hell raisers

I had a sad blast from my past last week when a brother of a good friend died suddenly this past week.  He was 51, the same age my brother Chris would have been if he was still with us.  I attended the memorial service for him and stepped back to my middle and high school years and we recanted the stories of our checkered past.  See, parental supervision during that time in history was non existent, or at least minimal.  We had no set curfews, restrictions, or cell phones to check in.  Steve's oldest brother was the one with the drivers license.  He has access to a fleet of cars his father had in Baltimore..he simply went to visit his dad and selected the choice of the week.  For a while it was a Buick Electra 225 (thanks to Bob for remembering this-think Bob had a thing about cars)...  Hell was raised in that thing..we used to steal 30 watermelons and pile them into the car..then sell them the next day or perhaps throw a few from a fast moving car...
Then Bunky showed up one day in a hearse.  Not unusual..his father was a funeral director and this was a model he wasn't using anymore.  I will just say you sure can fit alot of teens into the back of one of those things, as long as you weren't too creeped out.
I heard recanted stories of my brothers lives after I moved out.  Perhaps stories I didn't want to know.  I had no idea they were hitchhiking to Ocean City at the age of 12.  And that someone stopped to pick them up and only agreed to take my brother Nick and come back for the rest.  Fortunately, Steve, the one we have lost, had enough common sense to put a stop to that.  Chris and Steve hitched to Ocean City often.  And there were times where someone sensibly went to pick them up...in a 2 seater.  4 teens in a sports car..at 2 AM.  Yep, stories I may not want to know.

yet another day in the library....

We wear many hats.....
At approximately 3:00 Ms. Miller reported to me that there was a Solo Cup sitting on the grate by the entrance with a suspicious liquid in it. I walked over and the red solo cup was filled to the brim with a yellow foamy liquid...either urine or beer.  I put on gloves and took it into the bathroom to dispose of it.  The smell indicated it was beer.  I poured it down the toilet and threw the Solo cup into the trash.
A few minutes later patron Anthony  checked out his items and asked the circ staff what had happened to his cup.  They told him it had been disposed of, as alcoholic beverages were not allowed in the library. Mr Pastor became very upset and I was asked to come out and speak to him.  I reiterated that alcoholic beverages were not allowed in the library and neither were uncovered cups.  He asked for his cup back and I told him that it had been disposed of.  He got very belligerent with me at this point and said that the cup contained "near beer" and that it was my responsibility to go to the liquor store and replace it.  I informed him that I have no way of telling if something is "near" or "real" beer and that it was still an uncovered container in the library.  At this point he started yelling at me directly, said "Fuck You" and I asked him to leave.  He refused to leave and Don dialed 911.  he kept disputing the rules and I asked Leslie to print a copy of the library Rules and Regulations for him.  I told Mr Pastor I would highlight the rules he had broken and he needed to leave.
Mr Pastor said "You can highlight my ass!" and left.  A few minutes later Officer Connor responded.  He had seen Mr Pastor walking down the street and asked if we wanted him brought back to the library.  We said no.  Officer Connor left to speak with him.
This is (at least) our second alcohol related incident with Mr. Pastor.    At his next incident he should be asked to leave for 1 week.  I do believe he was drunk today, but not nearly as badly as the previous incident.

I love BPK library...
Regular patron Mr. Bowen  (known to staff as "The General") came into BPK about 1:00 today.  I had seen him before at the branch but (deliberately) did not engage with him.  He asked Meg who I was and I shook his hand.
He started talking nonsensically about staff members in what I perceived to be a derogatory fashion.  I asked him several times if there was something I could help him find, because I did not want to take the bait.  He found this offensive and rattled off his war credentials and number of medals and asked me what kind of military background I had (once again trying to bait me).  I asked him if there was something I could help him find.
He said something about the staff using the word n*****, which I said I had never used in my life.  He said other staff did and he could read lips and that they used the word often.
At this point he said the word "faggot" loudly (I cannot remember in what context) and I told him that word was inappropriate for use in the library.  He then said it was a British word for cigarette and kept repeating it loudly over and over.  Patrons were staring, and custodian Dave Moore came to stand by me at the desk.  I asked Mr. Bowen to leave.  He did, but very slowly and making loud conversations with cornered patrons along the way.
After he did leave, a female patron reported that he was yelling at an African American man outside as he left the property.  By the time I got to the window, the African American man was gone and Mr. Bowen was nearly off the property.
Mr Bowen is a long time patron and known to be argumentative, and sometimes verbally abusive to staff.  We do believe he is mentally unstable.  He has asked several times where Natalie Edington went and though was told she was promoted seems to think he got her fired.  He also believes he is related to Chief of HR Ms. Bowen and shares this with every staff member he meets.

Please....get a room.
At about 7:30 pm Peter saw Mr. Wrenn, at Public PC #8, viewing pornography.   Peter told him to take the site down and told him that viewing pornography meant immediate expulsion from the library. 

The patron complied but then commented that he didn’t appreciate staff members taking photos of him.   When Peter asked him for details, he said that this has happened at least 10 times.  Peter asked if he could point out any of the staff members who had done this.  Mr. Wrenn could not.  Peter asked what the staff members were using to take the photos.  Mr. Wrenn said that they were using cell phones and cameras.  Mr. Wrenn said that other patrons also take pictures of him, and he described a patron who had been sitting at a nearby table earlier that night.  Mr. Wrenn said that he didn’t mind posing for photos with people, but he didn’t like people taking photos of him without his permission.  He said he had been considering calling the police about it.  Peter asked him if he wanted to call the police and offered to place the call.  Mr. Wrenn declined the offer.   Peter said that if Mr. Wrenn ever saw someone taking his photo, he should report it to a staff member right away. 

Mr. Wrenn left the building shortly after this.   Peter’s warning to Mr. Wrenn was the first verbal warning about viewing pornography.   We’ll instigate the formal banning procedures if there is a second violation.

One of our teenage pages added that Mr. Wrenn had been staring at her while she shelved nearby.   She said she took her cell phone out of her pocket a few times to check the time, which Mr. Wrenn might have observed.   She added that on an earlier occasion Mr. Wrenn had engaged another teenage page in conversation.   She said that she and the other page both find him “creepy.”   Another staff member observed that Mr. Wrenn seems to be “scoping things out” when he is in the building and paying undue attention to females.

In a case search of the District Court, we found that Mr. Wrenn was charged in December 2011 with first degree assault, second degree assault, and reckless endangerment.  His case has not yet gone to trial.

fathers day

It is a day to remember dear dad.  He has been gone for about 20+ years...and I think of him often.  He had an acerbic sense of humor appreciated by most.  He was a good time guy..always looking for fun and adventure.  My mother just mentioned one of his life philosophies...you can judge how good of a time you had the night before by how dirty your glasses are.
He taught the art of library conference attendance.  You simply stick your head in the door..listen to a couple of sentences and quickly head to the nearest bar.  Maybe that's why I followed his footsteps...
He went with the flow.  When he brought his kids up to New York to see the tall ships for the bicentennial, they never seemed to find the location as to where they were stationed.  Answer: step into a bar and watch on TV.
I do remember some scary moments with his party habits. We used to go to my aunt's for dinner and drinks-she lived on top of a winding mountain road. Which was not scary going up. It was a little terrifying at the end of the evening after a half bottle of scotch.
We spent our vacations on Okracoke Island, where we spent most hours  beaching it and watching my parents have cocktails.  We travelled in a volkswagon bug-all six of us and the dog and cat.  It looked like a circus car when we stopped for gas.
I do admire his professional accolades.  He was very successful in public libraries and served as president of the New Jersey Library Association (another fond memory of a library conference).  He instilled the concept of how important it is to stay in touch with your public even as a director.  He worked on the information desk a couple of times a month just to be in touch with the meat and potatoes of his business.
I do miss him. And wish my kids could have met him.  I would toast him with a scotch and soda, but my my drink of choice....

Library News....

A reference question:

Yesterday a young 6-year-old boy and his mom asked for the book "Between the Covers." When I looked up the book, the only book with this title in the catalog was "Between the Covers: the Book Babe's Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures."  The boy said he saw the title in the library. When the mom asked him to show us where he took us to the display case where we have an SRC display. He pointed to the SRC poster with Frankenstein  and Scarlett O'Hara each in bed reading a book. Mom suggested son get another book.

We do everything to make you feel at home....
A lady patron reported there was a woman with her pants off drying herself with the hand dryer in the women's room. The patron was too embarrassed to enter the room when someone had their clothes off. I took Colleen with me. When we got inside the room, Cheryl  was in the handicapped stall-with the door wide open--pulling her pants on. I told her that it was inappropriate for her to stand in the public rest room without clothing on. She said she was drying a spot on her pants. i repeated that she could not walk around the public restroom without clothing. She said ok but later came to the desk to say that I shouldn't say anything to her because other people had left the bathroom dirty and some people take books into the bathroom. I told her that if the room was dirty, she was welcome to report it to us, but that I wasn't talking about anyone else's behavior but hers. I stated that should her having her clothes off be reported to us again, I would ban her from the branch.

Not only do we take 50 year old encyclopedias from your basement...
On 3 recent occasions a patron  has put old books and trash in our book drop.  Some of the trash included old dirty sports bags, dirty plastic bags with recipes in them, exercise rubber bands, toys, old travel brochures,and ancient magazines and binders from old conferences with  Judith's name and address on them. When  Judith came to the back door to donate books she spoke with Mary . Judith told Mary that she was moving to Glen Burnie and getting rid of stuff. After looking at the items in her trunk Mary told her why we couldn't accept the items and gave her the donations guidelines.

ying and yang of technology

I know technology is here and I do embrace it almost all the time.Believe me, I am the first to get excited about new strides. I am probably in need of an intervention for Angry Birds.  Our library will be the recipient ofall new PC's, software, and the newest printers. This is all good, until we have a problem.  I realized I am not able to send pics thru email from my blackberry. SO, I am forced to call my provider.  Conversation goes like this:

ATT: Have you downloaded the most recent handheld software from your blackberry desktop manager?

ME: What? I understand none of that.

ATT: I will send you an email on how to do this. After you download the desktop manager on your computer, you will need to back up you handheld and then upgrade your software.

ME: Uhhhhh.....ok....how many emails am I looking for?

ATT: I am sending you 6 emails with instructions.

ME: This sound like hours of work. On something I have no understanding of.

ATT: It is about 2 hours of your time.  We will call you with a follow up to see how it went.

ME: Maybe you should call me in about 6 months...when I can devote 2 hours of my time on something I really don't care about or understand.

I think i will just forgo sending pics. After all, my device is a year old and it will soon be non functional and I will be forced to buy an upgrade.

And the guy in the cartoon has the right idea...however, passwords change just as soon as you have remembered them.  And you can't use the previous 3 to reset them.  Angry Birds require no passwords or upgrades.  And neither does Scrabble.

summer approaches!

Memorial Day kicked off the season with flair and fun.  I had a great visit with Julie, who continues to show spirit and adaptation. We took a ride to the national Arboratum, which of course we got a bit lost.  I believe Juls has the lost gene, as this happens quite often. 
Saturday, I headed to TImcon...which was a gaming weekend extravaganza. Have to admit, was a little leary about this. I pictured comstumes and role playing, but found instead, lots of game nerds and introductions to new board games.  I bought "Survive", which is all about getting to an island before Atlantis is blown up by a volcano or  you are eaten by sharks.  Ticket to Ride involves train tracks and points for the longest train.
We took in Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp. That's all you really need to say..Johnny Depp. Memorable quote:

Barnabas Collins (to members of a hippie commune): "Love means never having to say you're sorry. However, it is with sincere regret that I must now kill all of you."

Friends over for a cook out Monday..which was the large contigency of Katie and Bill.  4 kids 7 and younger.  God love em.

Here's to warm weather, beaches, and no responsiblities!