Over the weekend, I visited my parents in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. I took this opportunity to complete our secret shopper assignment at the Main Library (ie the scary downtown branch) of Dayton Metro Library. I haven’t actually been in that library for years.
As one enters the main floor, there are three very official-looking stations staffed with library personnel. There is the checkout counter, an information desk (that is literally just what the sign says), and a small desk where patrons sign up to use the library computers. Of course, I chose the information desk. I did not feel any discomfort or awkwardness about approaching the librarian at this desk. Those feelings came later.
So, I approach the librarian (to be honest, I don’t know if she was an actual librarian or not –like did she have an MLS and a state certification) and I asked her if she could suggest a good mystery or mystery writer. I explained that I was kind of bored with what I normally read and thought I would give mysteries a try even though I never liked anything about the few mysteries I have read in the past. This is completely true.
From that setup, I thought she would at least ask about what books I do typically read and why I didn’t like the mysteries I previously read. Instead I got “Ohhhh, I don’t know…I don’t like mysteries either.” Silence. I started to rephrase my inquiry but then I stopped talking because she was looking over my shoulder and obviously was no longer listening. I turned around to see that she was staring down some noisy kids and glaring at the 112 year old security guard. Eventually she remembered I was there and I got this: “Oh yeah, mysteries. We keep them over there and hey, take a look at our website. We have staff recommendations and stuff on there.”
The good news is that what I found on the website I really liked. There are staff recommendations for all different types of fiction. Patrons can also sign up to receive the Dayton Metro NextReads eNewsletter. These monthly eNewsletters also cover a lot of different genres and guess what, there is one for mystery. I took a look at the mystery recommendations and I think I am going to try one (I think I am going to take a crack at Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series). I find this funny: The last line of every eNewsletter is “Contact your librarian for more great books!”
Here’s the other thing I think is funny. A couple of months ago, I ran across a job listing for a reference librarian for specifically the Main Library of Dayton Metro. Under job responsibilities, the second item listed is readers’ advisory.
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