Before I started working in the library’s Collection Development department, I was a reference librarian. Helping library patrons locate information is a rewarding experience; it can also be challenging especially if it isn’t clear what the patron is looking for. Conducting a “reference interview” with the patron — that’s library-speak for a back-and-forth conversation — is an important part of the process. Sometimes, however, the patron’s query is impossible to answer. A classic inquiry usually posed by a student working on a homework assignment is “I need a photograph of a dinosaur for my report — can you help me find one of a T-Rex?” Every librarian has also probably heard a version of this one: “A while back I checked out a book I really enjoyed. I don’t remember the title or author, but it had a red cover …”
Perhaps due to my previous reference desk experience, I found “Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores” very relatable and highly entertaining. Just as librarians never know what type of question is coming next, booksellers receive an endless variety of comments and requests — many of which are simple to answer, some of which … well, let’s just say it’s never a dull day when working with the public. I like this particular exchange from a bookshop in Pennsylvania:
Customer: Do you sell dictionaries?
Bookseller: Sure. What kind of dictionary are you looking for?
Customer: One with all the words.
But, of course — why else would he ask for a dictionary? And this example is completely believable (not that this has happened to me, but a variation on this theme has been known to occur):
Customer: You don’t have a very good selection of books
Bookseller: We’ve got over ten thousand books.
Customer: Well, you don’t have the book I’ve written! (Storms out.)
It’s hard to make every reader (or author) happy, but we do what we can.
