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Dear public library system, I appreciate that you finally got a book in that I want to read. I do not appreciate that the only library that got the book is up next to the Canadian Border and too far a drive for me to justify for one book. And I really do not appreciate that you can't inter-library loan this book yet.
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Dec 15, 2018 15:18
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Try putting a hold on it, everywhere I've been as employee or patron lets me choose which branch to hold it at. ILL is specifically for requesting stuff from other counties and institutions.
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Dec 15, 2018 15:27
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Cythereal posted:Try putting a hold on it, everywhere I've been as employee or patron lets me choose which branch to hold it at. No, no, it's specifically mapped in the system as not eligible for holds. Normally I can say "put a hold on this and send it here, thanks" but this book is still so new in the system that it ain't leaving except in the hands of someone who walks into that particular library. (And then it's not up for renewals, either - two weeks and bring it back in pristine condition or the librarian will be upset)
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Dec 15, 2018 15:38
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Oh, Animale, your post about a famous architect reminded me of another crazy story. We commissioned a locally "famous" artist to install a big rear end steel sculpture outside our rural branch. When us grunts saw the concept sketches after the board meeting discussing it, and agreed that it looked like total garbage* and a waste of money, I naturally did what the JD do and started googling her to death to see her so-called credentials and other works. Why were we all denied raises that year for budget cuts, but we could blow thousands of dollars on an ugly piece of metal out in the sticks? Wait, Andrew Blake/Thanfiction? Of the Hobbit -channelling and Dumbledore's Army cults?
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Dec 18, 2018 01:34
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Quick loop back to the little free library derail because holy crap this is rad- https://twitter.com/newsfromkerri/status/1075126012365565957?s=21
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Dec 20, 2018 09:17
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Pinball posted:Wait, Andrew Blake/Thanfiction? Of the Hobbit -channelling and Dumbledore's Army cults? Jeezus, how many aliases did this person go under? But yyyyyep, I recognize the AB one, pretty sure we're talking the same person, here. el dorito posted:But I’m gonna add another one to the pile and see how I fare since she’s a mystery author: Oh dear lord, that was one of the ones I tried to slog thru in jail, gave up, and just started skimming until I could get to the whodunnit part for some sense of closure. Goonspeed! the escape goat posted:Quick loop back to the little free library derail because holy crap this is rad- That is indeed rad as gently caress, thanks for posting that! My husband and I are both artists that use junk in our sculpture work, so our garage is full of... Well, all kinds of interesting things we find on the side the road and compulsively pick up. Like right now we have a couple 60's-70s cabinet tv's, an abandoned mini-fridge, a huge 1920s porcelain sink, etc. plus scrap material for daaaaays. I'm gonna have a lot of down time this time of year at my job, and I'm thinking of building my own little free library now with some of this stuff. Guess I gotta figure out if there's like a zoning issue or anything (I rent an apartment, so I don't own the turf I would put it on) but thanks for all the inspiration!
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Dec 21, 2018 08:22
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You could always ask some public charitable organization in your town if they'd like one made.
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Dec 21, 2018 08:37
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A bar fridge library would be cool.
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Dec 21, 2018 09:30
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Y'know, the property managers and all the neighbors are pretty cool... I could maybe start the mini-fridge one (it's actually a small wine chiller, classy looking with a glass door) in our laundry room. Wouldn't quite be public, but we could share amongst the residents here. Do laundry, grab a book. One neighbor has a chessboard on a small table in the hallway outside their apartment; if you happen to pass it, you can just take a turn and move a piece. It's like a 12-person ongoing game of chess. Another neighbor hides things like small toy plastic dinosaurs and rubber duckies around the shared courtyard. So I think the folks living here would be down with it and not complain. ...Yeah I'm home sick today and might dig that fridge out and start decorating it while I'm all high on NyQuil. [ASK] Me about weirdos building libraries!
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Dec 21, 2018 19:31
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Y'know, the property managers and all the neighbors are pretty cool... I could maybe start the mini-fridge one (it's actually a small wine chiller, classy looking with a glass door) in our laundry room. Wouldn't quite be public, but we could share amongst the residents here. "Cool reads"
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Dec 21, 2018 21:32
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Anyone know where I might be able to buy bulk used kid's books? I am taking over a second grade homeroom class at a local international School; we don't have a library currently because we're converting the current space to be eligible for the IB. the classroom books currently are fun titles like LET'S LOOK AT ROCKS and SATURN IS A THING; my kids are not native English speakers and need some interesting poo poo.
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Dec 21, 2018 22:06
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:Anyone know where I might be able to buy bulk used kid's books? I am taking over a second grade homeroom class at a local international School; we don't have a library currently because we're converting the current space to be eligible for the IB. the classroom books currently are fun titles like LET'S LOOK AT ROCKS and SATURN IS A THING; my kids are not native English speakers and need some interesting poo poo. Which country are you at right now, and do you want books in English or another language? I live right by a bulk Goodwill warehouse that sells kids books for pennies and I need something to keep me occupied while I'm vaguely out of work right now. I'd be happy to dig around and mail some boxes if shipping isn't crazy cost prohibitive (or if your school can reimburse on shipping). As I said earlier itt, I used to be a shelver that strictly dealt in children's books, so I have an idea of what's age appropriate and whatnot. I'll also ask my former library peeps if they have suggestions, I'm still friends with a bunch of the youth services staff on FB. And it's probably the cold medicine talking, but I just keep cracking up at SATURN IS A THING, lol
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Dec 21, 2018 22:25
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I hope SATURN IS A THING finds it's way onto as many bibliographies as possible.
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Dec 21, 2018 22:35
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Y'know, the property managers and all the neighbors are pretty cool... I could maybe start the mini-fridge one (it's actually a small wine chiller, classy looking with a glass door) in our laundry room. Wouldn't quite be public, but we could share amongst the residents here. Do laundry, grab a book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf1n3OvO7rI&t=335s
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Dec 21, 2018 23:38
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I don't know about buying in bulk but I like to go to my public library and buy their discarded children's books. They used to be 5 cents each. Also if you're in the US and tell me what sorts of books you're looking for and are willing to give a stranger your address (via PM) I will send you a package with books for your classroom (for free)
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Dec 21, 2018 23:59
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Here is one way to spot a clueless librarian, from the last public library I worked at. At this library, we had a number of problem patrons who were in just about every day. Frank is an elderly guy, and he would grab random newspapers, hog one of the library's copiers for hours making copies of obscure articles, then camp out at the circulation desk for as long as you'd let him to talk about his conspiracy theories he's working to prove. Joe is also an elderly guy, and he decided that the best way to do research for a book he's writing is to come down to the local public library and camp out at the circulation desk for hours asking you to look up random things on google and computers while screaming that you're stupid and should be fired if you can't find what he wants (usually because what he wants doesn't exist) or can't find a certain obscure book he wants for ILL. Dave is also an elderly guy, and very lonely because his wife divorced him because he cheated on her, and he would camp out at the circulation desk for as long as any female staff member would let him to look up legal materials and books about divorce while sexually harassing the female staff member in question. This was also the guy who repeatedly sexually assaulted female staff off the library property because he'd follow them out of the building and wait for them when they left for the night. So came one Friday morning after one of Dave's more egregious days, and we the circulation staff were discussing what to do about these three guys. Management had consistently refused to do anything about any of the three of them, on the basis that we are here to create a safe and welcoming space for all patrons. Banning people from the library is only for violence. But all three of these guys were in almost every day, and would be there for most if not all of the day - Frank especially was invariably one of the first in at opening and last out at closing. In fact, management refuses to even make written records of their behaviors. Our manager, the head of circulation and public services, walks in from her office and hears us discussing these guys and how to handle their behavior. She has no idea who any of them are. Only after we tell them about their behavior in detail does she remember that these are the three main people 'You guys keep making an unnecessary fuss about.'
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Dec 22, 2018 05:37
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:LET'S LOOK AT ROCKS and SATURN IS A THING dammit, you just described two of my own shelves of books
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Dec 22, 2018 05:55
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Leperflesh posted:dammit, you just described two of my own shelves of books [looks down and shuffles shoes awkwardly]  (Still laughing at SATURN IS A THING, though)
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Dec 22, 2018 07:27
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Cythereal posted:Here is one way to spot a clueless librarian, from the last public library I worked at. Why did nobody call the cops on the guy assaulting women? Jesus loving christ.
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Dec 22, 2018 07:31
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therobit posted:Why did nobody call the cops on the guy assaulting women? Jesus loving christ. See my previous posts about "well, maybe he just has a hand deformity" or The Shooter. Sometimes the folks in charge (i.e., Admin) are just, well, giant ignorant idiots who plain don't get how a woman can feel threatened or even just squicked out by patrons. That's an awful story, Cythereal. Was your library small enough that circ had to deal with that? We would've sent them to reference and let the big paycheck MLS-havers deal with that BS.
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Dec 22, 2018 08:15
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JacquelineDempsey posted:See my previous posts about "well, maybe he just has a hand deformity" or The Shooter. Sometimes the folks in charge (i.e., Admin) are just, well, giant ignorant idiots who plain don't get how a woman can feel threatened or even just squicked out by patrons. Seems like a lawsuit is in order then. I know that it is a common problem, but I think any employer that allows that to happen to their employees and tries to shield sex criminals deserves to get sued out of existence.
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Dec 22, 2018 08:27
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People who make like ten bucks an hour, often part time to boot, generally do not have reasonable access to legal resources. They just eventually quit and nothing changes.
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Dec 22, 2018 08:36
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Which country are you at right now, and do you want books in English or another language? I live right by a bulk Goodwill warehouse that sells kids books for pennies and I need something to keep me occupied while I'm vaguely out of work right now. I'd be happy to dig around and mail some boxes if shipping isn't crazy cost prohibitive (or if your school can reimburse on shipping). As I said earlier itt, I used to be a shelver that strictly dealt in children's books, so I have an idea of what's age appropriate and whatnot. Holy poo poo, would you really do this??? That would seriously be the most amazing thing ever. I'd definitely pay you back for shipping and whatever the books cost. I live in Spain now, so shipping wouldn't be cheap, but I could send you the money ahead of time if you can give me an estimate. I only need English books (Spanish books would be okay, too) and it's for second grade. As long as there aren't pages missing, I'm not too concerned about condition. AnonymousNarcotics posted:I don't know about buying in bulk but I like to go to my public library and buy their discarded children's books. They used to be 5 cents each. I'm not in the US, but thank you for the offer! Yeah, I am buying some books from my current school library's hoard of discards, albeit at 2 Euro a pop. The British supermarket has some used books, albeit mostly Kitty Kelley smear jobs and Bad Beach Books, so I'm going to check it out after Christmas. Saturn is my favorite planet, by the way! It is definitely A THING. I really do question this teacher for having zero fiction/picture books in the classroom. Just these dry-rear end readers that are trying to get kids excited about important, but boring topics. OH, BOY! LET'S LOOK AT SOIL! or CAN YOU COUNT TO PURPLE? NO, YOU CANNOT: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO COUNTING THINGS, etc.
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Dec 22, 2018 15:08
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therobit posted:Why did nobody call the cops on the guy assaulting women? Jesus loving christ. They did the first time. "He said she said there's no proof either way don't waste our time with this again." JacquelineDempsey posted:That's an awful story, Cythereal. Was your library small enough that circ had to deal with that? We would've sent them to reference and let the big paycheck MLS-havers deal with that BS. Circ is the reference desk at that library. To be fair, that's something I generally agree with - half of the circ staff including me had their MLS, and it doesn't take one to answer 99% of reference questions at a public library. therobit posted:Seems like a lawsuit is in order then. I know that it is a common problem, but I think any employer that allows that to happen to their employees and tries to shield sex criminals deserves to get sued out of existence. Leperflesh posted:People who make like ten bucks an hour, often part time to boot, generally do not have reasonable access to legal resources. They just eventually quit and nothing changes. Exactly. We were actually paid pretty well, but management was mystified by why this particular branch had such consistently high personnel turnover.
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Dec 22, 2018 15:08
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:I really do question this teacher for having zero fiction/picture books in the classroom. Just these dry-rear end readers that are trying to get kids excited about important, but boring topics. OH, BOY! LET'S LOOK AT SOIL! or CAN YOU COUNT TO PURPLE? NO, YOU CANNOT: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO COUNTING THINGS, etc. They'll probably learn to count to purple in college. I did
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Dec 22, 2018 15:15
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:Holy poo poo, would you really do this??? That would seriously be the most amazing thing ever. I'd definitely pay you back for shipping and whatever the books cost. I live in Spain now, so shipping wouldn't be cheap, but I could send you the money ahead of time if you can give me an estimate. I only need English books (Spanish books would be okay, too) and it's for second grade. As long as there aren't pages missing, I'm not too concerned about condition. I got you, fellow former CNY woman.  Along with being a massive library nerd herself, my mom was also a school teacher, so I have mad respect for anyone in that profession and understand about having to buy your own stuff. Even in one of the best funded public school systems in Syracuse, she'd buy things for her kids because "hurrr, don't have enough budget for the special ed program, gotta make sure we can buy a new scoreboard for the football stadium".quote:Saturn is my favorite planet, by the way! It is definitely A THING. He was... confused. quote:I really do question this teacher for having zero fiction/picture books in the classroom. Just these dry-rear end readers that are trying to get kids excited about important, but boring topics. OH, BOY! LET'S LOOK AT SOIL! or CAN YOU COUNT TO PURPLE? NO, YOU CANNOT: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO COUNTING THINGS, etc. Now if I find a copy of "Harold and the Purple Crayon" while digging thru the Goodwill bins, I am going to die laughing.
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Dec 22, 2018 18:19
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Oh, hey, a thread for librarians!  I worked circ, courier duties, and reference desk at a public library for several years, and I liked 95% of it. I'm getting my MLS for archives work, and mercifully, my current position has me far away from the public and the local crazies. I think I've got some good stories, though.Years ago, before I even got a job there, I was looking for something through the library catalog, and the auto-complete showed previous search results, including "How to become a porn star". We couldn't dispense legal advice from the ref desk, so a lot of what I ended up doing was referring people to legal aid, the local college's law library, or referring them to DIY legal materials in-house. One woman wanted to know how she could sue the state's Department of Health and Human Services - at some point, she had evidently lost a custody hearing because of her ex-husband's claim she was on a coke bender ("IT'S NOT loving TRUE", she shouted in front of other patrons). I got a reputation for being good with tech and gadgets, so many of the regulars would come to me in particular or ask for me by name. Most were for simple tasks that I was happy to help with - even just getting people started on writing a resume. Others were more unscrupulous - one woman needed my help plagiarizing a letter of recommendation from her alma mater (it read "New York Unversecity"). Others wanted me to do their homework for them.  A semi-regular homeless guy came in one day and needed some help figuring out a cheap tablet he bought. He didn't show up for a while after that - we found out he'd been busted for selling crack. Another homeless regular got a chewing out from our security officer one day for looking at softcore porn and then printing off listings from Backpage. When I was working circulation, one regular got a reputation for being extremely cantankerous, refusing to talk to any woman working the phones for longer than he absolutely had to. Not great in a field that's primarily women. When I moved to the reference desk, I became very familiar with him - an eccentric Vietnam vet who wanted to watch as many movies as he possibly could, and who was constantly looking for recommendations for new stuff. He would always "need" us to log him in to his Netflix account and get him the Netflix customer service number. I'm dying to know what he said to those people in the Netflix call center. He actually gave me the most entertaining reference question of my entire career there - he needed to know what movies were playing at a local now-defunct theater one weekend in October, 1982. I loved any excuse to dig through microfilm, so I happily obliged - it was Poltergeist. I never actually caught anyone loving at the library during my time there, but the security officer did. She was going through closing procedures once and found two teenagers going at it on the men's room floor in the back near the auditorium. Gross.
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Dec 22, 2018 18:42
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Cythereal posted:Here is one way to spot a clueless librarian, from the last public library I worked at. Yeah, sounds about right. One of the academic libraries I worked at had the campus police called - by patrons! - multiple times for a passel of chronic masturbators, and all we got from admin was "but they're not hurting anyone." Also, you say that like librarians aren't clueless until proven otherwise.
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Dec 22, 2018 19:37
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Welcome aboard, Coheed! You (and any other library vets/patrons) are welcome to share your stories.  Typing "patrons" reminds me of one thing that really rankled me during my later library days. We always called the people who came in for our services "patrons". Then some high muckity-muck speaker at the annual ALA conference made our director decide we were to start calling them "users". Admin cracked down hard if we referred to "a person who comes into the library" as anything but a user. Like, God forbid I sent out an email about "had an issue with a patron, watch out for him", admin would be breathing down my neck that "NO, JD, we call them 'users' now" (and conveniently deflect from the actual problem at hand). I hated the term, and would protest at any given opportunity: "I'd rather be patronized than used." Silly, but of all people, librarians should be aware that Words Mean Things. I know a bunch of patrons didn't like it either, when they noticed the change on our website and in our printed newsletter. Other library folk: what did you call your patrons? Just remembered another decent story, which I'll get back to, but for now I'll write the headline so I don't forget later: How many Nazis does it take to change a lightbulb?
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Dec 22, 2018 19:39
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grassy gnoll posted:Also, you say that like librarians aren't clueless until proven otherwise. Most librarians I've known are great in their area of expertise, just completely clueless outside of it. Just, my manager at that particular library was the worst. Another fun thing she liked to do was schedule herself for lots of hours on the desk - so many, in fact, that she was given an official little award for being the hardest working branch manager in the county system. Except she was never actually on the desk. I learned quickly from the other staff that when she scheduled herself to work on the desk, someone else had to be available to cover for her because she'd 'have urgent matters to take care of' in her office. Translation: talking on her phone with her friends, including the manager at another branch. Library admin never caught on, because they never came down to the circulation area during operating hours and never interacted with the public. All our regulars knew the circ staff by name, except our manager. Most of our regulars didn't know we had a manager, or thought one of the two librarians-without-a-special-job we'd call up for big stuff was the manager. They had no clue who our actual boss was. I liked working there on the whole, the job was generally easy, it was a good area to live and work in, the pay was great for library work, and my coworkers were amazing. But management was so helpless that I honestly wasn't that upset when they fired me for poor customer service (read: I was stupid and told administration the truth instead of what they'd already decided they were going to hear).
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Dec 22, 2018 19:48
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Coheed and Camembert posted:Oh, hey, a thread for librarians! Holy poo poo, I love your username.
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Dec 23, 2018 00:36
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Just wanted to pop in and say as a precocious ADHD kid with no friends growing up, libraries were my happy place and thank you for making them so goddamn awesome!
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Dec 26, 2018 15:42
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This thread is great, I love libraries. I was unemployed for about 4-5 months this year and the library was my go-to place to job search and study for professional exams. It's also located near several famously left-leaning college campuses in a famously liberal town so it drew some unique events and people. Certainly some interesting weirdos at the one I went to, though nobody stands out as memorable enough to post stories about. I've thought about volunteering for tech support/AV stuff because I kind of want to pay the place back a little bit. Stories of being the library AV person speak to me on a personal level.
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Dec 26, 2018 23:06
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JacquelineDempsey posted:I got you, fellow former CNY woman. Awww poo poo, yeah, Syracuse! (why am I getting excited? I have potatoes, salt, and ice in the kitchen; I can replicate the Syracuse experience if I take them all to a failing mall and then start a gang fight). My dad worked really closely with CNY area public schools- he was one of the earliest proponents of BOCES, if you know what that is/was- and one of the reasons he quit was because he couldn't stand how wealthy school districts STILL poured buckets and buckets of money into football and sports while ignoring special programs. I grew up in and went to school in Cazenovia until I was 16, and we barely even had APs, let alone any kind of accelerated or gifted programs....but we always had a spankin' new football scoreboard. TAKE THAT, CBA! Your husband's planets sound cool as gently caress! Anyways. Not only is Saturn A THING but I had the chance to sneak a few pics today while 'setting up".Sorry for the poo poo quality; I was trying to be unobstrusive. Keep in mind my students are all younger than 8 and English is their third language, so the books should be really interesting and engaging, right?    The only possible answer to this question is LET'S TOUCH IT OR LICK IT TO FIND OUT!!!!!!!!!!!! so I am going to hide it, I think. Also, there is a 99% chance that someone licked the book itself. e: This isn't math.  lmao what a fuckin nerd  Excellent question! Who knows what a radio is? Oh, nobody, because you were all born in 2011? Never mind, then.  Not only is this not applicable to ANY of the students in the elementary school, but in Catalunya this isn't exactly the safest question to ask.  Because I said so? Seriously, I looked at the book and "because I said so" flew out of my mouth. (I am, of course, going to promote these books like they're the most fascinating things ever.) Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Dec 28, 2018 |
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Dec 28, 2018 16:08
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The next book in the series should be "Can You Post When You're Dead?" and the answer is yes, because I just died laughing at those. Holy crow, you weren't kidding, Fleta. "Robert Makes a Graph" --- omg tell me how it ends but put it in spoiler tags, please! Wouldn't want to ruin that roller coaster of a story for anyone else. Hell yeah I remember BOCES, good on your dad for supporting them. (For those of you not from the area, it was a vocational education program for kids that struggled with traditional academics for one reason or another) Sad thing is, the image we all had at the time were those were the dumb kids, or the bad kids, that got put on the short bus in the afternoon to go to BOCES classes. I'll just come out and say it: it was the 80s and we were kids, so anyone in that program got called a retard. Those "retards" all learned a valuable trade and probably own their own homes now, making mad bank as car mechanics or electricians, while my MA is gathering dust and I'm a line cook struggling to pay rent. It's me, I'm the retard. (NB. I hope no one's offended by my use of the word "retard" and get my point about how stupid and offensive kids in the 80s could be before we knew better.) Anyways, it's a dreary Friday that I have off, so as promised: How many Nazis does it take to change a lightbulb? My very first day after I defected from circulation to the a/v and conference room job, they trained me on simple stuff like how to answer the multi-line phone, enter room reservations into the software, how we filed applications for reservations, basic desk stuff. At one point Will says to Skipper, "Oh, we should warn her about the... Y'know, that group. In case they come in or call and JD's on desk." Skipper agrees and pulls me aside. Turns out a white power neo-nazi bunch had expressed an interest in renting our theatre for a meeting or rally of some kind. Before submitting an application and plunking down the deposit fee, they had already approached our staff to ensure that their event would be protected as free speech. Skipper essentially gave them a "um, maybe?" and took it up with the director. Our director, though a staunch defender of our library being a place for all people, did not want a three ring circus of nazis, protesters, and media disrupting the place and ruining it for other patrons. We technically couldn't outright say "no" to them, but we weren't giving them a definitive "yes", either. The group was apparently eating this up, all "see? Look how they want to take away are freedumbs!" and frothing at the mouth. They wanted a shitshow, it would draw attention to them. So I was instructed that if someone from this group called or came in, I should not book them, but get either the Skipper or the director to talk to them first. Fine by me, I'm still figuring out this crazy rear end software and getting over my phobia of talking on the phone. When I took the job, it hadn't occurred to me that such unsavory folks would be renting our space and there would be ethical dilemmas involved. Helluva curveball on my first day! Couple days later, we get word from the director that they opted to rent the community room at the neighboring county library (we'll call it Jones County). Jones didn't have an issue with it, and was definitely more redneck and in their demographic, anyways. Whew, we dodged that bullet, let them deal with it. Still, we felt bad for their staff, having to put up with the potential nightmare, and eagerly watched the news to see how this was going to blow up. A few days before the event, Jones County sent out a message to the press and on their site that they had to close to the public for maintenance on that day, but the meeting rooms would still be available for folks that had already made reservations. When pressed for information on why they were closing, they said: "We need to change all the lightbulbs." Which had all of us at My County dying, I mean, why would you close a library for a day to change ALL your lightbulbs? We'd done a massive renovation a few years back and never closed even though they were knocking down walls and poo poo. Lightbulbs, lol, c'mon, you could've come up with a better excuse. We knew what was up. The result being that the only people in the library that day, besides a skeleton crew, were 30 nazis sulking in the community room, disappointed that they hadn't created a ruckus with media attention on a parking lot full of protestors and counter-protesters. It was a complete non-event that barely got a blurb in the local newspaper. Gotta hand it to you Jones County, your excuse was hilariously lame, but you handled that pretty smoothly. JacquelineDempsey fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Dec 28, 2018 |
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Dec 28, 2018 18:24
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JacquelineDempsey posted:The next book in the series should be "Can You Post When You're Dead?" and the answer is yes, because I just died laughing at those. Holy crow, you weren't kidding, Fleta. "Robert Makes a Graph" --- omg tell me how it ends but put it in spoiler tags, please! Wouldn't want to ruin that roller coaster of a story for anyone else. That's pretty loving funny.
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Dec 29, 2018 04:33
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Those poor Nazis had to meet in the dark 
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Dec 29, 2018 05:42
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bare bottom pancakes posted:Those poor Nazis had to meet in the dark I guess that’s why they call it the Dark Enlightenment 
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Dec 29, 2018 15:59
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Antivehicular posted:I recall a very old (and non-SA) message board thread from an adult-video-store clerk who cited the VHS version of this problem as the worst part of her job. Seems legit. True Porn Clerk Stories, on improvisation.ws. The site is long gone but the Wayback Machine provides at least the first page: https://web.archive.org/web/20051215081613/http://www.improvisation.ws/mb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4475 It's not quite a librarian experience but you will probably recognize some common themes. After the site went down the author of the thread made a book True Porn Clerk Stories that is currently available on Amazon.
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Dec 29, 2018 21:40
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Midjack posted:True Porn Clerk Stories, on improvisation.ws. The site is long gone but the Wayback Machine provides at least the first page: That was a really good read, thanks for that! Y'all should read that, it's fun and illuminating. Glad she got a book deal out of it. Totally brought back memories of when I dated a guy in college that worked at a mom and pop VHS rental store with a porn section. They way his store was set up, you brought the box up to register, and he'd look at the number they'd stuck on the side and grab the appropriate tape. The porn was located in a little curtained off section that ran parallel to where the register was. That way you could pick out your video and hand the box straight to him without the embarrassment of running into your golfing buddy at the register and having him notice you were renting "Black Cock Gobblers 4" or whatever. He'd been working there for so long, he had all the movie numbers (porn and regular alike) memorized the same way most librarians can tell you the Dewey numbers to two decimal points on any subject. I didn't have a car at the time so I'd spend some of his shifts hanging out there and would quiz him when it got slow. I'd try to pick the most obscure titles they had, and he'd nail it. It was uncanny. "Bend Over Brazilian Babes?" "5256!" "Young, Dumb, Full of Cum?" "2341!" Sadly, he wasn't a big reader, so I never got to show off my Dewey savant superpowers to him. 
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Dec 29, 2018 23:29
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