Doug Anderson, reference coordinator at the Ashtabula County District Library, recently asked his colleagues across the country to share some of the strange requests library patrons have made at the reference desk. Here are a few of their responses:
- A young man 10 or so asked "What kind of snake is this?" as he dumped the very live reptile on the librarian's desk. It was a black racer.
- Patron: "I need information about my grandfather."
Librarian: "What was your grandfather's name?"
Patron: "Isn't it your job to find out?"
- Patron: "I'm a stripper and one of the women I work with sets herself on fire and I need to know how to do that."
- A lady of advanced years told the librarian "I'm going on my first airplane trip and someone recommended I read 'Fear of Flying.'"
- Patron: "I left this (phonograph) record in my car on a hot day and it warped, but I ironed it back into shape, so do I still have to pay for it?"
- Patron: "What does it feel like to be eaten by cannibals?"
- Patron: "Do you have any books on Hanukkah or other foreign Christmas holidays?"
- Patron: "Where do I find the 10W40 tax forms?"
- A patron researching Christmas song lyrics wanted a description of the color "parson brown" as used in the line "In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he is Parson Brown."
- Reference librarians are often asked to produce photographs of subjects who lived before photography was invented. One couple even insisted upon a photograph of the Last Supper.
- A student asked how someone could die of immaculate conception, it said so in a book. Finally, the librarian asked to see the book, which stated the person died "at the hospital of the Immaculate Conception."
- A patron asked for the book that lists the names of people who went to hell.
- Patron: "Is it a violation of Massachusetts state law to dig up a corpse without the consent of next of kin?"
- A map librarian at the Colorado School of Mines had a request for a map of "all the undiscovered uranium deposits in Colorado."
- And finally, the essential answer music lovers want to know: Does Robert Goulet wet himself when he hits a high note?
Star Beacon Print Edition: 4/18/2007
Currents
Librarians share strange requests
- Currents
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The Main legacy
Despite the devastating loss in the Tyrone, Pa., train wreck of May 30, 1893, Walter L. Main quickly rebuilt his circus and kept virtually all of its engagements beyond Tyrone.
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Tragedy at McCann’s Crossing
Frank Train had grown wearly of traveling with the Walter L. Main Monster Show, based in Geneva City and Trumbull Township.
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Geneva’s ‘Main’ attraction
Elephants, tigers, lions and horses.
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Railroad, disaster birthed hospital
The Great Lakes shipping industry in the mid-1800s was fraught with losses of both human life and property.
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Locomotive overboard!
In the history of railroading in Northeast Ohio, it was a matter of poetic justice paid forward.
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Was Effie Neely on the Pacific Express No. 5?
Was Effie Neely the last survivor of the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster when she died in 1960 at the age of 101?
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Ashtabula Horror left many interesting crumbs on history’s table
Over the past century, many stories relating to the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster, Dec. 29, 1876, have emerged. Here is a sampling of these tales as we wrap up the first 65 years of Ashtabula County history in our Odd Tales series.
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The Ashtabula Horror
One hundred thirty-five years after the Ashtabula Horror occurred, the facts of the event are well established, yet mists of mystery and stains of shame remain.
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A trial run for death
John D. Rockefeller had never missed a train until Dec. 18, 1867.
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Success born of grief
Grief is a stalker. It lurks in every idle moment, in every familiar corner, always ready to pierce the heart bruised by loss.
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