Sunday on the reference desk, the library gave to me...

5 children running
4 printing problems
3 books not shelved right
2 APA citation questions
And one guy who wanted to go to Halifax.

Patron: "How far away is Halifax?"
Me: Attempt to describe Halifax's location.
Patron: "Isn't it in Ontario?"
Me: Patron apparently has not heard of Nova Scotia. Pull out map, locate Windsor, locate Halifax. Quick web check confirms that there is no Halifax in Ontario.
Patron: "Is it farther than Quebec?"
Me: Indicate Quebec on map, use map scale to estimate distance.
Patron: "Oh...." *sad look* wanders away.

I wonder what that was about.

Architecture

My husband and I have a theory that Windsor has an unwritten but widely adhered to civic law that states that no building or other architectural endeavor may be made more attractive than it absolutely has to be in order to function. This may explain the why the new, much-promoted medical building on campus has its rather nice open atrium design with a living "green wall" offset by the building's exterior being encrusted in what appears to be plates of pre-rusted brown metal.

Quote of the evening

From a young man at the reference desk:

"Oh!" (with surprise). "I wasn't expecting YOU to be able to find anything."

Back at work

And a question: if I tell a patron who is looking for data on some topic (actually, in this case a rather exhaustive list of topics) that I need to know more specifically what s/he is looking for so that I can actually find something relevant, and the patron responds "Just send me everything," is it appropriate for me to reply with a link to Google and a map to the library?