The Clerk Manifesto

  I was replacing one of my co-workers this evening at the front desk of the library. I asked them where they were going. "I'm goin...

  I make no secret that issuing library cards is probably my least favorite desk task. It has some nice, social elements if one wants to mak...

  A bisexual man went to the annual Gay Pride Parade in his town. He was an avid off-road biker and was going to ride with his group of like...

Since we sold our house and returned to apartment living, our neighbors have become less distinct to me. Not having land to take care of, si...

  On a rainy Monday, I am out at the front desk of the library with Dan. It is busy! And Dan is not happy about it. "I don't unders...

  Sure, you can read the complete works of Emerson in order to become more wise, but who has time for that? I don't have time for that. ...

  Though my impulse is simply to show you all my short AI films of animals in my library, this space no longer supports video and never did ...

  You go through a lot in life. I mean you, personally. But it has happened to me too. So I know it's rough out there. And the way the o...

  A young person came to the front desk with a friend to check out their books. I don't know why they didn't want to use the self ch...

  Forgive me, I am not usually one for the more nationalistic elements of the Olympics. But the current medal count has nevertheless capture...

  I try not to repeat myself around here... much, but the Olympics tend to evoke a similar reaction in me, and they come around every two or...

  Having seventy pictures of mine on display at my library, showing all manner of animals, cartoon characters, and biblical calamities takin...

  Growing up there wasn't much talk of generations. There were just The Baby Boomers , gigantic in every way, blotting out everything el...

  Passionately watching cozy British competition shows with my lovely wife is such an engaging pastime that we have been forced to circle ro...

  A package was delivered to me at the front desk of the library. Alas, it wasn't for me, it was for a children's librarian who has ...

  Sometimes a good joke simply comes one's way. And maybe it's a little too perfect to be terribly funny. But it's right there! ...

  In what is surely the last of my modifications of pictures taken on an exploratory neighborhood walk recently, I have once again returned ...

  In a recent column I showed you some pictures of a neighborhood walk. Because I did not see any bunnies on this walk, there were no bunny ...

  "Hey," A reader writes in. "You're always writing about how great your library is, and how funny and charming all the l...

  While I am shockingly frank with the library visitors I help at the front desk and on the phones, and though I might say all manner of dar...