Second Reference Observation

Finally, a busy afternoon in the library. I have stopped by and "used the computer" a few times to try and find a day where there were people there and utilizing the reference desk. I chose to do this one "silently" because I didn't want to let them know I was waiting on an actual busy day for them, in case this would somehow offend them (since most days just didn't seem busy.)

A group of 4th grade kids working on their presidents. They were tenative on approaching the desk, but after one student asked where the presidential biographies were, they all started to stroll up asking questions as they worked. I wrote down a few.

How do you spell Gerald Ford?
Is Bill Clinton still alive?
Who was the 19th president?
What is polio?
What decade is the 19th century in?

She was very polite in helping them find the books and navigate websites through NCLive finding the information they were looking for for their class...as well as all the random questions that popped into their heads. They bombarded her for a solid 40 minutes of my observation, but she never seemed to get frustrated with their questions.

After the students left an older couple come in with a dispute on how long a cubit and a span is. It came from the Bible story of David and Goliath, where it said Goliath was six cubits and a span. The wife said it meant that he was over 10 feet tall, but the husband held firm that he had heard it mean he was just over 7 feet. The librarian on duty first took them to a bible reference book, but ended up just searching for it online. Google said that it translated to 9.75 feet, so the wife thanked the desk and they left.

A guy came in looking for old yearbooks after that. Almost every time I have been in the library someone seems to ask about those, so I guess that is a big demand there.

As my time and I discretely walked out the door, there was a guy coming in looking deep in thought and heading directly toward the front desk. I'm not sure what his question ended up being, but I'm almost certain he had it answered in a polite and helpful manner!