I will always appreciate the patrons who come up to the desk all chagrined and tell us “I’m so sorry, a soda can exploded in my car and ruined the book!” or “My daughter ate part of the book!” (True story, by the way – child had pica and apparently enjoyed eating paper), willing to pay for the damages.
Then there are the patrons who will drop off their moldy, nasty books that look like they’ve been dragged backwards through a puddle, and then are like, “I have no idea what happened! Do I really need to pay for this?”
Thankfully, these are much more rare than the former patrons. Yet I still brace myself, just in case.
Also, wanted to introduce a new Library character – Viola, the Sphinx branch manager! Always ready to give service with a smile!
And what a smile.
