A Day’s Work


Twice a year our Friends of the Library group holds a bake sale to raise money. They usually have art and craft items on display as well. This morning I came to work a little less than half an hour before opening time (my usual start time) and started helping an early-bird staff member set up for the day. By opening time the members of the Friends who were going to assist with the sale had arrived. We had a frantic search for some paperwork recording sales of artists’ items—important because we need to know how much of each artist’s work sold in order to pay them off and receive a commission.

After that hectic start things settled down for a minute or two. And then we learned that one of the staff had called in sick. One worker was off today; another was already home sick. With a third person out, I had only two staff on hand. One was due to get off at noon, the other two hours before closing. All this on a day when we were holding a major library fundraiser! After some phone calls and arrangements with their family members regarding child care, they agreed to stay on.

Soon we had a reference question that none of us could answer. A man needed to know certain matters regarding hiring workers in this state. His out-of-state company had apparently not yet hired any workers here before. Not knowing where else to go for answers, I called our accountant. She told us the state agency to contact. I got on their web site. There I found contact information to the agency’s nearest office (over 40 miles from here) and gave that to him. He was very appreciative. I just hoped that it helped.

As soon as that was done, a couple came wanting to photocopy a sheaf of family history documents. Our public photocopier died a couple of weeks ago, and the replacement we ordered has not gotten here yet. Ordinarily we would offer to photocopy for the patrons using the staff machine—but ordinarily we don’t have a major library fundraiser taking place with half the staff missing! I asked if they could come back in a day or two. No, they could not; they were in town visiting relatives and had to head for home in a few hours. I agreed to try to make their copies. It took over half an hour, with a total of 107 pages of copying. We charged the usual ten cents a page for the cost of paper and toner.

All during this time people were coming and going—Friends, bake sale customers, artists, and ordinary patrons. We almost met ourselves coming and going. I went into my office to type up an announcement of our next library Board of Trustees meeting (we’re required to announce it by law) and fax it to the local newspapers and radio stations. I lost count of how many times I was called away from that to take care of something else. For some reason some of the faxes did not want to go through on the first try, either. Eventually I got them all through and could check that off of the “ to do” list.

At one point I recalled that I had agreed to bring some of my own photographs to display in the community room. We had fewer artists on display this year, and so we needed something that didn’t look too bad to fill some space. About mid-morning I got the chance to go in there and set that up.

While doing this, I noticed staff members setting up fans. They were hot! Suddenly it occurred to me that I was feeling rather warm myself. The air conditioner chiller was on the blink again--third time this week, if I recall correctly. I checked the HVAC control system and, sure enough, the readings were off. So I went out to the chiller and rebooted it. While looking over the system settings I noticed that the outside temperature reading did not jibe with what I was feeling. Maybe a faulty sensor has been causing our recurrent glitches? It’s something to check up on, when I get the time.

Other events passed in a kind of blur. A local lawyer called saying that a somewhat disturbed patron had tried to get her to bring suit against us for discriminatory treatment. I knew the person in question. He was the sort of feels aggrieved at having to follow the same rules as everybody else. He had no case, and the lawyer, fortunately, knew that and had refused to take action. Hopefully the would-be plaintiff will lose interest and turn his attention away from us and toward his next imaginary grievance. On a happier note, a local school teacher called asking if she could bring a trigonometry class to set up a transit on our yard and figure the height of our flagpole as a class exercise. I said of course. We like helping out the local schools. It’s fun to have students here.

At lunch time our Friends leader brought in lunch for the staff—half of whom were not here. I watched the desk while the other two went to the break room to eat. Then I went back and ate by myself. I also took a walk, because frankly I needed to get out for a bit.

In the afternoon things slowed way down. I got to chat a bit with the head of the local art league, who was giving a pastel demonstration outside. It took me away from my indoor duties for a bit, but then again I’m the library’s spokesperson and this sort of thing is a part of the job. Besides, she’s a delight to visit with, and a talented artist. Throughout the day I kept checking up on the Friends members who were handling the sale, seeing how things were going.

One thing I’ve enjoyed doing is getting to look in on the art works on display. We have lots of talented people in this area. One artist who had not displayed here before had brought some beautiful pastel pencil pictures and wonderful little rocks on which she had painted animals. She had not sculpted the rocks at all. Rather, she had seen in each rock’s existing shape a suggestion of some creature, and had painted it to bring out what she saw in it. Oh, to have that kind of creativity!

At one point the Board of Trustees president—my boss, in other words—came in needing my computer for budget work. That gave me another excuse to leave the office. The day before, he and another Board member and I had spent some time closed up in private discussing next year’s budget. I had advocated various wage and other budget increases I believed we needed. Next week the Board votes on the budget. I hope the overall increases won’t give them sticker shock. I’d hate to have to cut something.

The day turned out all right, despite the short-handedness and the hectic morning. We sold a lot of baked goods, though fewer people came to see the crafts than we’d hoped. Tomorrow we have a couple more artists coming to present demonstrations. I hope we have a reasonable turnout for those. They’re donating their time and talents, and deserve a good response.

And I, after working five long days, will be here too. I would be anyway, since it’s a bake sale day, but I’m afraid there may also not be anyone else to work. Two of the three staffers scheduled to work tomorrow are sick! One of the workers who graciously stayed extra time today says she needs to take some vacation time next week. She’s got it, and she deserves it. I wish I knew when I’d be able to do the same. I love my job, but I’ve got to get away from it some time.

Oh, is that all you did. Eh. Sundays sound easy. How were the cupcakes? (A smiley face just in case).

Oh, is that all you did. Eh. Sundays sound easy. How were the cupcakes? (A smiley face just in case).

Oh, is that all you did. Eh. Sundays sound easy. How were the cupcakes? (A smiley face just in case).

I need to learn computers.

You know, I never got around to tasting ANY of the baked goods! I never even got any of the cherry pie that Honey baked that the staff got. It did not last long around the break room.