December 1, 2025 • 27 mins
For the people who just don't know what to do with that last strip of bacon, may we suggest NOT using it as a bookmark?? Join Nicole, Killian, and Drew as they discuss the journey of a book as it gets added to the library's collection and enjoyed by patrons, as well as some of the weirdest things that sometimes get found in a returned book.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
- (Nicole) Hey there,
welcome to "The DistractedLibrarians" podcast.
We're your friendly neighborhood bookworms
with a penchant forall things pop culture.
- (Drew) Picture thisas our digital campfire,
where we dive into our latest obsessions,
analyze our favorite distractions,
and rediscover the joy of reading.
- (Killian) Whether you're amedia enthusiast, a book lover,
(00:21):
or just need a break from the daily grind,
you've come to the right spot.
- (Amanda) So kick back, relax,
and get delightfully distracted with us.
- (Nicole) Hey, everybody.
On this episode of "TheDistracted Librarians,"
we're gonna talk about a book'sjourney through the library.
This is kind of an interesting topic,
(00:41):
just because I don'tthink most people realize
what happens with the book.
- (Drew) Like all thesteps that it goes through
to get back on the shelf,
get on the shelf in the first place.
- (Killian) Mm-hm- (Nicole) Definitely.
I'm Nicole.
- (Killian) I'm Killian.
- (Drew) And I'm Drew.
- (Nicole) Alright, so a book's journey.
Where should we start with this?
(01:01):
Well, let's start whatat the very beginning.
- (Drew) A very good place to start.
- (Nicole) At the very beginning.
Well, which we could considerwhat is the beginning?
It's probably like when wepurchase the book, right?
- (Killian) Yeah.- (Nicole) Okay.
All right, so, you know,
as librarians we purchasebooks for our collections.
Sometimes we have specificcollections that we purchase for.
(01:24):
I know at other librarieswe have been responsible
for just buying all of thekids' books or whatever.
But at our library wehave specific collections.
Drew, what is your collection?
- (Drew) I buy for the DVDs,for adult and teen graphic
novels, and for world languages.
- (Nicole) Oh, okay. Gotcha.
I purchase the popular series books
(01:46):
for fiction and nonfiction.
And I am also in chargeof like the animal books
in the nonfiction collectionand also some of the art stuff.
- (Killian) I primarily in nonfiction work
with part of the natural sciences,
the stuff up before the animals.
(02:07):
- (Nicole) Oh, okay.
- (Killian) So, a lot ofdifferent topics in the STEM area,
because I also purchasefor our STEAM kits.
I am also the overseer ofour folklore, fairytale,
Mother Goose, et cetera,et cetera collection,
which is its own majorproject at the moment.
(02:29):
- (Nicole) Sure.
- (Killian) But also thecollection of my heart.
(Nicole laughs)
- (Killian) And then I also do purchasing
for any of our audio book collections.
So the Wonderbooks and Vox Books
that make up the read-alongs,
Once upon a time the audiobook CDs,
we're not buying as many of those anymore,
(02:52):
but also our digital books on Libby.
So any of our eBooks andour eAudio there for youth,
I do the selection for those.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
So we typically, as librarians,
will go through likepeer-reviewed magazines
and things like that.
And that's where wefind a lot of the books
(03:13):
that we purchase.
But there are other ways.
Do you guys only do magazines
when you're purchasing books, or?
- (Drew) I almost never do magazines,
- (Nicole) Oh, you don't?- (Drew) Because none of mine
are written in magazines.- (Nicole) Oh, okay.
- (Drew) You know, if I were purchasing
for one of the fictioncollections or one of those,
I would stick more closely to those.
(03:35):
- (Nicole) Okay.- (Drew) And graphic novels
are written in them occasionally.
I do still go through the magazines,
A, to find the ones thatare reviewed like that,
and B, to just keep myself up to date
for, you know, reader's advisory purposes
on everything else.
- (Nicole) Okay.
- (Drew) But I typically have to find
reviews of graphic novels in the wild.
- (Nicole) Oh wow, okay.
(03:55):
- (Drew) I have a few sitesthat I'll check religiously.
I have a habit of goingto Barnes and Noble
at least once a month
- (Nicole) Oh, that's fun.
- (Drew) and just taking a picture
of the entire teen graphic novel shelf.
- (Nicole) What a perfectexcuse to go to a bookstore.
I love that.
- (Drew) And I use that excuse.
- (Nicole) I love that.
- (Killian) Because weactually need excuses.
(all laughing)
(04:16):
- (Drew) And then DVDs arepurchased through Midwest Tape.
And they have their own internal ranking
of how frequently a DVD hasbeen looked for on their site.
They have reviews of it.
They have the Rotten Tomatoesratings, things like that.
- (Nicole) Oh, so theymake it pretty easy for you
to pick out things.
So we pick out an item, we purchase it,
(04:39):
and then what happens?
- (Killian) So at that pointwe just kind of wait for it
to show up at the library
from wherever we're ordering it from.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Killian) And all of our orders come in
through our material services department
who handle all of the takingcare of the books physically.
So any of the processing of them
(05:02):
that doesn't come already done.
- (Nicole) Cataloging.- (Killian) Cataloging.
For things like the STEAMkits a lot of times it's,
here's a bunch of randomitems and the bag they go in,
make it look like itlooks like on the shelf
and create the entire record for it.
'Cause that's not somethingwe can pull from anywhere.
They also do a lot of our repairs.
(05:24):
- (Nicole) They do,
Yep, and so they enter theitem into our database of items
and they put the barcodes on them
and they security strip themand all of that good stuff.
- (Drew) And if it's a physical book,
they'll put the, or ahardcover book at least,
they'll put the protectiveplastic around the sleeve
(05:45):
so it doesn't get torn.
They'll put our call numbers on it
so we can know where toput them on the shelves.
- (Killian) They recentlydid a demonstration of that
for us at the library.
I don't know if either of you got to go.
- (Nicole) I was there,- (Killian) watch them demo
putting that stuff all on a book.
And it's the me watching it going,
"This would take me so long."
But because they just do it.
(06:06):
- (Nicole) Oh, they do it so fast.
- (Killian) They're talkingto us and I'm like, "Magic."
- (Nicole) Yeah.- (Killian) Absolutely.
- (Drew) Shout out, Laura, forthe wonderful presentation.
- (Nicole) Definitely.
Okay, so then circulation.
So an item is nowavailable for circulation
and somebody picks it up off the shelf.
(06:27):
So then what happens?
- (Drew) So there are two paths to it.
It could be that a patron didjust pluck it off the shelf.
They take it up to circulation,do the whole checkout,
scan your library barcode,
set you up with a librarycard if you need one,
and assign the book to your account.
There's also the path of
if you put a hold onthe book ahead of time.
(06:48):
And if that's the case,
then either adult and teenservices or youth staff
will go out or circulation staffwill go out into the stacks
and find the book for you andtake it back to circulation,
assign it to your account,
and get it all set upto go on the hold shelf.
- (Nicole) Yes, and I wouldlike to speak about this process
(07:08):
just because sometimes we have confusion.
Our patrons will come in, they'll be like,
"I put a book on hold, where is it?"
And it takes a little while sometimes.
We literally have a personperiodically throughout the day,
it's not constantly happening,
but they go out to theshelves, pull the books,
and then it has to be assignedto the person it belongs to,
(07:31):
put on the hold shelf,and then you are notified
that the book is available for you.
So generally speaking,
if you haven't gotten thenotification that it's available,
it's probably not on the shelf for you.
And sometimes it gets stuckin this like ether area
where like it's on a cartsomewhere in the library,
(07:51):
but nobody knows where it is.
And if you haven'tgotten the notification,
you're probably justgonna confuse everybody
by like looking for it.
- (Killian) Our patronsthough, are really lucky.
We have people who,
we have enough staff thatwe have people going out
to pull holds throughout the day.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Killian) Whereas otherlibraries that I've worked at,
(08:11):
it's something that is donein the morning before we open.
So if you place a hold at noon,
it's not even being lookedfor until the next day.
- (Nicole) Exactly, yeah.
- (Killian) So it's just amatter of staffing and time
and all of that, dependingon where you are.
- (Nicole) Yeah, every library is gonna be
a little bit different on that.
Okay, so let's say a personreturns the book now.
(08:33):
- (Drew) We hope you enjoyedit over your three weeks.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Killian) Or longer if it auto renewed.
- (Drew) Yes.- (Nicole) Yeah,
'cause that is a nice little option there.
When it gets returned to us,it can go into two places.
We have a box that you candrop your items into yourself,
or there is an automateddrop box that is available
(08:57):
on the outside of the building.
And those items are checkedin by this crazy, big machine
that then sorts it intoall these different areas
so that circulation staffcan just grab a cart.
Basically, they grab theitems out of this box
and they put it on a cartand then it gets sent
back over to the department it belongs to.
(09:19):
- (Drew) That machine is so cool too.
- (Nicole) It is very cool.
I feel like it eats things
sometimes though.
- (Killian) Yeah, things getweird a little sometimes.
If you are doing the driveup, please read the signage,
'cause there's a couple different places
you can drop things.
If you have a book that camefrom a different library,
our automatic sorter
is not going to know what to do with it.
That's why there'sanother drop box for them.
(09:40):
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Drew) Yeah, all of the books
that get processed whenthey're initially brought in
through material services aregiven a sort of shelf code
in terms of the grouping.
So it recognizes this is an adult DVD,
this is a youth book, this is a et cetera.
And they have six or seven different bins
(10:04):
that the materials get sorted into.
And the machine does it automatically.
It, you know, reads thebarcode and processes,
or reads the RFID tag more usually,
and processes where it's supposed to be
and then has a conveyor belt system
to drop it into one ofthe six or seven slots.
It's fascinating to watch them come in.
(10:27):
- (Nicole) It is really cool.
- (Killian) Because if youdon't know what's happening,
it's just kind of like, "How does it know?
What's going on?"
Because it just sorts them.
- (Nicole) And thenthere's always the items
that it's not sure about.
I think it just likedumps it down the end.
- (Drew) It's the shame bin at the end.
- (Killian) I don'tknow, you figure it out.
- I don't know what youare, you go down there.
(10:47):
- (Nicole) Have you guysever worked in a different
department than thedepartment you work in now?
- (Drew) Yes.- (Nicole) Okay.
- (Drew) Yep, I worked inyouth the first year and a half
And then when I was an intern,I was back in adult services,
but the media departmentwas sort of separate then.
So it sort of exists in its own space.
(11:09):
But when I was in youth, Iwas a clerical assistant.
So I wasn't too intimately familiar
with the details of this.
I was helping thebeautification of the room
and, you know, helping withprograms and things like that.
- (Nicole) Cool.
- (Killian) I have not workedin a different department
in our library.
(11:29):
As a librarian, I've only ever been
part of youth departments,
whether as a teen librarianat a previous library
or youth librarian here.
But when I got my first library job,
it was a very small librarythat didn't have departments.
- (Nicole) Oh, okay.
- (Killian) My actual job titlethere was programming asst
(11:50):
and I was just doing all of theprogramming for the library,
like coordinating all of it.
But I did also occasionally step out
and help with, they only had one desk,
so it was circulation,reference, whatever all in one.
- (Nicole) Okay.
- (Killian) I would occasionallyhelp with pulling holds
or help with shelving justbased on what needed to be done
(12:11):
and what our staffingwas at any given time.
So it was kind of alittle bit of everything.
Also helping with computershappened a lot from that desk.
- (Nicole) Oh yeah.
- (Nicole) Yeah, small libraries,you kind of do everything.
- (Killian) Yeah.- (Nicole) Yeah.
I have worked in librariesfor a very, very long time.
I was a library page when Ifirst started when I was 17.
(12:34):
And then I worked inbookstores for a long time.
But then when I gotback into library land,
I was working as basicallya materials service person.
I was processing books
and I would work the circulation desk.
So I had like two shifts.
One shift would be processing
all the good books that came in
(12:56):
and the other shift wouldbe sitting at the circ desk
helping computer questionsand all of that stuff.
There really wasn't, therewas a librarian on staff,
but like a reference.
There wasn't like a librarian
that sat at the desk all the time.
Like he was available,
but you'd have to likeask for him in the back
and he'd come out and help.
(13:16):
So the rest of us people
that were not master's degree people
were kind of handlingpretty much everything.
- (Killian) Yeah, my smalllibrary was the desk clerks who
shelved, checked things out, pulled holds,
did most of the helpingwith computer questions,
and were doing referencequestions, which was wild.
(13:39):
- (Nicole) Yeah.
Then I was a teen librarian.
Then I worked at a multicultural bookstore
as like a PR person andI did cataloging there.
Oh my gosh, this is like,"Continue on, Nicole, what else?"
- (Drew) You've run the spread.
- (Nicole) I also worked atthe Bloomfield Library in
(14:02):
administration, in media,and then in youth services.
So I've been kind of all over the place.
I haven't worked for adult services.
It's the only thing.
I feel like I've donealmost everything else.
Almost everything.
- (Drew) We'll get you someday.
- (Nicole) I know, probably.
Like at one point I feel like
I might retire in adultservices, we'll have to see.
Maybe.
(14:23):
- (Nicole) You could pull areverse of the adult services
librarian who retired on our side and
- (Killian) And then came and
subbed with us.
- (Drew) subbed only in youth, yeah.
- (Nicole) Yeah, I meanI think that's kinda,
it's the best of both worlds, right?
Absolutely.
- (Killian) I know a lot of people
who if they sub while they're working too,
will sub only in the opposite department
than they work in normally.
- (Nicole) Totally.
(14:44):
It sounds like it would be fun.
Alright, so this iskind of a fun little bit
that we wanted to bring up isweird things left in books.
(Drew laughs)
And this is primarily a library thing.
I mean, it might happen in a bookstore,
but it's gonna happen in libraries,
'cause these are itemsthat are being returned.
(15:06):
People just don't realizewhat they left in their book
when they return it sometimes.
So, I went on Reddit to see.
Because as one does.
- (Drew) A dangerous place.
- (Nicole) You gotta go on Reddit
if you wanna like get the good stories.
Weird things that have been left in books,
socks, which ew.
(15:28):
- (Drew) A little bit.- (Killian) Yeah.
- (Nicole) Yeah, like maybea baby sock or something.
But like a whole
- (Killian) I mean, I guess if it's
clean, but still.- (Nicole) person's sock?
- (Killian) Like, you need those.
- (Nicole) A piece of bacon.
- (Drew) So many placeshave a piece of bacon story.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
- (Drew) Why?
- (Nicole) I mean, I would notsacrifice my bacon like that.
(15:48):
Like I would clearly findanother thing to be my book.
I'm going to eat that bacon.
That is not gonna go in mybook and disappear forever.
- (Drew) Like, I guess it'svaguely bookmark shaped?
- (Nicole) I mean, yeah.
- (Killian) But like if I'm eating bacon
I'm going nowhere near touching a book
because of how greasy bacon is.
I don't wanna get thatmuch grease on any book.
- (Drew) Yeah.
I also need to know if it's cooked or not.
(16:09):
- (Nicole) I would hope so.
I mean, who's hangingaround with uncooked bacon?
- (Drew) I guess, butneither option is good.
- (Killian) There'snot a good option here.
- (Nicole) No, no.
- (Drew) I guess at this pointI'm just assuming the worst.
- (Nicole) Yeah, well,and I also wanna mention
that some libraries have had a display.
I love this idea, Ithink we need to do this.
(16:30):
A display of things thathave been left in books.
Because-- (Drew) Do we keep them?
- (Nicole) We don't,
but we could start.- (Drew) Oh, okay. Okay.
- (Nicole) I mean, 'causesometimes it's cute stuff, right?
It's not just like all this nastiness
that I'm talking about.
Sometimes it's like adrawing of their dog,
like a kid's dog, or
- (Drew) I have a cute one.- (Nicole) A love note to mom,
(16:51):
or whatever, you know what I mean?
- (Drew) Yeah, I found in adonation book two or three years
ago, a cutout of the fairygodmother from "Shrek 2"
that's sort of loosely colored in
and it was glued ontowhite construction paper.
And it already had a safetypin hanging off of it
(17:12):
to like treat it like an ornament.
So I attached it to my library cart
and it's been travelingwith me ever since.
- (Nicole) Oh my gosh.
- (Killian) How have I never seen this?
- (Drew) I don't know.
I will show you.- (Nicole) I love that.
- Beautiful.- Totally love that.
- (Drew) I love her so much,
both in the movie and on my cart and.
- (Nicole) Awesome.
Yeah, I feel like our library is so good
(17:33):
at cleaning out the books thatwe very rarely as librarians
stumble across something left in a book.
- (Killian) I have more than once.
Like, it's not infrequent.
It'll be like a receiptsomeone put in as a bookmark,
but it's slid down like so youwouldn't notice it's there.
And receipt paper so thin,
if it's not sticking out,you're not gonna notice.
And I think that's what we tend to find.
(17:55):
- (Nicole) Yeah.
- (Killian) It's the thingsthat weren't sticking out
because we're not, you know,giving every book a shake down
to see if there's anything
tucked into it.- (Nicole) Exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- (Killian) My big thingthough is I do wonder,
we did a "Where's Waldo" thing
in the youth room a while back.
- (Nicole) Oh, right.- (Killian) Where we hid
a million and 12 Waldos places.
- (Nicole) Oh my gosh.
- (Killian) And if someone foundone, they could then rehide
(18:16):
it. And that was the dangerwas letting people rehide
things. 'Cause we stilloccasionally we'll find a Waldo.
- (Nicole) Even now, andit's been like two years.
- (Killian) But I do wonder- (Drew) That's amazing.
- (Killian) if people havefound some of those Waldos
in the books they've checked out.
So if you're listening
and you have found a Waldoin a children's book,
- (Nicole) Please let us know.- (Killian) let me know.
Because I wanna know if it happened.
(18:37):
- (Nicole) We just wanna know.
Okay, so Pokemon cards.
I can see that.- (Drew) I buy that, yep.
- (Nicole) It's probablylike a great bookmark,
but you don't wanna put likea valuable one in there.
- I feel like my kids would accidentally
like leave the best onethey have in their book
because they had it on themand then be like devastated
and we have to call thelibrary to get it back.
(18:58):
- (Killian) It's me going like,oh yeah, like Magic cards.
But I think people would be
a little more protective ofthose because it tends to be.
- (Drew) But maybe if it'slike an energy in the Pokemon
cards or a mana in the magic cards.
- (Killian) That's fair.
- (Drew) The ones that youhave like a billion of.
- (Nicole) Oh yeah, that nobody cares.
- (Drew) Yeah.- (Nicole) Yeah.
Another one that was listed was money.
Sometimes you can get moneyfrom all around the world.
(19:19):
Which I mean, that's kind of fun.
That would be a very coolcollection to have of money.
- (Drew) I left a birthdaycheck in the library book once.
- (Nicole) Oh.- (Killian) You did?
- (Drew) They called and we got it back.
- (Nicole) Oh, that's so good.
The libraries are so good.
- (Drew) I was like 11
and traveling with myemotional support books.
(19:41):
- (Killian) As one does- (Drew) Everywhere I go.
And it was at, youknow, a a birthday party
where an aunt gave me a birthday card
and the check somehowended up in the book.
I don't have answers for how that happened
because it was 24 years ago.
But I remember I didn't get the call
because I was 11 anddidn't answer the phone.
(20:02):
It was only landlines at the time.
And so my mother shoutsdown to the basement,
"Hey Drew, the library has your money."
And I was so confused.
Because why (stammers)I barely have my money.
Again, I'm 11 years old.
- (Nicole) Did you know it was missing?
Or did your mom know it was missing?
(20:23):
- (Drew) No.
- (Nicole) Nobody knew it was missing.
- (Drew) Nobody knew it was missing.
- (Nicole) Oh, okay, even better.
- (Killian) Wow.- (Drew) Yeah.
- (Nicole) Okay, wellthat's a big surprise.
- (Drew) Yeah, thelibrary fully could have
forged the check and robbed me.
- (Nicole) Uh-huh, wow.
- (Killian) Well see now wehave mobile check cashing,
so you just cash the checkbefore you forget it in a book.
- (Drew) Exactly.- (Nicole) Oh my goodness.
- (Drew) Then I would've just told them to
shred it at that point.
- (Killian) Right?
- (Drew) But I still mighthave used it as a bookmark,
(20:45):
who knows. But.
- (Nicole) So another thing
that redditors have foundin a book is a tooth.
- (Drew) Stop it.- (Nicole) I swear to God.
- (Killian) No.- (Nicole) It said a tooth.
I'm assuming it was a child's tooth,
'cause I don't know how you could get
a grown adult tooth in a book without-
- (Killian) I'm suddenlyvery aware of my teeth.
(all laughing)
(21:06):
- (Nicole) Is this disturbing you?
- (Killian) I'm just like, huh?
- (Drew) A child'stooth isn't flat either.
- (Nicole) It's not, but they're so tiny.
- (Drew) I guess.
- (Killian) Maybe if one the front teeth
- (Nicole) I mean
- (Killian) they're a little flatter.
- (Nicole) You have no ideahow tiny a kid tooth is.
It's like weird.
I'm like, like their toothcomes out and I'm like,
I swear I have lookedat you every single day
(21:26):
for the past eight years.
And then this tooth is in my hand
and I'm looking at itgoing, "How is this a tooth?
How is this a tooth?
Like, how could you eatsomething with that?"
It's so small.
So I'm assuming it was a child's tooth.
- (Drew) Even, eww.
- (Nicole) I'm sticking to that.
- (Killian) I still don'twant that in a book.
- (Nicole) Why would youput a tooth in a book?
(Drew laughing)
(21:46):
- (Nicole)Maybe it fell outwhile they were reading the book.
- (Killian) And they just didn't notice?
- (Nicole) And thenthey stopped reading it.
Clearly, because howdo you return something
at that point anyway.
- (Drew) That's so funny.
- (Nicole) An ultrasoundphoto was returned in a book
and then the library dida very good library job
and returned the ultrasound photo-
(object bangs)Oh, sorry.
(22:07):
To the people.
Okay, bugs.
- (Drew) Oh, the bugs in the DVDs.
- (Nicole) This is like,this is a touchy subject for
librarians, for anylibrary staff, I think,
is when a book comes back with a bug.
Or anything comes back with a bug,
- (Drew) Yeah.
(22:28):
- (Killian) That justbecomes a whole situation.
- (Nicole) It truly does.
I mean, I think there was atime, like when I was a page,
that I don't think therewas as much of a concern
about bedbugs as there is now.
And it was like if there was a bug,
it was like a ladybugor something, you know?
And it wasn't like a panic situation.
(22:48):
- (Drew) Now it's terrifying.- (Nicole) Nowadays it's like
your having your libraryfumigated, et cetera, et cetera.
- (Drew) Yeah, like lock up that room,
hope that you opened it in the same room
that it was initially returned.
Because then maybe it can be contained.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Drew) Ew.- (Nicole) It's spooky.
- (Drew) I had an entirechill go up my spine.
(23:09):
- (Nicole) Yes.- (Drew) Thinking about like
finding it in a book in the stacks
and just having to assume theentire library is compromised.
- (Nicole) Oh, goodness.
So yeah, there's a bug scare.
If you ever wanna scare a librarian,
just yell bugs as you walk by.
- (Killian) Please don't.
(all laughing)
- (Nicole) Anyway, okay.
So at our library, Ithought it would be good
(23:30):
to like find some truestories at our library.
So I contacted theassistant department head
in circulation and asked her,
and she was very happy to tell me
about a patron that was contacted
because there was a $20 billthat was left in an audio book.
(23:52):
Well, when they got aholdof the patron and told him,
he laughed very hard
because it was meant tobe a gift to his son.
The audio book was a recommendationthat he'd given his son
with the gift inside of it.
And he said, "Well, clearly my son
did not listen to the bookthat I had recommended to him,
or he would've gottenthe stinking $20 bill."
(24:14):
- (Drew) Oh, that's so sad.
- (Nicole) Yeah, yeah, so.
- (Killian) Moral of the story,
if someone hands youthe book recommendation,
at least look at it.
- (Nicole) At least look init so then you don't have to
have that uncomfortable conversation later
that you didn't listen to the book.
- (Drew) That's so funny.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
Also, eyelashes.
(24:35):
- (Killian) Like, false eyelashes?
- (Nicole) False eyelashes.
- (Killian) Like a strip of lashes?
- (Nicole) And that'smy mic drop right there.
Like, I never would've thought eyelashes.
- (Drew) No.
- (Nicole) Oh, excuse me.- (Killian) I can see it.
- (Nicole) I'm gonna start reading,
let me take off my falsiesand put them in here.
And that's not a bookmark,
that's just a place to put 'em for later.
- (Drew) Yeah, did it leavebehind a mascara imprint?
(24:56):
Or would it have been like new lashes?
- (Killian) I mean, not everybodyputs mascara over lashes.
- (Nicole) (snickers) Eyelashes.
- (Drew) Yikes.- (Killian) That's.
- (Nicole) Excuse me, ma'am.- (Killian) That's just how
you accidentally glue a book together.
And that's a whole, I don't like it.
- (Nicole) I just wanna be theperson who calls and is like,
"Ma'am, you left your eyelashes." (laughs)
(25:18):
(Drew laughing)
"Please come get these, Idon't wanna touch them."
- (Killian) And like, I knowsometimes a lash falls off.
- (Nicole) Yes.- (Killian) But you notice.
- (Nicole) You woulddefinitely notice, yes.
- (Drew) Yeah, so if youreyes were suddenly imbalanced.
- (Killian) Yeah, 'causeyou can feel those.
- (Nicole) Yes.
Okay, so moral of the story,
(25:38):
please check your booksbefore you return them.
We don't want yourbacon or your eyelashes.
- (Killian) Can I ask you guysone more question before we?
- (Nicole) Yeah.- (Drew) Absolutely.
- (Killian) What do you use as bookmarks
that you would risk leaving in a book?
Anything ridiculous or sentimental?
- (Nicole) I am a Post-it note person,
(26:00):
and that makes me reallyboring for this conversation.
- (Killian) That's fair.
- (Drew) I have bookmarks.
- (Killian) I have so many bookmarks.
My problem would be I would leave
like the bookmark I really like.
- (Drew) Same
- (Killian) I'd lose oneof my favorite bookmarks.
- (Drew) I feel likeI either did that once
or it's in like, oneof the books that I own
(26:22):
and I've just never gone through
all of the like hundredsof books in my apartment.
So whenever I get new bookmarks,
because it happens morefrequently than it should,
I will only get the oneswith the tassels on them now.
- (Nicole) Oh, so you can see them.
- (Drew) Yes.- (Nicole) Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- (Killian) I can't use those,
because when I'm reading I take it out
and I stick it like inthe pages to hold onto it.
(26:43):
- (Drew) And then the cats?
- (Killian) And the cats will attack it.
- (Nicole) Oh my goodness.
- (Killian) Yeah, but oh my gosh.
- (Drew) You rememberwhen you were telling me
I needed a cat earlier this week?
- (Killian) I didn't tell you that.
- (Drew) No, I don't need a cat. (laughs)
- (Nicole) He's gonna keep histassels, thank you very much.
- (Killian) I wasn't theone who told him that.
(Drew laughing)
- (Nicole) All right, well ifyou out there in listeningland
(27:08):
have anything to add to this conversation,
please email us and let us know.
And we will see you next time.
- (Nicole) Thank you forjoining us for this episode
of "Distracted Librarians."
- (Drew) Many thanks to BCTVfor their support in recording,
editing, and releasing this podcast,
and to the Friends of the Library
for sponsoring closedcaptioning on every episode.
(27:29):
- (Killian) If you have anyquestions or suggestions,
feel free to reach out tous at distracted@btpl.org.
- (Amanda) Until then,keep those pages turning
and those screens lighting up.
We'll catch you in the next episode.
- (Emily) The views and opinions expressed
in "The Distracted Librarians" podcast
do not necessarily reflectthose of Bloomfield Township,
(27:51):
Bloomfield Township Public Library,
Bloomfield Community Television,
the Birmingham Area Cable Board,
or its producers or production staff.
- (Nicole) Hey there,
welcome to "The DistractedLibrarians" podcast.
We're your friendly neighborhood bookworms
with a penchant forall things pop culture.
- (Drew) Picture thisas our digital campfire,
where we dive into our latest obsessions,
analyze our favorite distractions,
and rediscover the joy of reading.
- (Killian) Whether you're amedia enthusiast, a book lover,
(00:21):
or just need a break from the daily grind,
you've come to the right spot.
- (Amanda) So kick back, relax,
and get delightfully distracted with us.
- (Nicole) Hey, everybody.
On this episode of "TheDistracted Librarians,"
we're gonna talk about a book'sjourney through the library.
This is kind of an interesting topic,
(00:41):
just because I don'tthink most people realize
what happens with the book.
- (Drew) Like all thesteps that it goes through
to get back on the shelf,
get on the shelf in the first place.
- (Killian) Mm-hm- (Nicole) Definitely.
I'm Nicole.
- (Killian) I'm Killian.
- (Drew) And I'm Drew.
- (Nicole) Alright, so a book's journey.
Where should we start with this?
(01:01):
Well, let's start whatat the very beginning.
- (Drew) A very good place to start.
- (Nicole) At the very beginning.
Well, which we could considerwhat is the beginning?
It's probably like when wepurchase the book, right?
- (Killian) Yeah.- (Nicole) Okay.
All right, so, you know,
as librarians we purchasebooks for our collections.
Sometimes we have specificcollections that we purchase for.
(01:24):
I know at other librarieswe have been responsible
for just buying all of thekids' books or whatever.
But at our library wehave specific collections.
Drew, what is your collection?
- (Drew) I buy for the DVDs,for adult and teen graphic
novels, and for world languages.
- (Nicole) Oh, okay. Gotcha.
I purchase the popular series books
(01:46):
for fiction and nonfiction.
And I am also in chargeof like the animal books
in the nonfiction collectionand also some of the art stuff.
- (Killian) I primarily in nonfiction work
with part of the natural sciences,
the stuff up before the animals.
(02:07):
- (Nicole) Oh, okay.
- (Killian) So, a lot ofdifferent topics in the STEM area,
because I also purchasefor our STEAM kits.
I am also the overseer ofour folklore, fairytale,
Mother Goose, et cetera,et cetera collection,
which is its own majorproject at the moment.
(02:29):
- (Nicole) Sure.
- (Killian) But also thecollection of my heart.
(Nicole laughs)
- (Killian) And then I also do purchasing
for any of our audio book collections.
So the Wonderbooks and Vox Books
that make up the read-alongs,
Once upon a time the audiobook CDs,
we're not buying as many of those anymore,
(02:52):
but also our digital books on Libby.
So any of our eBooks andour eAudio there for youth,
I do the selection for those.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
So we typically, as librarians,
will go through likepeer-reviewed magazines
and things like that.
And that's where wefind a lot of the books
(03:13):
that we purchase.
But there are other ways.
Do you guys only do magazines
when you're purchasing books, or?
- (Drew) I almost never do magazines,
- (Nicole) Oh, you don't?- (Drew) Because none of mine
are written in magazines.- (Nicole) Oh, okay.
- (Drew) You know, if I were purchasing
for one of the fictioncollections or one of those,
I would stick more closely to those.
(03:35):
- (Nicole) Okay.- (Drew) And graphic novels
are written in them occasionally.
I do still go through the magazines,
A, to find the ones thatare reviewed like that,
and B, to just keep myself up to date
for, you know, reader's advisory purposes
on everything else.
- (Nicole) Okay.
- (Drew) But I typically have to find
reviews of graphic novels in the wild.
- (Nicole) Oh wow, okay.
(03:55):
- (Drew) I have a few sitesthat I'll check religiously.
I have a habit of goingto Barnes and Noble
at least once a month
- (Nicole) Oh, that's fun.
- (Drew) and just taking a picture
of the entire teen graphic novel shelf.
- (Nicole) What a perfectexcuse to go to a bookstore.
I love that.
- (Drew) And I use that excuse.
- (Nicole) I love that.
- (Killian) Because weactually need excuses.
(all laughing)
(04:16):
- (Drew) And then DVDs arepurchased through Midwest Tape.
And they have their own internal ranking
of how frequently a DVD hasbeen looked for on their site.
They have reviews of it.
They have the Rotten Tomatoesratings, things like that.
- (Nicole) Oh, so theymake it pretty easy for you
to pick out things.
So we pick out an item, we purchase it,
(04:39):
and then what happens?
- (Killian) So at that pointwe just kind of wait for it
to show up at the library
from wherever we're ordering it from.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Killian) And all of our orders come in
through our material services department
who handle all of the takingcare of the books physically.
So any of the processing of them
(05:02):
that doesn't come already done.
- (Nicole) Cataloging.- (Killian) Cataloging.
For things like the STEAMkits a lot of times it's,
here's a bunch of randomitems and the bag they go in,
make it look like itlooks like on the shelf
and create the entire record for it.
'Cause that's not somethingwe can pull from anywhere.
They also do a lot of our repairs.
(05:24):
- (Nicole) They do,
Yep, and so they enter theitem into our database of items
and they put the barcodes on them
and they security strip themand all of that good stuff.
- (Drew) And if it's a physical book,
they'll put the, or ahardcover book at least,
they'll put the protectiveplastic around the sleeve
(05:45):
so it doesn't get torn.
They'll put our call numbers on it
so we can know where toput them on the shelves.
- (Killian) They recentlydid a demonstration of that
for us at the library.
I don't know if either of you got to go.
- (Nicole) I was there,- (Killian) watch them demo
putting that stuff all on a book.
And it's the me watching it going,
"This would take me so long."
But because they just do it.
(06:06):
- (Nicole) Oh, they do it so fast.
- (Killian) They're talkingto us and I'm like, "Magic."
- (Nicole) Yeah.- (Killian) Absolutely.
- (Drew) Shout out, Laura, forthe wonderful presentation.
- (Nicole) Definitely.
Okay, so then circulation.
So an item is nowavailable for circulation
and somebody picks it up off the shelf.
(06:27):
So then what happens?
- (Drew) So there are two paths to it.
It could be that a patron didjust pluck it off the shelf.
They take it up to circulation,do the whole checkout,
scan your library barcode,
set you up with a librarycard if you need one,
and assign the book to your account.
There's also the path of
if you put a hold onthe book ahead of time.
(06:48):
And if that's the case,
then either adult and teenservices or youth staff
will go out or circulation staffwill go out into the stacks
and find the book for you andtake it back to circulation,
assign it to your account,
and get it all set upto go on the hold shelf.
- (Nicole) Yes, and I wouldlike to speak about this process
(07:08):
just because sometimes we have confusion.
Our patrons will come in, they'll be like,
"I put a book on hold, where is it?"
And it takes a little while sometimes.
We literally have a personperiodically throughout the day,
it's not constantly happening,
but they go out to theshelves, pull the books,
and then it has to be assignedto the person it belongs to,
(07:31):
put on the hold shelf,and then you are notified
that the book is available for you.
So generally speaking,
if you haven't gotten thenotification that it's available,
it's probably not on the shelf for you.
And sometimes it gets stuckin this like ether area
where like it's on a cartsomewhere in the library,
(07:51):
but nobody knows where it is.
And if you haven'tgotten the notification,
you're probably justgonna confuse everybody
by like looking for it.
- (Killian) Our patronsthough, are really lucky.
We have people who,
we have enough staff thatwe have people going out
to pull holds throughout the day.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Killian) Whereas otherlibraries that I've worked at,
(08:11):
it's something that is donein the morning before we open.
So if you place a hold at noon,
it's not even being lookedfor until the next day.
- (Nicole) Exactly, yeah.
- (Killian) So it's just amatter of staffing and time
and all of that, dependingon where you are.
- (Nicole) Yeah, every library is gonna be
a little bit different on that.
Okay, so let's say a personreturns the book now.
(08:33):
- (Drew) We hope you enjoyedit over your three weeks.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Killian) Or longer if it auto renewed.
- (Drew) Yes.- (Nicole) Yeah,
'cause that is a nice little option there.
When it gets returned to us,it can go into two places.
We have a box that you candrop your items into yourself,
or there is an automateddrop box that is available
(08:57):
on the outside of the building.
And those items are checkedin by this crazy, big machine
that then sorts it intoall these different areas
so that circulation staffcan just grab a cart.
Basically, they grab theitems out of this box
and they put it on a cartand then it gets sent
back over to the department it belongs to.
(09:19):
- (Drew) That machine is so cool too.
- (Nicole) It is very cool.
I feel like it eats things
sometimes though.
- (Killian) Yeah, things getweird a little sometimes.
If you are doing the driveup, please read the signage,
'cause there's a couple different places
you can drop things.
If you have a book that camefrom a different library,
our automatic sorter
is not going to know what to do with it.
That's why there'sanother drop box for them.
(09:40):
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Drew) Yeah, all of the books
that get processed whenthey're initially brought in
through material services aregiven a sort of shelf code
in terms of the grouping.
So it recognizes this is an adult DVD,
this is a youth book, this is a et cetera.
And they have six or seven different bins
(10:04):
that the materials get sorted into.
And the machine does it automatically.
It, you know, reads thebarcode and processes,
or reads the RFID tag more usually,
and processes where it's supposed to be
and then has a conveyor belt system
to drop it into one ofthe six or seven slots.
It's fascinating to watch them come in.
(10:27):
- (Nicole) It is really cool.
- (Killian) Because if youdon't know what's happening,
it's just kind of like, "How does it know?
What's going on?"
Because it just sorts them.
- (Nicole) And thenthere's always the items
that it's not sure about.
I think it just likedumps it down the end.
- (Drew) It's the shame bin at the end.
- (Killian) I don'tknow, you figure it out.
- I don't know what youare, you go down there.
(10:47):
- (Nicole) Have you guysever worked in a different
department than thedepartment you work in now?
- (Drew) Yes.- (Nicole) Okay.
- (Drew) Yep, I worked inyouth the first year and a half
And then when I was an intern,I was back in adult services,
but the media departmentwas sort of separate then.
So it sort of exists in its own space.
(11:09):
But when I was in youth, Iwas a clerical assistant.
So I wasn't too intimately familiar
with the details of this.
I was helping thebeautification of the room
and, you know, helping withprograms and things like that.
- (Nicole) Cool.
- (Killian) I have not workedin a different department
in our library.
(11:29):
As a librarian, I've only ever been
part of youth departments,
whether as a teen librarianat a previous library
or youth librarian here.
But when I got my first library job,
it was a very small librarythat didn't have departments.
- (Nicole) Oh, okay.
- (Killian) My actual job titlethere was programming asst
(11:50):
and I was just doing all of theprogramming for the library,
like coordinating all of it.
But I did also occasionally step out
and help with, they only had one desk,
so it was circulation,reference, whatever all in one.
- (Nicole) Okay.
- (Killian) I would occasionallyhelp with pulling holds
or help with shelving justbased on what needed to be done
(12:11):
and what our staffingwas at any given time.
So it was kind of alittle bit of everything.
Also helping with computershappened a lot from that desk.
- (Nicole) Oh yeah.
- (Nicole) Yeah, small libraries,you kind of do everything.
- (Killian) Yeah.- (Nicole) Yeah.
I have worked in librariesfor a very, very long time.
I was a library page when Ifirst started when I was 17.
(12:34):
And then I worked inbookstores for a long time.
But then when I gotback into library land,
I was working as basicallya materials service person.
I was processing books
and I would work the circulation desk.
So I had like two shifts.
One shift would be processing
all the good books that came in
(12:56):
and the other shift wouldbe sitting at the circ desk
helping computer questionsand all of that stuff.
There really wasn't, therewas a librarian on staff,
but like a reference.
There wasn't like a librarian
that sat at the desk all the time.
Like he was available,
but you'd have to likeask for him in the back
and he'd come out and help.
(13:16):
So the rest of us people
that were not master's degree people
were kind of handlingpretty much everything.
- (Killian) Yeah, my smalllibrary was the desk clerks who
shelved, checked things out, pulled holds,
did most of the helpingwith computer questions,
and were doing referencequestions, which was wild.
(13:39):
- (Nicole) Yeah.
Then I was a teen librarian.
Then I worked at a multicultural bookstore
as like a PR person andI did cataloging there.
Oh my gosh, this is like,"Continue on, Nicole, what else?"
- (Drew) You've run the spread.
- (Nicole) I also worked atthe Bloomfield Library in
(14:02):
administration, in media,and then in youth services.
So I've been kind of all over the place.
I haven't worked for adult services.
It's the only thing.
I feel like I've donealmost everything else.
Almost everything.
- (Drew) We'll get you someday.
- (Nicole) I know, probably.
Like at one point I feel like
I might retire in adultservices, we'll have to see.
Maybe.
(14:23):
- (Nicole) You could pull areverse of the adult services
librarian who retired on our side and
- (Killian) And then came and
subbed with us.
- (Drew) subbed only in youth, yeah.
- (Nicole) Yeah, I meanI think that's kinda,
it's the best of both worlds, right?
Absolutely.
- (Killian) I know a lot of people
who if they sub while they're working too,
will sub only in the opposite department
than they work in normally.
- (Nicole) Totally.
(14:44):
It sounds like it would be fun.
Alright, so this iskind of a fun little bit
that we wanted to bring up isweird things left in books.
(Drew laughs)
And this is primarily a library thing.
I mean, it might happen in a bookstore,
but it's gonna happen in libraries,
'cause these are itemsthat are being returned.
(15:06):
People just don't realizewhat they left in their book
when they return it sometimes.
So, I went on Reddit to see.
Because as one does.
- (Drew) A dangerous place.
- (Nicole) You gotta go on Reddit
if you wanna like get the good stories.
Weird things that have been left in books,
socks, which ew.
(15:28):
- (Drew) A little bit.- (Killian) Yeah.
- (Nicole) Yeah, like maybea baby sock or something.
But like a whole
- (Killian) I mean, I guess if it's
clean, but still.- (Nicole) person's sock?
- (Killian) Like, you need those.
- (Nicole) A piece of bacon.
- (Drew) So many placeshave a piece of bacon story.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
- (Drew) Why?
- (Nicole) I mean, I would notsacrifice my bacon like that.
(15:48):
Like I would clearly findanother thing to be my book.
I'm going to eat that bacon.
That is not gonna go in mybook and disappear forever.
- (Drew) Like, I guess it'svaguely bookmark shaped?
- (Nicole) I mean, yeah.
- (Killian) But like if I'm eating bacon
I'm going nowhere near touching a book
because of how greasy bacon is.
I don't wanna get thatmuch grease on any book.
- (Drew) Yeah.
I also need to know if it's cooked or not.
(16:09):
- (Nicole) I would hope so.
I mean, who's hangingaround with uncooked bacon?
- (Drew) I guess, butneither option is good.
- (Killian) There'snot a good option here.
- (Nicole) No, no.
- (Drew) I guess at this pointI'm just assuming the worst.
- (Nicole) Yeah, well,and I also wanna mention
that some libraries have had a display.
I love this idea, Ithink we need to do this.
(16:30):
A display of things thathave been left in books.
Because-- (Drew) Do we keep them?
- (Nicole) We don't,
but we could start.- (Drew) Oh, okay. Okay.
- (Nicole) I mean, 'causesometimes it's cute stuff, right?
It's not just like all this nastiness
that I'm talking about.
Sometimes it's like adrawing of their dog,
like a kid's dog, or
- (Drew) I have a cute one.- (Nicole) A love note to mom,
(16:51):
or whatever, you know what I mean?
- (Drew) Yeah, I found in adonation book two or three years
ago, a cutout of the fairygodmother from "Shrek 2"
that's sort of loosely colored in
and it was glued ontowhite construction paper.
And it already had a safetypin hanging off of it
(17:12):
to like treat it like an ornament.
So I attached it to my library cart
and it's been travelingwith me ever since.
- (Nicole) Oh my gosh.
- (Killian) How have I never seen this?
- (Drew) I don't know.
I will show you.- (Nicole) I love that.
- Beautiful.- Totally love that.
- (Drew) I love her so much,
both in the movie and on my cart and.
- (Nicole) Awesome.
Yeah, I feel like our library is so good
(17:33):
at cleaning out the books thatwe very rarely as librarians
stumble across something left in a book.
- (Killian) I have more than once.
Like, it's not infrequent.
It'll be like a receiptsomeone put in as a bookmark,
but it's slid down like so youwouldn't notice it's there.
And receipt paper so thin,
if it's not sticking out,you're not gonna notice.
And I think that's what we tend to find.
(17:55):
- (Nicole) Yeah.
- (Killian) It's the thingsthat weren't sticking out
because we're not, you know,giving every book a shake down
to see if there's anything
tucked into it.- (Nicole) Exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- (Killian) My big thingthough is I do wonder,
we did a "Where's Waldo" thing
in the youth room a while back.
- (Nicole) Oh, right.- (Killian) Where we hid
a million and 12 Waldos places.
- (Nicole) Oh my gosh.
- (Killian) And if someone foundone, they could then rehide
(18:16):
it. And that was the dangerwas letting people rehide
things. 'Cause we stilloccasionally we'll find a Waldo.
- (Nicole) Even now, andit's been like two years.
- (Killian) But I do wonder- (Drew) That's amazing.
- (Killian) if people havefound some of those Waldos
in the books they've checked out.
So if you're listening
and you have found a Waldoin a children's book,
- (Nicole) Please let us know.- (Killian) let me know.
Because I wanna know if it happened.
(18:37):
- (Nicole) We just wanna know.
Okay, so Pokemon cards.
I can see that.- (Drew) I buy that, yep.
- (Nicole) It's probablylike a great bookmark,
but you don't wanna put likea valuable one in there.
- I feel like my kids would accidentally
like leave the best onethey have in their book
because they had it on themand then be like devastated
and we have to call thelibrary to get it back.
(18:58):
- (Killian) It's me going like,oh yeah, like Magic cards.
But I think people would be
a little more protective ofthose because it tends to be.
- (Drew) But maybe if it'slike an energy in the Pokemon
cards or a mana in the magic cards.
- (Killian) That's fair.
- (Drew) The ones that youhave like a billion of.
- (Nicole) Oh yeah, that nobody cares.
- (Drew) Yeah.- (Nicole) Yeah.
Another one that was listed was money.
Sometimes you can get moneyfrom all around the world.
(19:19):
Which I mean, that's kind of fun.
That would be a very coolcollection to have of money.
- (Drew) I left a birthdaycheck in the library book once.
- (Nicole) Oh.- (Killian) You did?
- (Drew) They called and we got it back.
- (Nicole) Oh, that's so good.
The libraries are so good.
- (Drew) I was like 11
and traveling with myemotional support books.
(19:41):
- (Killian) As one does- (Drew) Everywhere I go.
And it was at, youknow, a a birthday party
where an aunt gave me a birthday card
and the check somehowended up in the book.
I don't have answers for how that happened
because it was 24 years ago.
But I remember I didn't get the call
because I was 11 anddidn't answer the phone.
(20:02):
It was only landlines at the time.
And so my mother shoutsdown to the basement,
"Hey Drew, the library has your money."
And I was so confused.
Because why (stammers)I barely have my money.
Again, I'm 11 years old.
- (Nicole) Did you know it was missing?
Or did your mom know it was missing?
(20:23):
- (Drew) No.
- (Nicole) Nobody knew it was missing.
- (Drew) Nobody knew it was missing.
- (Nicole) Oh, okay, even better.
- (Killian) Wow.- (Drew) Yeah.
- (Nicole) Okay, wellthat's a big surprise.
- (Drew) Yeah, thelibrary fully could have
forged the check and robbed me.
- (Nicole) Uh-huh, wow.
- (Killian) Well see now wehave mobile check cashing,
so you just cash the checkbefore you forget it in a book.
- (Drew) Exactly.- (Nicole) Oh my goodness.
- (Drew) Then I would've just told them to
shred it at that point.
- (Killian) Right?
- (Drew) But I still mighthave used it as a bookmark,
(20:45):
who knows. But.
- (Nicole) So another thing
that redditors have foundin a book is a tooth.
- (Drew) Stop it.- (Nicole) I swear to God.
- (Killian) No.- (Nicole) It said a tooth.
I'm assuming it was a child's tooth,
'cause I don't know how you could get
a grown adult tooth in a book without-
- (Killian) I'm suddenlyvery aware of my teeth.
(all laughing)
(21:06):
- (Nicole) Is this disturbing you?
- (Killian) I'm just like, huh?
- (Drew) A child'stooth isn't flat either.
- (Nicole) It's not, but they're so tiny.
- (Drew) I guess.
- (Killian) Maybe if one the front teeth
- (Nicole) I mean
- (Killian) they're a little flatter.
- (Nicole) You have no ideahow tiny a kid tooth is.
It's like weird.
I'm like, like their toothcomes out and I'm like,
I swear I have lookedat you every single day
(21:26):
for the past eight years.
And then this tooth is in my hand
and I'm looking at itgoing, "How is this a tooth?
How is this a tooth?
Like, how could you eatsomething with that?"
It's so small.
So I'm assuming it was a child's tooth.
- (Drew) Even, eww.
- (Nicole) I'm sticking to that.
- (Killian) I still don'twant that in a book.
- (Nicole) Why would youput a tooth in a book?
(Drew laughing)
(21:46):
- (Nicole)Maybe it fell outwhile they were reading the book.
- (Killian) And they just didn't notice?
- (Nicole) And thenthey stopped reading it.
Clearly, because howdo you return something
at that point anyway.
- (Drew) That's so funny.
- (Nicole) An ultrasoundphoto was returned in a book
and then the library dida very good library job
and returned the ultrasound photo-
(object bangs)Oh, sorry.
(22:07):
To the people.
Okay, bugs.
- (Drew) Oh, the bugs in the DVDs.
- (Nicole) This is like,this is a touchy subject for
librarians, for anylibrary staff, I think,
is when a book comes back with a bug.
Or anything comes back with a bug,
- (Drew) Yeah.
(22:28):
- (Killian) That justbecomes a whole situation.
- (Nicole) It truly does.
I mean, I think there was atime, like when I was a page,
that I don't think therewas as much of a concern
about bedbugs as there is now.
And it was like if there was a bug,
it was like a ladybugor something, you know?
And it wasn't like a panic situation.
(22:48):
- (Drew) Now it's terrifying.- (Nicole) Nowadays it's like
your having your libraryfumigated, et cetera, et cetera.
- (Drew) Yeah, like lock up that room,
hope that you opened it in the same room
that it was initially returned.
Because then maybe it can be contained.
- (Nicole) Yes.
- (Drew) Ew.- (Nicole) It's spooky.
- (Drew) I had an entirechill go up my spine.
(23:09):
- (Nicole) Yes.- (Drew) Thinking about like
finding it in a book in the stacks
and just having to assume theentire library is compromised.
- (Nicole) Oh, goodness.
So yeah, there's a bug scare.
If you ever wanna scare a librarian,
just yell bugs as you walk by.
- (Killian) Please don't.
(all laughing)
- (Nicole) Anyway, okay.
So at our library, Ithought it would be good
(23:30):
to like find some truestories at our library.
So I contacted theassistant department head
in circulation and asked her,
and she was very happy to tell me
about a patron that was contacted
because there was a $20 billthat was left in an audio book.
(23:52):
Well, when they got aholdof the patron and told him,
he laughed very hard
because it was meant tobe a gift to his son.
The audio book was a recommendationthat he'd given his son
with the gift inside of it.
And he said, "Well, clearly my son
did not listen to the bookthat I had recommended to him,
or he would've gottenthe stinking $20 bill."
(24:14):
- (Drew) Oh, that's so sad.
- (Nicole) Yeah, yeah, so.
- (Killian) Moral of the story,
if someone hands youthe book recommendation,
at least look at it.
- (Nicole) At least look init so then you don't have to
have that uncomfortable conversation later
that you didn't listen to the book.
- (Drew) That's so funny.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
Also, eyelashes.
(24:35):
- (Killian) Like, false eyelashes?
- (Nicole) False eyelashes.
- (Killian) Like a strip of lashes?
- (Nicole) And that'smy mic drop right there.
Like, I never would've thought eyelashes.
- (Drew) No.
- (Nicole) Oh, excuse me.- (Killian) I can see it.
- (Nicole) I'm gonna start reading,
let me take off my falsiesand put them in here.
And that's not a bookmark,
that's just a place to put 'em for later.
- (Drew) Yeah, did it leavebehind a mascara imprint?
(24:56):
Or would it have been like new lashes?
- (Killian) I mean, not everybodyputs mascara over lashes.
- (Nicole) (snickers) Eyelashes.
- (Drew) Yikes.- (Killian) That's.
- (Nicole) Excuse me, ma'am.- (Killian) That's just how
you accidentally glue a book together.
And that's a whole, I don't like it.
- (Nicole) I just wanna be theperson who calls and is like,
"Ma'am, you left your eyelashes." (laughs)
(25:18):
(Drew laughing)
"Please come get these, Idon't wanna touch them."
- (Killian) And like, I knowsometimes a lash falls off.
- (Nicole) Yes.- (Killian) But you notice.
- (Nicole) You woulddefinitely notice, yes.
- (Drew) Yeah, so if youreyes were suddenly imbalanced.
- (Killian) Yeah, 'causeyou can feel those.
- (Nicole) Yes.
Okay, so moral of the story,
(25:38):
please check your booksbefore you return them.
We don't want yourbacon or your eyelashes.
- (Killian) Can I ask you guysone more question before we?
- (Nicole) Yeah.- (Drew) Absolutely.
- (Killian) What do you use as bookmarks
that you would risk leaving in a book?
Anything ridiculous or sentimental?
- (Nicole) I am a Post-it note person,
(26:00):
and that makes me reallyboring for this conversation.
- (Killian) That's fair.
- (Drew) I have bookmarks.
- (Killian) I have so many bookmarks.
My problem would be I would leave
like the bookmark I really like.
- (Drew) Same
- (Killian) I'd lose oneof my favorite bookmarks.
- (Drew) I feel likeI either did that once
or it's in like, oneof the books that I own
(26:22):
and I've just never gone through
all of the like hundredsof books in my apartment.
So whenever I get new bookmarks,
because it happens morefrequently than it should,
I will only get the oneswith the tassels on them now.
- (Nicole) Oh, so you can see them.
- (Drew) Yes.- (Nicole) Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- (Killian) I can't use those,
because when I'm reading I take it out
and I stick it like inthe pages to hold onto it.
(26:43):
- (Drew) And then the cats?
- (Killian) And the cats will attack it.
- (Nicole) Oh my goodness.
- (Killian) Yeah, but oh my gosh.
- (Drew) You rememberwhen you were telling me
I needed a cat earlier this week?
- (Killian) I didn't tell you that.
- (Drew) No, I don't need a cat. (laughs)
- (Nicole) He's gonna keep histassels, thank you very much.
- (Killian) I wasn't theone who told him that.
(Drew laughing)
- (Nicole) All right, well ifyou out there in listeningland
(27:08):
have anything to add to this conversation,
please email us and let us know.
And we will see you next time.
- (Nicole) Thank you forjoining us for this episode
of "Distracted Librarians."
- (Drew) Many thanks to BCTVfor their support in recording,
editing, and releasing this podcast,
and to the Friends of the Library
for sponsoring closedcaptioning on every episode.
(27:29):
- (Killian) If you have anyquestions or suggestions,
feel free to reach out tous at distracted@btpl.org.
- (Amanda) Until then,keep those pages turning
and those screens lighting up.
We'll catch you in the next episode.
- (Emily) The views and opinions expressed
in "The Distracted Librarians" podcast
do not necessarily reflectthose of Bloomfield Township,
(27:51):
Bloomfield Township Public Library,
Bloomfield Community Television,
the Birmingham Area Cable Board,
or its producers or production staff.
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