Librarian's Corner II
By wrackingmybrains
Because my library is situated in one of the most upmarket areas of London, a lot of our clientele are quite posh. Yes, as is the case at most libraries, many of our most faithful patrons are still tramps, but these are tramps who say “Good day to you, my dear” and read The Telegraph.
One such Posh Tramp – well, perhaps he is not actually a tramp but certainly a gentleman fallen on hard times – is perhaps our longest standing customer of all; he has been coming in since well before any of the current staff arrived.
He appears regularly every three weeks, wearing the same dishevelled tweeds with a pair of half-moon glasses balanced on the end of his nose, and solemnly hands over an ancient Ordnance Survey map of Dorset for renewal. Although polite he is brisk and businesslike, giving the impression that he has pressing matters to attend to elsewhere. He never so much as glances at any of our other stock.
Now, according to my colleague, we haven’t stocked any Ordnance Survey maps in our library for nearly twenty years. Even the reference libraries that do still hold them have long since subscribed to online versions. That gives you some idea of the length of time for which this Reader has been renewing his map. I fear it is probably rather out of date.
There has been some discussion among the staff as to whether we should actually give the Map Man his map as a Christmas present. However, we decided in the end that this would not be a kind thing to do, as it would deprive him of his regular little outing to the library, which could, for all we know, be the highlight of his month.
Because my library is situated in one of the most upmarket areas of London, a lot of our clientele are quite posh. Yes, as is the case at most libraries, many of our most faithful patrons are still tramps, but these are tramps who say “Good day to you, my dear” and read The Telegraph.
One such Posh Tramp – well, perhaps he is not actually a tramp but certainly a gentleman fallen on hard times – is perhaps our longest standing customer of all; he has been coming in since well before any of the current staff arrived.
He appears regularly every three weeks, wearing the same dishevelled tweeds with a pair of half-moon glasses balanced on the end of his nose, and solemnly hands over an ancient Ordnance Survey map of Dorset for renewal. Although polite he is brisk and businesslike, giving the impression that he has pressing matters to attend to elsewhere. He never so much as glances at any of our other stock.
Now, according to my colleague, we haven’t stocked any Ordnance Survey maps in our library for nearly twenty years. Even the reference libraries that do still hold them have long since subscribed to online versions. That gives you some idea of the length of time for which this Reader has been renewing his map. I fear it is probably rather out of date.
There has been some discussion among the staff as to whether we should actually give the Map Man his map as a Christmas present. However, we decided in the end that this would not be a kind thing to do, as it would deprive him of his regular little outing to the library, which could, for all we know, be the highlight of his month.
posted by bitingmylip at 1:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home