and isolated in the sinister house of Gethsemane. At last there comes news: her beloved brother is riding to be reunited with her soon - but the Queen of the Fae and her insane court are hard on his heels."

Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A McKillip: "Sybel, with her wizard blood, grows up on a mountain with a magical bestiary for companionship: the dragon Gyld, the boar Cyrin, the Black Swan, the Cat Moriah, Gules Lyon, and Ter, the falcon. Each is a creature out of myth, held at Sybel�s stone home by the power of her father�s will�and then by Sybel�s. When her father dies, young Sybel remains alone, reading books, sending her mind out in search of one more beast: the great white bird, the Liralen, which remains elusive."

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan: "All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day."

I haven't read any of these, but they're definitely on the to-read list.

e: And "Raksura by Martha Wells is about weird harpy/dragon like people. Not exactly mythological so much as fantastical." - I've read this one! Book one is the Cloud Roads and it's pleasantly fun stuff about a shapeshifter named Moon who discovers he's got far more of an extended family than he thought.

StrixNebulosa fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Jan 5, 2019

# ¿ Jan 5, 2019 00:48

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Rupert Buttermilk posted:

Thank you! Serves me right for not going to The Book Barn ever

The Book Barn is a cool place, but as with any book forum you have a problem where you wake up with your holds at the library maxed out, a truckload of orders from amazon, and goons telling you that your taste in books sucks

# ¿ Dec 14, 2019 18:50

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

My primary library is in a small town and has like... 4 large rooms that are literally overstuffed with books because that's not enough room for a library to be in, with some space made for computers and study tables. If you gifted them a 3D printer setup they'd have to give it away or something because there is not enough room, and they 100% do not have the funds to add more room. Maybe it could go upstairs in the smallish room reserved for book clubs or art classes, but...

I could see that going over better in the big town library that got renovated recently with elevators and stuff, but they've already crammed all that space with books / quiet spaces for study (it's a college town) / computers / kid's stuff / etc.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2019 03:23

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

quote:

Winter could turn this porosity into a dirty hazard. Slushy boots will have to be thoroughly de-crudded before entering to avoid spreading debris on other patrons (or worse, the expensive monographs). Here too, Tschapeller emphasized taking care of the space�it should be common sense to make your filthy shoes less gross before entering a $21.6 million building.

.......

what

e: This designer has never been in a real library, apparently, because what the gently caress

# ¿ Dec 24, 2019 22:33

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

JacquelineDempsey posted:

And just echoing the "slushy boots" factor: Fleta McGurn, you can back me up on this, upstate NY winter shoes/boots are a fuckin' mess of not only snow and mud, but salt, too. Oy, those poor books and people on the lower levels.

Another upstate NYer here and listen: the only way you are keeping that kind of slush/salt out of your library is by literally making me take my boots off at the door. I can scrape them all day but slush is coming in anyways.

# ¿ Dec 25, 2019 19:55

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Our local library is closed so I guess I just own all of these books on William Blake now.

(I'll get them returned at some point I promise, this is just such bad timing as I checked out 8-9 books on the guy with intent to browse/skim them at home and return, but now it's like, welp)

# ¿ Mar 20, 2020 22:48

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

my local library finally reopened interlibrary loans so I am FINALLY back on my bullshit

# ¿ Jul 9, 2020 00:01

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

You still have to do curbside pickup though, which is good.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2020 00:01

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

My experience with curbside pickup: super super convenient. Mom and I drive into town to get our meds (drive-through pickup) at the local drugstore, call the library and I walk the dog up and down the block while mom grabs the books and we head home, repeat every few days or weeks, toss in stopping by the grocery store as needed. My dog loves the roadtrips, and I love the books.

Some wrinkles:

- return books 3-4 days before the due date, as due to the book quarantine they will not get scanned in time. I had to call the library to get my account unblocked so I could put more holds on books
- as I cannot browse at the library I must browse at home. Apparently I can put eleven items on hold at once - I'm tempted to find out what the limit is, but I do like to actually read things
- I'm a giant moron who will get out of the car and walk up to the library and THEN realize I forgot my mask in the car. If you're the librarian who saw me do this last week: I'm sorry.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2020 06:05

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

JacquelineDempsey posted:

Same, especially when I've got the Dewey system burned into my brain and just wanna head over to 641.5 to look at cookbooks or 199 to read about interesting religions, etc. Also since most libraries I've been to have a "New Books" section, so you can see what may have just come in and be pleasantly surprised with, say, "oh hey look at this new coffee table book on Dali" which I wouldn't have noticed unless I happened to be searching for books on Surrealist art.

My library is in the ncls.org system so at this point I just think of a random word like "tarot" or "ants" and put it in and see what pops. It's nowhere near as satisfying as walking the shelves but I take what I can get.

My primary library has like five employees total, no IT department, so it's usually easy to call 'em up and go "hey Dorothy? It's me, can you unblock my account?" and voila! They also have a lenient grace period for winters here - I am not braving a blizzard to return a book, and I appreciate them not fining me for that.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2020 02:11

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 13:23

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Captain Mediocre posted:

I don't know how you're all managing but my library is getting very stressful during our long period of reduced service.

Gone are all of the activities, special visitors, community outreach, reference and enquiries. It's just book in, book out. Same poo poo every single day with none of the stuff anyone enjoys. The staff are losing their minds with the tight restrictions and sheer tedium of each day. I've got the dubious pleasure of a recent promotion so now I manage the place and my paperwork is greater than ever, but I'm seriously struggling to keep coming up with anything fun or interesting for everyone else to do.

I'm guessing some of you are in a similar position, can anyone share ideas of interesting projects to work on that don't run afoul of the necessary restrictions? Any good ideas for distractions? We had some relief in recording online events for the summer reading challenge but that's ending now.

As a VERY frequent library patron (just returned ten books today and checked out two DVDs), thank you so so so so so much for keeping them up and running, they've been a life-saver.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2020 06:16

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