Monday, May 12, 2014

Lots of hats

One of the best things about my job (which, in case you've only been lightly skimming my blog over the last 450 posts, is called "Library Clerk") is that it encompasses such a vast variety of roles. Most of these roles are entirely optional, if not even occasionally, technically frowned upon. There is a basic core set of clerking skill roles; shelver, machine operator, switchboard operator, customer service representative, that is basically required, but with a bit of craftiness, a sense of adventure, chutzpah, sheer commitment to the library, rebelliousness, risk management skills, and sheer foolishness, there is a vast array of wildly diverse roles that one can, every once in awhile, step into.

Over enough time I have been janitor, groundskeeper, building manager, event planner, librarian, caregiver, spy, social worker, song and dance man, technician, computer analyst, negotiator, tax adviser, county attorney, teacher, concierge, travel agent, doctor, artist, traffic cop, prince-ling, athlete, chef, dogsbody, childcare provider, laborer, fairytale character, and library director.

Patrons sometimes mistake my job, most often, I suppose, as a librarian. But they almost automatically respond to me in any of these other roles. Of course, in all these roles, I am still, officially, a clerk, lost in the shuffle, autonomous, and in the end, a chameleon. 

Did someone say there's a chameleon in here? No, no, it's just us lizards, soaking up the sun.

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