Idaho writes:

Ah, where to begin. Via e-mail K. simply gave us her first name and asked that we renew her book. No patron last name, no library card number, no title of the book. Obviously K. is the only person that uses this library.

Then we have the upset parent. Her first question? "Has my son been in here using the computers?" No name provided, no description. This irate parent wanted to see a list of all people who had used the computers that date. Sure--I'll whip that right out for you.

Ever have a patron who becomes upset because you don't charge a fine? Fellow brings in a book he knows is overdue. It's scanned through the computer which provides information that it is late, but within the grace period. When the patron is advised he doesn't owe money he becomes furious, pounds his fist on the desk and demands to know why we bother to set due dates or fines if we're not going to collect money. Guess I could have asked for $10 and stuck it in my pocket.

And the tried and true I just love. Young man comes to the circulation desk and asks if we have books. Not a book, not a particular title, just, "Do you have books?" After several rounds of questioning it was finally determined he was looking for something in particular. I thought maybe he'd checked out so many DVD's he never realized anything existed in this building other than the spinners holding the DVD's.

A year or so ago we had a steady patron who weekly checked out DVD's , in large amounts. Eventually we didn't have enough on hand to fill her ever growing demand. She learned how to place requests. But somewhere along the line a boo-boo was made and a title she ordered came in book form. Her response upon seeing the book with the stack of requested DVD's, "What am I supposed to do with that?!"

Then we have those who enjoy providing input for the physical placement of items in the library, as in, "get rid of those books so there's more room for computers." YAHOO!!!