I haven't been able to log in for a while, so I haven't posted. I am not sure what the problem was.

I have been reading very sporadically lately; a little bit of this and a little bit of that, until I started the All Seattle Reads book, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I am really enjoying this book, immersing myself in it as I haven't done with a book in months. It is the story of a son of immigrants from India. The characters have the benefit of coming to the United States as intellectuals, rather than refugees. The son is encouraged in that tradition, as well as the others of his Bengali family. He struggles with the differences between the culture of his family and that of his country, at first rejecting his heritage but finally coming to terms with it. I find myself hoping that there is a similar book about some of the immigrant cultures of our area; Somali and Ethiopian.

I have been working a lot at other libraries lately. I find that I prefer the busier ones. When I am subbing, I don't have any alternative tasks that I can work on, aside from some of the programs I am planning for QNA, so if the library isn't busy, I can be quite bored. The programs I am working on rely on a reply from other agencies, so there is not always something to be done for them. I need mental stimulation to stay alert.

Moving Around

Today I am working in West Seattle, and it kind of amazes me how lucky I have been so far with traffic out here. I worked here on Sunday, too.

I like picking up sub shifts at other libraries. I get to know more people and experience different managers. So far, I like mine best ;) Second best is the manager here. We had a chat when I was here on Sunday and she was great.

Right now there is a beautiful sunset; black, dark blue, bright orange and red. The darker colors set off the brighter ones nicely. I wish I could take a picture to post with this, but I am not off for another hour.

We had to kick out a patron today. He definitely had a problem with authority and has quite a long history of disruptions at the library. He came up and asked me to put Seed of Chucky on hold. My first search didn't bring anything up and he told me that we had it because he saw it on the hold shelf for someone else. At that point, a regular employee overheard and asked him if he was in the holds. He got defensive and started telling --me, I guess--what a jerk the guy was and that he should let him be--with some swearing thrown in. By the end, I was telling him that we could call security and the employee told him to leave for the rest of the day.

You know, even though I don't really like the idea of becoming a children's librarian, I love chatting with the kids that come in. They are so sweet at that age between 3 and 7. I like teens too, for different reasons, but the little ones are so easy to talk to. Good thing I am not a predator...