A License to Stamp!

So...today was my first day working at the Library.My hours were 9 until 12 but I was unsure what time to arrive. Teacher's don't arrive at 9 am and though I was not always as early arriving at school as some I was always there at least 30 minutes before school started. As a supply teacher I have even been known to arrive and hour before the start of school, but what do Librarians do?As it was I turned up at 8.45 and arrived at the back door to the Library just as the Librarian was arriving herself. There was another Library Officer already in the building and they had been in there since 8.30 switching everything on and logging all the computers on.I was very nervous, much more nervous than I had been on my previous visits for the induction days. Today was the real thing.First I was given my own key to the building and had to sign for it, then the Librarian, who was only there to show me the ropes, started to take me through everything.I am not sure how I am going to remember everything. There is so much to learn, like how to clean cds, log in books and log them out, showing people how to scan documents and use the photocopier, how to lock and unlock dvd cases, register new members , replace lost library cards but all these things I encountered to day.There is actually no stamping of books required these days...it just goes to show how little I have visited a library in recent years. These days there is a barcode scanner gun with a trigger which you press and a red laser shoots out and reads the barcode and 'beeps' and records the book information on the computer. It's all very high tech!I got to practice using the quite a lot as I logged in returned books and checked out customer's books. Another one of the first things I did was renew my own library card which had expired and I had used once since I got it! I think I may be forced to use it a bit more now.I met Annie, a cheeky pensioner and one of the regular customers."Oh, I like you!" she said. "Dream of me tonight won't you" she winked as she left.One woman came in to return a load of Western novels she had read and then 15 minutes later took out another handful including 'Salt Lick Saloon'. The only mistake I made today after checking them out was forgetting to hit the F2 button on the keyboard which produce a list of the books on loan and the date they are to be returned for the customer. She went off before I realised.Checking out one old man's books a warning popped up on the screen saying,'Do not loan any more books to the above. One book outstanding!'Yikes! It was a wonder there were no sirens and the doors did not lock automatically. As It turned out he just wanted to renew the said book and had it with him so I was able to stand down the armed guards waiting outside to finish him off.One elderly lady with a German accent wanted to know if the were any new Jilly Coopers."They are quite naughty" she admitted gleefully.Her new one was called "Mount". It sounded filthy."I've read it" said Eva Braun.The three hours went pretty quickly and without too much fuss. It was a very quiet day apparently but everyone keeps on talking about "Backpacker Season" as if it is a terrible time and very busy. I am getting pretty scared of the approach of "Backpacker Season".I have picked up a few more days in the coming weeks due to others being away on holiday and so I should get a lot more proficient before I head 'Up Over' for three weeks.