I've been selected to be someone's stand-in godmother because the real deal is in another country and can't come home for quite some time. So yesterday I found myself standing in the middle of the Christian bookstore in my hometown looking for that perfect gift that said, "I am honored to be your stand-in godmother but am not trying to hog the spotlight from your actual one, sweetie."
While I debated my options, another woman nearby hailed a sales clerk. "Ma'am, I need your help," she began. "Next month I am supposed to read to a class of five-year olds. I want to read a story about Christmas, but it has to be secular-- it's in a school, you know-- but I want it to have a message. My presentation is supposed to be twenty minutes long. Do have any suggestions for me?"
The salesperson began rifling through the display, asking questions and assessing book length and number of words on the page. I was surreptitiously watching her selections and wincing. But after all, how many secular choices would one expect to find at a Christian bookstore? She loaded the woman up and invited her to sit down with the picks to read and assess them at her leisure.
They were still poring over the bookshelf when I could stand it no longer and inserted myself into the conversation. "You say you're reading to five year olds? I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. I'm a Children's Librarian. If you're reading to kids that age you don't have to read one story aloud for that entire period of time. In fact, I advise against it-- especially if you're a guest and unaccustomed to the group." I went on to quickly explain how movement, songs and fingerplays can both break up and enhance a storytime. Both women blinked in surprise. The clerk stopped paging through a wordy wonder to digest my presence.
The customer proceeded to ask me if I had any Christmas "message" books to recommend. "Oh, I wish I had internet access so I could get to the library catalog," I said. "I've been up to my elbows in Thanksgiving materials lately. I don't know the holdings of the library here, but there would certainly be plenty of options for you there as well as staff to help you narrow down which books have the stories you actually want and need. Public libraries have both religious and secular choices for all ages. For free!" As soon as it came out of my mouth I realized that as true as it was, it probably didn't sound very pro-bookstore.
The salesperson gave the book in her hand to the customer and said very graciously to her, "Well, there are are angels all around us. One finds you right when you most need one. Yours just did!" and then she went back to scanning the shelf. Feeling like I may have already said more than enough, I melted back into the baptismal gifts.
Later, as I headed to the register to check out, the customer spotted me again and sidled up beside me with a large pile of books in her arm. "Oh! How'd you do?" I asked. As it turned out she couldn't find a single title that seemed secular enough for public school. I helped her reshelve them.
Over the course of our conversation she indicated that she didn't have a library card and didn't seem terribly inclined to go get one. But out of the blue she placed me from my days as Outreach Librarian and bookmobile driver at the extended care facility where she works. This amazed me beyond belief as I haven't worked (or lived)in my hometown for around five years now. I left the store with her reference question and business card.
While I think I blew some aspects of that encounter, there is a woman in the world who has a higher opinion of libraries and librarians than she did previously. It is conceivable that she'll even opt for a library card once I present her with some viable options, although the immediacy and permanency of a bookstore seem to be her current mode of operation.
Public libraries are not serving this woman inside or outside their brick-and-mortar walls, but she lacks some of the typical barriers. She is:
- volunteering for a school (time)
- purchasing books (expendable income)
- communicating with me via email (technical skills)
3 comments:
Congrats for butting in, had I been in the same situation I would have left them alone. I don't like it when people butt in on me, I just want to be left alone, so I always assume that others want it the same way. But you had some success, so pat yourself on the back!
Really, bibliotron, I can't believe I did. It's not my bookstore agenda. But the chasm between what she was asking for and what she was getting was so wide, and she seemed so very unaware that she was standing in a place that was so HIGHLY unlikely to be able to fill her information need.
So, technically, I should retitle the post-- thank you for bringing that to my attention. I do not, in actuality, believe that people should butt in on conversations. It's a dicey move at best. But I AM a huge believer in meeting people where they are, which is what outreach is all about.
Well....I butt in all of the time, I didn't even think anything of it until reading this post.
I'll talk to strangers about ANYTHING really. I just helped someone find Mexican hot chocolate at Meijer and she didn't even know that was what she was after! I have never met with a negative reaction.
I like to think of it more as being an active member of my community, rather than a butter inner (technical term).
I can't get out the rest of my 'big idea' because it is confused in my mind, but something about 'village raising the child' and community, etc. I wish that people (strangers) talked to each other more. We should look out for each other a little more than we do now. And I don't mean as library staff, but as human beings.
But beyond all that personal stuff - go Jen! Outreach is so important!
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