Telling it like it is

We have a new book that was written by someone who works here at this library. Well, no, that's a lie. He actually works at a library in Southern California. But his book of library life is so spot-on, so accurate, that it feels like I work with him. Free For All: oddballs, geeks, and gangstas in the public library is my new favorite book. The author - Don Borchert - has spent years working behind the desk of his public library, dealing with an assortment of common library problems: people who argue about paying for a book they lost, drunks loitering outside the entrance, the one unmotivated employee, the shoving matches in the book stacks. He also talks about cheery people who come in and use everything the library has to offer, who enjoy spending time in the library, and who are happy to accept responsibility for their overdue fines. Every chapter, I found myself nodding and thinking "Oh yeah, I've seen that" (except the two guys using the men's room as a distribution center for methamphetamines. But it ain't beyond the realm of possibility....).
There is one problem with the book, and it's a problem I am guilty of also. Happy, smiling, pleasant patrons are not as memorable as angry, disruptive, irresponsible patrons. Nice people don't make as a good a story as bad people. So although the book is full of tales of conflict, frustration and marginally criminal activity, and although there aren't a lot of perky stories here, I think deep down Borchert (like all librarians) has a deep love for his job and a real affection for the people that come into his building. And that's the way it really is.