Librarian Tales

[dismas]

I stumbled across this site for librarians and one of the discussion topics is odd or funny requests that they've received. Some of them are just hilarious!

Funny Requests from patrons | Librarians who LibraryThing | LibraryThing

A couple of my favorites:

This is fun - I love those listening mistakes, like the story we were told in grad school (does it come from an article by Kuhlthau?) in which a student asks for the book "Oranges and Peaches." On being told nothing is in the catalog with that title, she grows indignant and argues that her teacher told her it was a classic, something every library would have, and it's by that guy Darwin...

My favorite from our library here:
A student was urgently looking for music by a composer known as "W.C." Puzzled, the ref librarian called the music librarian, who asked a few more questions. Eventually he worked it out: Debussy.

oh, and I can't resist added one I fielded myself: The student wished to have for her presentation "a photo of the underground railroad."

I explained that people rarely posed for photos when escaping slavery (nor did those illegally assisting them). I do think she had in mind that some sort of subway train was involved. In the end I think we settled for a reproduction of a newspaper lithograph showing slaves being guided to freedom.

I once had a little old white lady ask me for a book on how to make Africans. I couldn't think of a single thing to say but luckily she began to elaborate that she wanted any kind of needlework or knitting book. It was then that I realized she was after books on how to make afghans. Whew!

 

[CJ]

I stumbled across this site for librarians and one of the discussion topics is odd or funny requests that they've received. Some of them are just hilarious!

Funny Requests from patrons | Librarians who LibraryThing | LibraryThing

A couple of my favorites:

LOL - Allot of entertaining reading at that site!