Thursday, August 2, 2007

Librarians Resent Casual Readers.

So recently the last Harry Potter book came out and everyone immediately bought it and read it, and I really wanted to join in the discussion (plus I wanted to have read it before I came across any spoilers), but I didn't necessarily have it in my budget to go buy it myself, so last week I got a library card and checked out one of their brand new copies. Typically, you get to keep books for like three weeks, at which time you can re-check them out if necessary (which is something you can even do online without coming in), but since this was a highly demanded new book, I was only allowed to keep it for one week and then return it, and I wasn't allowed to re-check it out. So I read it within the week and took it back today. When I got to the library, I saw that there was a big book drop bin outside, but I felt kinda bad about tossing this nice new book into a giant metal bin, so I took it inside. When I walked in, the little alarm thingie went off, and the librarian at the front desk turned around and brusquely said, "Bring it up here, please." As she was scanning it back in, she looked up at me and said, "Finished?" Kind of a weird thing to ask me. Like, what if I hadn't? You gonna help me get this book again, lady? But I told her, "Yah." She then asked me to put it back. I wasn't sure what the hell was happening. Do I work here now? She pointed to the shelves in the front that featured new books and indicated that I could just stick it anywhere on any of the shelves. How disorganized is that? I just put it on a random shelf and she exclaimed that it was perfect. So I started to leave and she calls out to me, "Don't you want to get anything else?"

This bitch decided she was gonna look me over and pin her little label on me. She figures I'm like every mindless stooge out there who lives and dies by their TV set, and the only reason I would ever come to the library is because I wanted to read this big new trendy book for free and then never return again, because I'm too busy with my iPhones and my DVDs and my Internet. So she wanted to make me feel like an ass by pretending to be surprised that I was leaving so quickly, without getting a new book to read. She thinks everyone in the world should get their library card and check out lots of books, and get even more books when they're done with those, all for the love of reading and the thirst for knowledge that only books can quench.

So anyway, I responded with, "No, not right now. I'll be back." But I won't be back. At least not to that particular branch. It was quite a bit out of my way, and I only went there because they had the most available copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the day that I wanted to go check it out. I plan on returning to the library, but it will be to my local branch, to check out some books I want to read, and it's going to be when I fucking feel like it. And you know what, most of them will be graphic novels. I hope that's okay with whatever librarian is manning the desk on whichever blue moon I decide to go.

Cheers,
Diego

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