AskALibrarian

Intercom Reference. You have a call on line 1.

R This is Reference, can I help you?

Q I was wondering if you can tell me if you have the book Money and the Meaning of Life.

R Hang on and let me check. Do you know the author's last name?

Q No I do not.

R That title is not in our catalog. Are you sure that is the exact title?

Q Well.... no.

R If you have a minute I will look it up and see if that is the title.

Q Sure, that is fine.

R Yes, that is the title. The author's name is Jacob Needleman.

R We do not have that book but we do have another one by him. It is on a totally different subject.

Q What is his other book.

R The title is Philosophy.

Q Well, that just sounds... ... ...boring.

R (ha ha) Would you like to try to get his book via interlibrary loan? It may take a few weeks.

Q Sure let's do that.

R I will need you name, library card number and phone number.

Q Sure my name is Jane Doe, my library card number is 240........., and my phone is 218-...-....

Q What was that authors name again?

R Jacob Needleman.

Q That name sounds jewish. Do you think that is a jewish name?

R Well, I just don't know. I guess it could be.

R OK. You are all set. You will be notified when your book comes in.

Q Thanks. Bye.



Observation: Of course it is a jewish name! But I am not about to go down that road with this potentially anti-semitic woman with the heavy duty anglo last name. Oh sure it would have been fun to see what she had to say, but I cannot exploit these patrons just so my weblog is better. Can I?