Week 9: Too Hot to Read

The weather for this entire week was hot and dry, with temperatures consistently in the low hundreds. With the library serving as one of several cooling centers around Bloomington, we were prepared to deal with higher foot traffic this week, serving those who lack any other air-conditioned building. We also seemed to be getting more phone calls, perhaps because people with air-conditioning didn't want to venture out into the heat to visit the library.

A water main break delayed the opening of the library on Saturday and also led to the library drinking water being under a boil alert for the entire day. Many patrons depend on the library as a source of free drinking water, even more so with the hot weather. Consequently we dealt with many unhappy and thirsty patrons. While most patrons were generally understanding of the situation, if disappointed, a few were more outspoken with their displeasure. One patron thought we should have gotten the Red Cross to provide bottled water since the library was a cooling center. I think it would have been a nice gesture for the library to make, but we were really only obligated to provide a cooler environment than outside.

I continue to gain confidence in using library resources in reference interviews and reader's advisory. This week I spoke with a patron who liked the author Sharyn McCrumb and wanted to check out some similar authors. I had never heard of this author, so I found her on NoveList and was able to quickly go to her author read-alikes list. The descriptions of each author helped me find the ones that were both stylistically similar to McCrumb, while also tailored to the particular interests of the patron. Then using the catalog I checked to see if the library owned copies of the other authors works.

Tip of the Week: You can't read every book or be familiar with every subject. So get to know your reader's advisory and research tools. Having first hand knowledge is great, but these tools fill in the gaps in your experience.

Article Annotation and Abstract Area

Kennedy, Tara D. "Steamy Situation: Water Emergency In Sterling Memorial Library." Public Library Quarterly 25.3/4 (2006): 89-97. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 July 2012.

This article gives a detailed account of the response to a water emergency in Sterling Memorial Library. Kennedy explains how already having an emergency plan in place allowed library staff to respond quickly and efficiently to the sprinkler system going off in the basement of the library. Together with the university contracted water damage specialists, staff were able to save nearly 99% of the affected materials from being permanently damaged.