Not Anonymous

My Library is undergoing renovations.

As we speak my brain feels as though the drilling is actually happening to it, rather than the floor and plaster walls!

I do not do well with loud, continuous noises. Beyond mere irritation, it feels like my ears are bleeding, because once the noise gets to a certain pitch, my ear drums are telling me to GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE NOISE!

Add to that the dust, the schlepping and hauling of books in the general reading room (my job is in the reserved reading room, which is much smaller and more pleasant) and my general bitterness at having to work in these conditions and you may imagine what my mood is like.

Trying to get people to complain with me is no good, all they keep telling me is that it'll get worse before it gets better.

Has no one heard of any solidarity complaining!? Making the bad things appear worse so that we're ready for the truly gruesome nonsense to come?

And on top of that, I watched a truly depressing movie the other day and my appetite has still not returned. That's what I get for watching a movie about a hunger strike.

Oh my god, I've only been at work an hour and the noise will never end!

When it comes to hierarchy in the Library of those who actually deal with books, I'm pretty much the lowest.

Being a Library Page, I get books from the return box, register them as "returned" and push a trolley to put them back on the shelves. Being that I work in the Reserved Reading Room (i.e. the books that are lent out for two days, rather than two weeks or a month) lots of students who, for some reason, either don't know how to use a computer or don't understand the system (Dewie-Decimal, which is numbers and alphabet) will come to me and ask for help.

It's a good feeling.

I pretty much know where every book is in my little Reading Room (it really is little, because as I said it's only reserved books) and if I don't, I can pretty much find any book if I know the general subject, if the number + name are absent.

The knowledge I have obtained and will hopefully retain feels special to me, though probably anyone who loves Libraries or is an academic who uses them on a regular basis has obtained a part of this magical ability to find one book between these walls of information, bursting, all them calling "Read Me" (except the Econ books, sorry dudes, you're too boring, unless you're about the sociology of economics, or economics and class disparity, but then, you're not really about Econ).

I arrived this morning, about half an hour before I was meant to punch in, because yesterday the Library was closed, but the return box is always open. It took me an hour an a half to sort through all the books students returned yesterday, I'm surprised the box didn't burst.

My foresight served me well, as by the time I was done sorting with the first batch, the second batch consisted of a sane amount of books (5) as opposed to an fucking insane amount of books I had to deal with on my own (well over 50).

So, I'm feeling pretty accomplished and good at my job.

Too bad my back disagrees with me. Ow.

I love second hand books.

I love the fact that the books that belong to me now, were loved by someone before me. I love the creased spines and the yellowed, aged pages. The smell of bookcases and cardboard boxes rather than glue.

Like Giles said: Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell... musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is... it has no texture, no context. It's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, um... smelly.

Mind, that I have a very healthy love for computers, but Giles is possibly one of the most inspiring characters and figures of my early adolescence and late childhood - there's a reason I want to be a tweed wearing, martial arts knowing Librarian Hero!

I received my order from Better World Books (which I ordered just over a week ago, dude they're fast!) and I four of the books I bought were for a course I'm taking next semester - I'm taking a Toni Morrison course - yes, yes, lucky me!

But the one book I purchased without a cause other than "hey, there's a sale! I'll get a book I've been wanting for a while!" and that book is Sarah Schulman's People in Trouble.

Another thing about second hand books is that usually, they are third or fourth hand books and they come to be marked and used and dog-eared. I won't be unfolding the dog ears in this book, as I'm interested in seeing what pages caught the reader's attention and how invariably it now has mine.

But the very best thing? Finding a note.

This book came with a note! From one woman to another. Due to the nature of the book and the author (the book being about the AIDS crisis, a lesbian affair and written by a lesbian woman) I safely assume that the women who exchanged this book are queer themselves and I feel they were probably good friends.

This is the note I found in the book.

Amy dearest. Managed you two Sarah books 2nd hand (people in trouble is best). My grandma died in Jan 2nd. Sigh. Been a hard week.
Speak to you soon. Was wonderful seeing you.
♥ Viaoex

I'm not sure if the last word, which I think is the writer's name, is that or "Viavex" or something else.
Opinions?

Regardless, how cool is that?!

Working at a library has many perks.

You get to see how it actually works, the whole system and drudgery of hauling books to and fro, discovering that students (my peers) are often so helpless in the wake of the scope of the stacks.

That's very charitable thinking as very often they are simply lazy. That's also an unfair assessment, the books are intimidating, especially when you have this system to work through. It's called Dewey-Decimal. Why can't it just be alphabetical?
I used to think that, when I was in high school and spent most of my free time (or the time skiving off lessons) hiding in the stacks, reading useless sex-ed books (hey, you had to find porn where you could get it) and the slim selection of Science Fiction and Epic Fantasy was not much to go on.
But woe, the alphabet is sorely lacking in the nuance needed for arranging books in a Library that caters to those who are to be over-educated (like moi!).

I'm still under a lot of scrutiny. I try to take in stride but my boss is one of those unsmiling sorts and takes making sure I put all the books on the shelf correctly. I'm waiting for this month to end, if only so that I can be trusted with the books a bit more.

I find myself loving books more now that I handle them as objects and not things which contain things I want to read or know. it's a different way of interacting with a book. The majority of the books I handle are so incredibly boring I don't even bother leafing through them - seriously, "Introduction to Microeconomics", "Qualitative Research". Those are the titles.
I pity my fellow over-educated peers. I mean, granted not everything I have to read is a page turner, but still, they would pity themselves more than they would pity me.

My stacks are not sexy stacks, alas. They are metal and have many copies of one book - many of them is very bad condition. Wear and tear comes with the territory, but it being a reading hall Library (there is more hall than Library, in fact) you'd think people would take care - after all, the books don't actually belong to them.

In relation to the above, I was sitting around with friends a few days ago and while I can't remember what it was we were watching, it did contain a chase scene and the person running away pushed over a bookcase and I cried out along with a wince:
"No! Not the books!"
And was promptly laughed at by my friends.

The main (and self-indulgent and shows you all how anti-social I actually am) perk, is that I get to show off my mad book finding skills and feel superior to the other over-educated students who think we're going to find jobs with a crummy B.A. in the Humanities and the Social Sciences.

Unless you major in Econ. Then you have a chance. Maybe.

P.S.
BBC's Sherlock has taken over my brain side by side with Inception. I cannot wait to finally have a functional DVD player so that I can re-watch some of Doctor Who and Torchwood. I've been completely neglecting those fandoms!.

I got a job!

I'm employed!

I will be getting a salary!

My life as a leisurely student has been dented!

I'm so very pleased, as some of you may know, I've had a hard time keeping jobs, some of it my own fault, some of it utterly crazy employers.

I still recall the secretarial job I had nearly four years ago. I lasted a month and would have probably been able to continue on had it not been for the fact that I basically skipped out every day for nearly week in order to spend time with Neil Gaiman.

I was fired after that week. I have no regrets. My priorities may be skewed, but I was so much happier not to be there. It was also just before my break down following the war, so who knows what would have happened. Well, I broke down in the office really and cried in front of my boss.
Mortifying. Not to mention that much as I enjoy observing the aesthetic of an office space (I'm currently mainlining Mad Men) I think an office job is pretty anathema to me.
I sit at a desk for fun, more than anything. I think sitting at a desk and being at the beck and call of people would drive me insane.

But who knows there's time.

The job I got is a physical one at one of the libraries on campus.

Here's to seeing the end of next month with a job *holds thumbs*.

I also celebrated by getting a hair cut. Wow, so much hair came off, so much weight has been taken off. I don't know why I bother growing it when I love the longest sections (yeah it's layered now) just touching my nape and/or the underside of my chin. I should have got it whacked months ago.

There is political News I'm reading, but choosing to actively ignore. Not particularly good public service, but there you have it.
I've also currently started writing a fic that may be offensive, but I'll have to find a suitable beta that can smack me over the head, at the very least.

Now, back to my cup of coffee before it's too cold.