Shelf-Reading
Okay, books in a library are arranged in order according to call number, as everyone knows. At least they’re supposed to be, but since human beings aren’t perfect, the books frequently aren’t.
Sometimes patrons grab a book, thinking it looks interesting, and then change their minds and put the book back in the wrong place. Art students are the worst about this, but all patrons do it. And there are students who work in the library; these kids are given the grunt work, which means mostly lots of reshelving books that have been returned. Some of the kids don’t care much about the job, and put the books pretty much anywhere they want. As long as the letter is close, they’re happy, so the books end up on the wrong shelf or even the wrong stack or row entirely. I’ve actually found books that were reshelved on the wrong floor before.
The end result of all this is that, if you aren’t careful, the shelves quickly become terrifically out of order, and no one can find anything they need. And there’s only thing to be done about it. The boss divides the library up evenly among the staff, each with his or her own section, and you go through your section once or twice a month and read every single call number to make sure the books are in order. This horrible hateful exercise is called “shelf reading,” and it is absolutely the worst part of working in a library.
If you aren’t a librarian, you can have no idea of the soul-crushing boredom involved in making sure that T395.5.U6 R93 1984 comes before T395.5.U6 S92, and that both of them come after T395.5.G7 A45, over and over again, for hundreds of thousands of books (if you’re interested, those are all books about the various World’s Fairs and related exhibitions). It was all I could do to stay awake while doing it, and after a few hours of shelf-reading you get kinda light-headed and can’t focus your vision or attention on anything. It's probably kind of like that road-hypnosis that they talk about truck drivers getting.
Sometimes patrons grab a book, thinking it looks interesting, and then change their minds and put the book back in the wrong place. Art students are the worst about this, but all patrons do it. And there are students who work in the library; these kids are given the grunt work, which means mostly lots of reshelving books that have been returned. Some of the kids don’t care much about the job, and put the books pretty much anywhere they want. As long as the letter is close, they’re happy, so the books end up on the wrong shelf or even the wrong stack or row entirely. I’ve actually found books that were reshelved on the wrong floor before.
The end result of all this is that, if you aren’t careful, the shelves quickly become terrifically out of order, and no one can find anything they need. And there’s only thing to be done about it. The boss divides the library up evenly among the staff, each with his or her own section, and you go through your section once or twice a month and read every single call number to make sure the books are in order. This horrible hateful exercise is called “shelf reading,” and it is absolutely the worst part of working in a library.
If you aren’t a librarian, you can have no idea of the soul-crushing boredom involved in making sure that T395.5.U6 R93 1984 comes before T395.5.U6 S92, and that both of them come after T395.5.G7 A45, over and over again, for hundreds of thousands of books (if you’re interested, those are all books about the various World’s Fairs and related exhibitions). It was all I could do to stay awake while doing it, and after a few hours of shelf-reading you get kinda light-headed and can’t focus your vision or attention on anything. It's probably kind of like that road-hypnosis that they talk about truck drivers getting.
I don’t drive, but if I did, I’d have to sit around for a while a clear my head before I could go home after a bout of shelf-reading. It kills more brain cells than cheap wine.
posted by OgreVI | 8:31 PM
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