A long-lost book appeared in the distribution system at my local library. It had been overdue for months, and probably over a year. The book got turned in at a library in a town I'd never heard of in Idaho and found its way back to its home in Missouri. (Details are coming back to me, but I'll not include 'em since I can't be sure of them.) All I could think was, "Wow! How'd that book ever find its way home?" The various library courier networks shuffled the book around until it got back to its rightful library.
Come along with me as I take you on a courier-run. I'm a courier for a small, west-central Missouri system. We connect to the university system through a local university, and to the Kansas City Metropolitan Library and Information Network (KCMLIN), which is a much larger than our system --to say the least, and to a small stand-alone library in a town a bit north of us. I make my courier-run (branch run) twice a week, and we make daily runs to the local university.
The branch run is about 150 miles, and we make 10 stops. I deliver such things as new media for the branches in my system, shared media, inter-library loan media (ILL), special requests, supplies, paychecks (no cash), etc. I also perform minor repairs and maintenance for the facilities and grounds.
I arrive at around 8:00 a.m. on branch run day, and round up the mail. I package the books to be mailed, pick up overdue notices and business-correspondence and apply the postage. Some days I've got no mail to deliver, and others, I might have over a hundred pieces. After I get the mail done, I check various places in the building for books and other stuff to be delivered, then I bag it all up. With all the stuff arranged along the wall in delivery-order, I begin loading the van.
On a small run I've got around 15 to 20 bags and three boxes, ranging from 10 to over 50 pounds each, and return with probably half again as much stuff. I sometimes overload myself, but I like to make fewer trips to and from the van. In and out of the building I go with 2-4 bags each trip. If I'm lucky, I get to park the van right next to the door, otherwise, I may have to walk up the street a bit with each load. (We're in the process of building a new facility. It'll have a reserved loading zone!) Double-check the shelves, upstairs, and the mail-bins and the reference/extension office for stuff I might have missed, and we're ready to go.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Paul Landkamer's Bibliophile topic, please visit the Discussions page.