woes of a small town library director

As one who dabbles in everything but specializes in nothing, this job suited me. Of course, there were times when I found myself fishing potato chip bags from the commode, but they were few.

The patrons were awfully grateful if you did the least little thing for them, like find a book on the shelf. I also couldn't walk down Main Street (yes, there was a Main Street)without seeing and saying hello to several people. When I left there, I left behind a lot of friends.

We had our share of nutcases, too. A man we called the Admiral, whose car was full of papers, used to come in and compalin to everyone who would listen about his doctors, his ungrateful family, etc. He claimed his family only wanted to see him because of his money. I sympathesized with them. I didn't want to see him either.

Then there was the patron who would corner you and explain that the US had never dropped a bomb on Hiroshima. He also had some theories about how babies were born which I will not detail here. The first time you talked to him he sounded plausible, until he wandered off to Hiroshima, babies, etc. You did not talk to him a second time.
He used to buy all our used books. All of them. He needed them for his project, which was either to prove the existence of God or vice a versa, I forget which. What good "Your Future as a Dental Technician" would do for this project was never explained.

When I said all, I meant all.He stored them in a warehouse in Secaucus, New Jersey. We had nightmares that he would die and leave them to us.

Then there was Mr and Mrs Grumpus. They never cared for the material on offer. Once Mr G told me, "You don't have the right books." I asked him what books he would like, and he replied, "I don't know, but these are not them."

Still, it was great fun. I had a great staff and a good board. The only thing lacking was enough to live on.

But that is a story for another day.