Romeo, Romeo…

I’m having a day off tomorrow, so I’m working in Henleaze library today instead. The usual suspects, M* and R* are there, but I also get to meet L*, who is also agency staff, and B*.

I don’t start till 12:45 so I’m all fresh and they have already had a busy morning, and my first task is to help a lady print out an application form from a housing association. It’s 14 pages, in Word. When anyone tries to print, it gives a warning message that the margins are too narrow. No one knows how to change the margins — so I go over and change them, as well as the tables that look as if they might cause a problem. The message still comes up, but I know it will print, and it does. The customer is very grateful as she has been struggling with it for an hour. It’s also news to L* and B* when I tell her I was an IT teacher in another life!

Henleaze is always busy, and today is no exception. R* is doing ‘baby bounce and rhyme’ for the last time, as Henleaze is closing for a few weeks to have a new carpet laid. Lots of books have come in on the van and need discharging, and there’s also a whole trolley full of new books. They’ve all been processed, but here in Henleaze they like to ‘grid stamp’ them (for stock rotation purposes) and stick tape down the inside of the front cover, as well as a bit to hold the cover to the book. R* says is makes them last longer, but S* has said it doesn’t make any difference. Anyway, I go with the flow and do as I’m told.

In the middle of my stamping and sticking, a couple come in and ask for a book token, which I’ve never done before. M* talks me through it, but also shows me the folder where the notes are on how to do so. It’s easy! And another tick on my ‘library assistant’ list.

I have a problem with DVDs today — I reshelve them without locking the boxes. In some libraries, they don’t lock them, they just remove the most up-to-date DVDs and keep them in a drawer, so it’s easy to forget to do it here, as I don’t work here regularly enough. A man comes and pays £2 for an up-to-date DVD, I find the correct one in the drawer and put it in the box — and forget to issue it to his account, until I see him heading out of the door. It’s too late them. Anyway, he’s paid, and hopefully he’ll bring it back and it will be discharged and no one will be any the wiser, except it won’t show on his account.

There are other mistakes, like a book being reshelved in the wrong place, books not sent back to their home libraries, not checking the date a ‘want’ was last seen and therefore the reason why I can’t find it on the shelf, and I keep thinking it’s me that’s made the mistakes, but I know they can’t all be my errors! Fortunately R* is there to keep an eye on things, and she’s the one who finds the mistakes. They aren’t critical, but still, I shouldn’t feel like the ‘new girl’ after all this time — after all, I’m responsible for opening 2 libraries each week, and doing the banking!

M* has to put together a cut-out figure (life size) of Will Shakespeare and put up a load of posters with familiar quotations in time for #shakespeare400 on Saturday, celebrating 400 years since his death. We all gather for a ‘selfie’ (actually taken by a customer) with some of us holding the posters, and B* wearing a ruff around her neck!

My efforts at my yoga practice this morning kick in and by 3:30 I’m desperate for a tea break. Henleaze always has the best biscuits, and ‘Hello’ magazine, so tea breaks are always too short! It’s very welcome today though.