Are You a Mystery? Or a Trashy Romance?
If You Were a Book, What Genre Would You Be?
A colleague recently posted an intriguing question on my favorite Facebook Librarian hangout: “If you were being sold in a library book sale, which table would you be on?”
She had her first response within seconds:
Damaged.
Quickly followed by:
Mystery!
Adventure
Bible stories (I’m born again.)
True Crime (I work in a prison library.)
Humor (Easy to read and you walk away smiling)
As more librarians got into the game, the comments poured in:
Withdrawn
Inspirational (I want to make a difference in the lives of others)
Overlooked gems
Bedtime stories
Audio books (I never shut up.)
A few responses were both insightful and descriptive:
I’m the book leveling out the table the other books are arranged on.
I’d be under the table, out of sight and forgotten, in a waterlogged box full of baby spiders.
But most of the comments were limited to a few quick words:
Staff picks
Oddities
Fantasy
Trivia
Self Help
I’m a trashy romance!
Some answers would seem to reflect low self esteem:
Hurt
Distressed
Never checked out
Fragile. Handle with Care.
Others, not so much:
Rare finds
Classics
One-of-a-kind
Valuable
A few comments referenced the fact that some of us are getting on in years:
Old and unusual
Used but useful
Cover shows wear but contents still good
Vintage and fabulous
And then there were the librarians who walk on the wild side:
Banned Books
DANGEROUS! ADULTS ONLY!
Forbidden… but alluring
Sexy!
Cheap & Easy [snickers]
My very favorite response? (And entirely realistic, given this crowd?):
Scratched by cats
In conclusion? One of the many joys of library work is having such clever, fun-loving colleagues. As far as I’m concerned, we’re all Rare Finds.
( Writing Coach and Medium Sherpa Roz Warren writes for everyone from the Funny Times to the New York Times, has been in 13 Chicken Soup for the Soul collections, and is the author of Just Another Day at your Local Public Library, in which this humor piece appears.) Drop her a line at roSwarren@gmail.com.)
