Either the entire Gwinnett county public library system has streamlined their system of pulling items placed on hold or the Duluth branch is more efficient than our regular branch. Our library books are due in a few days so yesterday I put a bunch of new items on hold, but this time I put them on hold at the Duluth branch (which I've never been to, but that's irrelevant), hoping that it would give me enough time to allow my new items to come in before my other items were due.
Before the pandemic we would visit the library once a week and I had a whole system for renewing books we wanted to keep longer (reference-y books) and turning books in early that were more of a one-and-done (mostly picture books). But with the hassle of getting my 25 books in at the library—it took 8 days, if you recall, and although I selected the majority of the books from our regular branch they only pulled 6 books from the shelf for me (the last of which was pulled on the 8th day); I should also note that when I went to pick up my 25 books the librarian said she would check them out in the back because there were so many and then she only checked out 24 to me (haha!)—and, you know, with the pandemic in full swing here in Georgia, I figured that once every three weeks was good enough for now.
So, I put my items on hold yesterday hoping that by August 29 I would have something to pick up. And guess what? I currently have 27 of 29 books waiting to be picked up at the Duluth branch. The very next day.
BOOM. Just like that.
Twenty-nine is a super random number to put on hold, I realize, but I actually put a round 30 on hold, but then I guess someone else put the book I put on hold on hold as well so it was a race to see which patron it would be pulled for (a Halloween book, so beginning to be a hot commodity) and since no copies were available for the next three weeks I decided to just cancel my hold (because I wasn't that excited about the book; it was just one I randomly selected).
Anyway, of the 29 books I put on hold, 24 were from the Duluth branch and 5 were from elsewhere. Duluth pulled 22 of my 24 books today (because that just makes sense—if an item on the hold list is to be picked up at your location, the item should come from your location and not be shuttled in) and I really have quite a lot of hope that they will pull the remaining 2 books tomorrow.
Or I at least have hope that if I walked into the branch tomorrow and said, "Hi! It's me! The girl who wants like 30 books! Yes, 30. Here's the thing, though, there are just two books that haven't been pulled yet but my kids are anxious to get their hands on some new literature so could you please just pop back there real quick-like and grab them for me before you check me out?" that the librarian would cheerfully say, "Of course! I'll just be a minute!" Whereas at my regular branch I would be too afraid to ask for such a luxury because in my imagination the librarian would guaranteed give me a heavy sigh and say something about how they have lots of books to pull and I'm not the only patron on the planet...
Like, I have had so many not-fabulous interactions at that branch that I just bet that's what would happen. Seriously—why are all the librarians there so grumpy? Maybe we should make them some cookies...
Not a bad idea, really. We could make them little book cookies!
But I don't know if librarians eat cookies from strangers in the time of corona.
Josie—do librarians eat cookies from strangers in the time of corona?
Inquiring minds need to know.
Today I'm feeling much happier with Gwinnett county public libraries. Perhaps in the future we'll just avoid our local branch. We have two other branches fairly close by...just a teensy bit farther of a drive, which makes me cringe because our branch is so easy to get to from our house...but if the other branches are more efficient and are happier to serve their patrons (and are happier in general) then I think we'll just make the switch.
If libraries ever open to patronage (and if COVID numbers are ever low enough that we venture from the house) again some day.
Did Josie tell you what she told me? Home baked goods are probably not going to fly, unless the librarians "know" you. A purchased package of treats with packaging intact and a thank you note would probably be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMy local branch has a couple ladies who are super-grumps. Like, I even thought of calling one of them out for her attitude at one point. Thankfully a few of the workers are very helpful and NICE ABOUT IT so I love when they are on duty. All this pre-covid shutdown. Now I hardly see them as they bring books out to the exchange table. Glad you got those holds a lot faster this time!
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