Libraries remain the primary repository of a huge portion of the world’s knowledge, ready to be uncovered by seekers of all kinds. But there are libraries…and then there are libraries. One very common form of library required patrons to pay monthly or annual dues in exchange for access (which may or may not have included borrowing rights). When public libraries began to catch on, these membership libraries (also called subscription libraries) began to dwindle rapidly; there are now just 18 still functioning in the U.S.
And there’s something else: reference librarians who are positively itching to help you find information. I always have to avert my eyes when I walk by the reference desk. If I make eye contact, I invariably get this guilt-inducing “why-aren’t-you-asking-me-where-to-find-old-periodicals” look, and I just can’t bear it.
Guilt Inducing Librarians
“And there’s something else: reference librarians who are positively itching to help you find information. I always have to avert my eyes when I walk by the reference desk. If I make eye contact, I invariably get this guilt-inducing “why-aren’t-you-asking-me-where-to-find-old-periodicals” look, and I just can’t bear it.”
LOL! They just happen to know & recognize the infamous Blogging-Blake and are itching for you to come over & talk to them about something literary!
Or…could it be that they are bored and need something to do? Or even, maybe…need to count their reference interactions for the week, so that they might justify their existence via some fallible monthly manual statistics count?
Oh…this is Auntie Nanuuq….today I am a number…I can’t remember my password, and this here PC doesn’t save them for me.