A nun, while waving a two-foot crucifix over me, called me an immodest and sinful dresser. A strange man of questionable intentions and even more questionable body odor proposed marriage to me. A ten-year-old berated me for refusing to page his brother over the PA system and ask where his Playstation memory card was. A father insisted I harshly scold his five-year-old son for breaking the binding on a book to “teach him a lesson.”
And yet, people constantly remark how easy it must be to work at the library. They envision the circulation desk staff sitting at expansive desks, flipping through literary journals or thick leather-bound novels and pausing only to exchange intelligent conversation with academics who have decided to check out something along the lines of “War and Peace.”
Not so much.
Maybe I do occasionally get the intelligent conversation. Much, much more often, though, I get complaints: about the limit on how many movies can be checked out, about late fees, about books that were most definitely, 100-percent-positive turned in at least a week ago, but are actually under the bed or car seat. There are others, who admittedly are just trying to make polite conversation, who say “witty” things like, “You should get paid by the book!” or “Wow, you’re fast. You must have had some practice.” Yes, it’s clever. And yes, I have heard it thousands of times before.
nutgraf
I realize that when you just read that it was “physically exhausting,” you scoffed aloud. It’s okay, I understand. I wouldn’t believe it either. But try lifting giant stacks of books, endless stacks of heavy books, for hours at a time. It might not make me Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I do have a mildly developed bicep.
Instead of calmly relaxing with a book, I am most likely scurrying around from one task to the next. I field phone calls regarding renewals or fine problems, frantically check in materials, get the books on carts ready to be shelved. I have to be polite as people verbally berate me, and then run to stack check-ins as soon as they leave. It’s physically and mentally exhausting. I realize that when you just read that it was “physically exhausting,” you scoffed aloud. It’s okay, I understand. I wouldn’t believe it either. But try lifting giant stacks of books, endless stacks of heavy books, for hours at a time. It might not make me Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I do have a mildly developed bicep. Also add to that the fact that a majority of the desk staff is KU students. Not only are we all having to focus on patrons’ problems, but we are also worrying about the homework that’s currently not getting done or exams that are coming up.
Working at the library does have its fun moments, and I do love my job. But it falls into the category of those jobs that are demanding or tedious, yet look like fun from the outside. For example, I have a friend who works at a retail store. It seems the employee discount would be enough to make it a dream job to her and me, at first. Of course, actually working there is, as she puts it, “mind-numbing.” Just folding t-shirts for hours on end “like a mindless robot.” People fixate on the benefits of jobs like that, and don’t think about how much you have to schlep around to earn them. It only makes it worse when you’re in the middle of your worst day, doing three things at once and contemplating quitting on the spot, and at that exact moment in time someone remarks how stress-free your job must be. Those comments take my bad day to a whole other level. It’s then that fantasies of anvils falling from the sky, Wile E. Coyote-style, start to dance through my head.
We librarians—or rather merely library employees and/or peons—like it when you’re chatty. We like those who read and watch foreign films and yet occasionally enjoy a J Lo. movie without being embarrassed about it. We like when you have your books stacked with the barcodes facing up and your library card in hand. Oh, and a smile is always appreciated.
Gentry is a Kansas City sophomore in English and pre-medicine.
Essential life skills
How to avoid getting lost in the stacks
Gentry: A decline in common courtesy
Cashiers, servers and clerks shouldn’t be expected to serve customers with a ...
Journey through the past
How my job helped put my life into perspective
Libraries to hold open mic day
In order to celebrate national poetry month, KU libraries have students read ...
To hell and back
A fight outside Naismith Hall began Thor Nystrom's year-long journey into the ...
Free For All: October 5, 2007
Why do we have a purple bra on the front page of ...
Navigating a competitive job market
University works to improve students’ employment prospects during tough economic times.
Funding cut toughens campus job market
Last year more than 25,000 students applied for 650 on-campus jobs.
The A to Zzzzz's of Napping
Are you a napper?
Libraries bring awareness to Banned Books Week
Library employees publicly read from oft-banned books, including “The Color Purple.”
$5,000 in rare books stolen from Watson
Rare books and art prints were stolen from Watson Library May 28.
35 Things to do before you MOVE ...
Calligrapher in an electronic world
Cathy Ledeker says there’s no substitute for the human touch in today’s ...
New strategies for procrastinators
A new technique helps students read and comprehend a novel in 10 ...
Changes improve library services
KU Libraries improved its Web site, added a text messaging system to ...
Gentry: Vegetarians deserve people’s respect
Overall, Lawrence is friendly, but some could be more understanding
Kansas royalty graces Allen Fieldhouse
Miss Kansas USA and Miss Kansas Teen USA stopped by Saturday’s game ...
Gentry: The party that never ends probably ...
Hard-partying neighbors are mysterious and annoying
Gentry: Mother Theresa’s reputation being needlessly attacked
Recently surfaced journal entries shouldn’t make us think any less of a ...
Professor Profile: Sarah Crawford-Parker
A few questions with Sarah Crawford-Parker.
‘Confrontational Evangelist’
Brother Jed, a self-proclaimed preacher, travels around to college campuses in order ...
The How-tos of KU
Watson Library
Watson has been the destination for research and socializing for more than ...
Ghost world
As winter approaches, downtown Lawrence’s sizeable homeless population must deal with crowded ...
Watson renovations destroy library's feel
Building better lives in Bolivia
KU chapter of Engineers Without Borders returns to South America to check ...
Bitch and Moan
Sleepless in Lawrence
Between midnight and 5 a.m., some Lawrence residents are wide awake.
Who is James Woelfel?
Students use Spencer library and museum to ...
Spencer Research Library has more than a million photos available for academic ...
Educating you, by the (face)book
The Importance of Organization
How to get your life in order.
Eight things to do before you graduate
Ways to get the most out of your time at the University.
Autism speaks
Fighting for the cause on my spring break.
For Her
How a routine advising appointment helped one Jayplay writer find her inner ...
Libraries become popular hangouts during finals week
When finals week rolls around, the libraries fill up with students trying ...
High goals
How one Jayplay writer's basketball stint changed her perspective.
Getting a library card
Essential life skill coming at you.
Student engineers rebuild Katrina home
This summer, Engineers Without Borders will reinstall water systems in Bolivia and ...
Gentry: Whispering sweet nothings
Why do all guys insist on being sweet to their girlfriends? Gentry ...

Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Gentry: Library work harder than it seems
Thank you SO much for your insightful article. I was surprised--and very pleased--to see that you were neither a librarian nor a library student. It's always nice when an "outsider" understands what we do.
Could I reprint this article in my newsletter, The One-Person Library, sometime? I will need written permission and your postal address--so I can send the $25 author fee.
Again, thanks, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Judith Siess Editor/Publisher The One-Person Library: A Newsletter for Librarians and Management
Answers are @ your library.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID