Look Ma! I'm a librarian (sort of).

I grabbed my cart of books and headed towards the stacks as I do most Tuesday afternoons. I usually start with fiction as they are the farthest away from the front desk. Then I proceed with the mystery novels, western, non-fiction and eventually work my around to the juvenile fiction and childrens books. The book carts were particularly full this day so it took me awhile to get around to the end of my route. In the childrens section there was a young kid who looked about middle school age (might of been high school, but I'm rarely successful at determining someone's age) who was sitting sadly in a pile of books with a spray bottle and rag and was very slowly wiping the cover of one book after another. The library from time to time gets kids who have been remanded to some kind of community service by the court for some youthful act of indiscretion. They usually come in a for a day or two, work off their court ordered penance and are gone. They rarely speak and heaven knows I never speak to them. This particular offender of the law was more outgoing than most I'd encountered. He'd been watching me going around shelving books I guess and as I got into the childrens section he started to make fidgety small talk and couldn't seem to wait to ask me something.

     "Hey, how's it going?", he asked.
     "Fine. How's it going with you?"
     "Awful! I've had to clean hundreds of these books, but it doesn't look
        like I've made it very far."
     "Well, you'll have that I guess...."
     "Hey, can I ask you something?"
     "I supposed."
     "How long have you been here?"
     "Oh, I don't know, maybe 5-6 years now."

Honestly, I was doing my best to ignore the kid and so I really didn't immediately pick up on the context of his last question. As I recall I had spent the earlier part of the day out doing some job site visit and was pretty dirty that afternoon stomping around in some dusty work boots and my bright orange high visibility shirt. Not to mention the fact that one doesn't usually see a younger guy shelving books in a rural library so I guess I can understand the question in light of what this kid was seeing. Upon hearing my answer this poor kid's face just dropped. I continued shelving and when it finally dawned on me what he was thinking I had to chuckle. I told him that I was a volunteer and that I wasn't there working off any court ordered community service. He seemed very relieved after hearing that, but after thinking about it for a minute he had to ask, "so why do you volunteer at the library?"

Some of you will recall this post about my library escapades and I'm sure you'll be happy to know that my biblio-tendencies followed me to rural Nevada. However, whereas the staff in Provo had no idea what to do with me, in Ely they pretty much let me do whatever I'm willing to try. I mostly come in and shelve for an hour or two. Occasionally I end up helping an elderly person access their e-mail or I'll check some books out for someone (my nieces, nephews and younger relatives get a big kick out of that one). It's fun when I get asked by someone for a book recommendation. Now and then someone will ask for help finding something and in some rare instances I'm actually helpful in finding it for them. Probably the best perk of volunteering is that I get to peruse a lot of books and add them to my list of things I'd like to read so I'm never at a loss of what to read next. I also check my own books out (and subsequently waive the inevitable late fees). Shushing rowdy kids is kind of fun too. Mostly it's nice to be able to take a little time out of my work routine to just be in a quiet place and hit auto pilot for a while. About a year or so ago they had a vacancy on the library board and they asked me to apply. I declined but for some reason thought it would be something good for my mom to apply for since she's on the verge of being an empty nest-er. After more cajoling than seemed reasonable to me at the time she agreed. She never sounds very excited about it, but I think she secretly enjoys her monthly meetings. I'm well aware that I'm far from being an essential cog at the library, but nonetheless I feel I should be supporting things I value. In Nevada we don't have any Carnegie Libraries or much in the way of grand elaborate public institution dating back from the 1800's, but in almost any town that I pass through across my state - no matter how small - there is always a library. I find it interesting that these libraries are usually the nicest buildings in those towns and that they are almost exclusively in existence due to the sacrifice and dedication of the people who live there. And least you think that the library has outlived its usefulness as an institution I will tell you that the library I volunteer at sees more people in a given day then almost any other public building in town. There is something, and I think there will always be something, about a good book.