As today was my last official day working at the library, I thought that showing some of the best blogs about the library would a nice note to end on. To my home for the past three years, so long Ryerson.

-8.4.2002
So the other day I was at my job (The library in the Art Institute for those of you who didn't know...those of you who are here from a referral and don't actually know me personally), and some boxes were sent down from the archival people on the 2nd floor. They told us to sort through this one guys crap and seperate the photos from everything else. And the thing is, it really was crap. They had just packed up this guys stuff (the man is now dead by the way) and shipped it to us. So included was the oddest collection of (again) crap. There were random scraps of paper with notes on them, Time magazines from 1983, reciepts from Rainbow Meat Co. when this guy had baught beef, his film developing reciepts, postcards from friends, credit card reciepts ("You think we can still use this credit card number?" a girl I work with asked. "It says it expired in 1979!" I said), and a bunch of other stuff. It was just odd getting a sense of someones life by sorting through all of their saved papers, reading letters friends had sent to them, and seeing notes they had written. It honestly had a deep impact on me: It made me go straight home and clean out all my old crap! I don't want some kids sorting through my shit in 2095!

-1.7.2003
Just an odd little realization: At the special archives table at the library the patron has to fill out a special slip to request books. Among the people who have requested things from the archives...Neil Harris (darn close to Neil Patrick Harris who played Doogie Howser on TV), and also John Ritter (of course sharing the name of the man from Threes Company fame). Oh how I'm looking forward to the day when Gary Coleman comes to request a book.

-1.14.2003
Scene: This morning at work, a woman from the back office comes out with a poster tube.
Woman: We have an extra poster from the Van Gogh exhibit if anybody wants it.
(Everyone shrugs apathetically.)
Woman: (turning to me) You could put it up, add some color to your home! Cover up all those ugly walls you have!
Me: No, that's fine. But thank you for assuming I have ugly walls at home.

-1.19.2003
(The following discussion took place at the library between the old lady who sits at the reception desk, and myself. The topic is the new desk pad.)
Me: Ooh, new pad?
Annie: Uh huh!
Me: It's white.
Annie: Yeah, they couldn't find the good kind.
Me: The good kind?
Annie: The leather kind. We used to have those all the time, but not no more! All because a' 911!
Me: The emergency line?
Annie: No! 911! You know!
Me: September 11th?
Annie: That's right!
Me: We don't have a leather desk pad because of September 11th?
Annie: Yeah! They gotta...use that leather for other stuff!
Me: What? This isn't world war I, we're not rationing.
Annie: You don't know that!
Me: Right. We can no longer find leather desk pads. The terrorists have won.
Annie: Uh huh!
(later that day)
Kaytey: Hey, new desk pad.
Me: Yeah.
Kaytey: Why is it white?
Me: Terrorists.

-6.4.2003
Today in the library a older woman who had just come in walked up to me and asked, "Do you know who did that sculpture over there?" "No, sorry." Then she asked, "Well what about those words written up there? What language are those?" "Um, I don't know." She looked at me with pitty and said, "You must be a volunteer or something."
I was too ashamed to tell her I wasn't. She then turned back to her friends and said, quite audably, "He doesn't know anything." Yeah, my self esteem for the day is down the drain.

-11.6.2003
Scene: Me working at the reception desk at the library today.
Me: Hi, can I help you?
Man: I don't speak English.
Me: Oh, um, did you just want to look at the pictures?
Man: Yes.
Me: Alright, that's fine then.
Man: Thank you.

After the man had left I thought to myself "was that situation a little fishy?"