Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Things people ask librarians [problem solved]

Him: How do I find a book chain?
Me: Why do you need one?
Him: I keep losing this book. How many times have you had to find it? It keeps eluding me. I need to chain it to a shelf. (The book in question is How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg, which is quite excellent and used a great deal in this house.)
Me: I don't think you can easily get book chains anymore. Last I saw, you still could get cables.
[Does quick Google search.  Goes to Demco (a library supply company) and has no luck, either.]
**IDEA**
Me: What about a box you could put it in? I have one I think that will fit perfectly.
Him: You do?
Me: Yes! [Takes him over to my bed's headboard.  There are three nesting boxes in the shape of books.  I take the middle one and empty it of papers.  The book fits perfectly.]
Him: Where will you put the papers?
Me: The big box.  Now don't lose the box. It looks like a book.
[Sends him happily to his home library to read.]

His library has more books than the library I worked in for twenty years [we had about 1500 books and then the various bound and unbound journals. I had about 2000 to 3000 myself at home before de-hoarding for the move, where I probably halved that.  He's probably at about 4000 or so].  I have often been tempted to include 'Managed the private library of X' on my résumé for just such reasons as this, despite payment being in the form of love and affection of his animals.  I have moved the books on several occasions, dusted, arranged, ordered, found lost ones, etc.  The only thing I haven't done is truly catalogue them, and if he ever gets that card catalogue I had at the library, I see that in my future.

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