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
