KEY POINTS:
Steve's question is: "Why does the box need to be so damn big?"
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Takapuna Library Manager Helen Woodhouse says she and her staff have experienced some strange queries too ...
"Why aren't the children listed on the birth certificate?" (This from a woman who was indignant that her mother's birth certificate didn't list her children - now that would be predestination!)
"Do you have an oral history recording for Richard II?" (This was for an assignment on the Crusades.)
"I want EVERYTHING you've got on New Zealand history." (This from someone who didn't want to specify a particular area but perhaps didn't realise the scope of material.)
"I want something on the hidden baches of Beach Haven." (resulting from the mispronunciation of Haydn, Bach and Beethoven.)
Librarian: What size do you want the photocopy? Reader's answer: Big enough to go around here (indicating thigh, which is placed on the reference desk).
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A reader writes: "A woman came in asking for books about the Waitangi Disaster. The librarians had no clue to what she was talking about. She didn't know any details - she was looking on behalf of her grandson's homework assignment. All she knew was that people died during Waitangi, but not how they died. After a long time trying to figure out when this terrible event occurred, it took another bemused customer who clicked. The woman was after the Tangiwai disaster.
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Librarian Nova Gibson of Waitakere City was once asked for a non-fiction book on mermaids for a school project. "They were studying the sea at the time," she says.
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Alexandra works part-time at the library of a reputable tertiary institution. "One Monday night, I was approached at the desk by what we call a Mature International Student. This gentleman had his primary school-aged daughter with him. He began gesticulating at me (the language barrier is often an issue) and when this failed to have the desired effect, he began getting redder and redder and holding his breath. I hastened to find one of my co-workers who might interpret before he did anything dangerous. Jane was found, she listened, then turned to me and said humbly, "You must play snap with his
daughter so he can study in peace, or he will fire you." Eh? Once I had informed him of my duties (which don't involve snap) he marched, in a cold rage, down to our elderly Information Librarian, who smiled, sat the girl down, and began playing. Her father, nose in the air, sailed straight out the doors to the bar next door."
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Today's Webpick: Music video awfulness. Losing You by Jan Terri. Gohere.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
