The Bookmarten
Saturday, 14th October So, it’s my first day of work at the library after almost four weeks of break. It felt a lot like a luxury, being my first real holiday since I started in September last year. It’s still quite quiet, just as I expected - the semester starts on Monday and every normal person is taking the last weekend of summer break off. There are only two people in my reading room and apart from dealing with their wishes, I have already sorted my schedule and found out where to get my reading lists. I know next week will be quite different, it usually fills up with the beginning of the semester, but for now I am bathing in quietness. Which is nice, actually. Only my keyboard seems very loud in this empty and silent room. I won’t get bored though, I’ve got some books to sort through and fix, and I do expect a few more users to come in. That’s what we librarians call you, by the way. Users. Funny word, if you ask me. Not that I am a real librarian, I’m just a student assistant, but I do get a bit of insight into the life of my coworkers. And interaction with you really is the highlight of a work day. If you are kind to us, we will reciprocate and be a little more loose on the rules, especially us student assistants (’cause we know the view from the other side of the counter). No funny stories so far though. Except for a very interesting e-mail from my boss, that the Büchermarder is active again. A Büchermarder (german, literally translates to bookmarten) is someone who pretends to study the books but really just cuts out bits and pieces of old and valuable books and sells them on the black market. One has been well known to do that, but never got caught, and apparently has appeared in a public library again, so we’re extra careful at the moment. All users in here right now are regulars though, so I’m not really worried right now. I really enjoy my job most of the time, especially the Saturdays, when I’m supervising the reading room. I can read through old books, be the cliché librarian shushing everyone and during semester I get quite a lot of homework done. And I can bask in one of my favourite things: scrolling through tumblr while making a serious face and pretending I’m solving a major issue in our library system.