The Kinky Librarian sure does have an interesting topic right here. Ok, sure, it's probably interesting to me most of all because I've been asked all of these questions at some point in time.

I take particular offense at the assumption that we are all volunteers. There is a heck of a lot to learn after getting a job at the library. You have to learn how to deal with people who don't know what they want and then convince them that what you found is probably what they need without making them feel stupid. Trying to explain "historical fiction" to someone is tremendously difficult. Teaching someone who has never used a computer how to use a mouse is always an adventure. Convincing someone who really wants to use the computer to find the answer to something that using a book may actually be faster is rarely easy. And explaining how the results of one of our online databases is actually a print source rather than an Internet source is dreadfully difficult sometimes.

But when i do get to do all of these things and a little guy gets so excited because I found three books (all over 100 pages, of course) about Thomas Edison for him to use for his report, I feel so good. Sure, there are some really crappy things we have to deal with when you're talking about working with the public all day, but there are also great, great people that come into my library.