Today I decided it was time to visit the library to get out some books for an essay due in a few weeks time. So i put on some comfy clothes, plugged in my IPod and set off.
The walk was refreshingly cold and incredibly windy. My bag, that dangles below my hips, annoys me enough already by hugging my leg like some annoying creature. So the wind just caused it to cling to me even more.
When I finally got to the library, I was faced with electronic gates which required my student card. So there I was standing in the way of people bustling past as I scrambled through my bag trying to find my purse. Purse found, the next task was trying to get my card out with gloves on which is probably the equivalent of a seal trying to pick up a piece of paper. It doesn't work. So gloves come off, I finally get the card out of it's sleeve and I can place it on the scanner. The light flashes green telling me its safe to enter... but oh how deceiving that light is when the rotating poles of death decide to trap your bag in a tight death grip, yanking me backwards to my horror before I stand there slightly embarrassed at my misfortune. As I begin to figure out why the stupid machine has decided to cause me all this hassle, a very helpful student sets me free by scanning her card so the poles release their death grip on my bag. I say thank you and carry onto my next challenge - finding the darn books I want.
It's always a challenge when I come to the library, the way the books are organised baffles me and it takes me centuries to find anything. But armed with my piece of paper with the titles and reference numbers scribbled down, I march up the stairs to level 3 for the law library. However, this time to my surprise everything was there, perfectly in order and easy to find. Just how a library should be. Usually the library catalogue would deceive me telling me the books I wanted are checked in when in fact they are nowhere to be seen on the shelves. So this was a rare luxury.
So with first task down, it was onto the second: finding out where the hell I pick up a book I've reserved. I headed back down to the ground floor and placed myself in the queue to be served by one of the frail looking librarians. As I stood there I scanned the room before I saw a sign shouting 'Reservations' at me. So, I jump out of the cue to make some other students happy behind me as they now didn't have to wait as long and walked across the room.
I stood in front of the entrance to look inside the room, very small but quite full as it was packed with students tapping away on the computers. I was hesitant but then entered. I looked to my left at what appeared to be the book shelf with the reserved books on them but I had no idea how they had been ordered. I slowly moved along the shelves, becoming more frustrated as I couldn't find my stupid book. My eyes then came across a sign saying that the pieces of paper hanging helplessly out of the books had the first five initials of your last name on them so I assumed the letters meant it was organised by name.
I moved back over to the letter C and looked at the few books there. Not one had my name on it. With a confused frown on my face I walked back out and put myself back in the queue for help. As the girl leaves in front, I look at the man I'm about to approach: weedy, long ginger hair tied up in a pony tail at the nape and glasses places precariously on his thin crooked nose. Talk about your librarian stereotype. He looks at me and forcefully pronounces the word, "Yes?". I step forward slightly offended by his rude tone. "Hi." I pause, thinking about what I was about to say so I didn't annoy him further with incompetence. "I have reserved a book and I got an email telling me it was ready for collection. But it's not in the reservation section. So I was wondering if you could tell me where it it?" He scowls at me and pushes he glasses right to the top of his nose. "Have you got your card please" he demands. "Erm, yeah, one second." I once again rummage through my bag to find my card as I sense the weedy ginger getting impatient. Finally finding it I shove it into his personal space.
He scans it before scrunching up his crooked nose that he pushes up to the computer screen. H e scanned it for a second then without saying a word, he spins around and heads towards some shelves that have a tiny sign above them displaying "reservations". I stare in confusion. The librarian drags his small frame back to the computer, "We hadn't got round to putting it out yet." So why the hell did you send me an email saying it was ready to be collected when it wasn't even in the designated reservation area!
The librarian scans the book, slams my card on top of it and slides it across the desk towards me. "Thank you" I said sarcastically. I struggled to pick it up along with the two massive law books I'd already got and dragged them over to the self-service machine. Now this was usually an obstacle in itself but luckily I'd now used it enough times to not get in a muddle trying to understand how it worked. I scanned my card, entered my 4 digit pin and placed the books under the scanner. All went through successfully for once and the machine spat out my receipt. I yanked it out of the hole, grabbed my books and headed back out.
I panicked slightly as I approached the metal gates of death again, however I decided to go through bag first this time to save myself the embarrassment of doing it again. Successfully through the gates I headed back out into the cold and back to my flat as I thought to myself... bloody library.
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