Love in the Library

I just read this article on Slate and I adore it. I loved this line:

There are many reasons why bookstores are naturally romantic environments: the smell of paper, the soft lighting, the baseline understanding that those inside like to read, and are therefore probably not morons.

Adam surprised me before our wedding by adding the Jimmy Buffett song that loaned its title to this post to our reception playlist (and wisely played it for me in advance, knowing how unlikely I was to hear the words in the midst of that evening). Long a believer in creating the perfect playlist for all situations (and a maker of mix-cds and their waaaaay older brother mix-tapes before digital downloads rendered these format passe), Adam played dj for our wedding, creating a playlist on our ipod suited to each part of the evening. I found the gesture of choosing this song meaningful for obvious reasons as well as the fact that I love Jimmy Buffett and Adam...doesn't. Similarly, I love bookstores and Adam...doesn't. We are not the people of this article, wandering hand-in-hand through the shelves, picking up books with which to woo each other. When Adam sees me arriving home from a bookstore, laden with purchases he just sighs and asks where they're all going to go. (When we moved 10 months ago we brought innumerable boxes of books to our new home, our movers hated us.) My working in libraries has translated to a precipitous decline in the number of books purchased (and a corresponding jump in overdue library books).

Anyway, I was just captivated by the author's whole premise. I tried to imagine a similar article praising the library as a place to pick up a date...and I failed. But why? We have the smell of paper, admittedly harsher lighting and...well...I'm going to leave that last part alone. It's not that it (library romance) hasn't been tried. I've yet to meet a librarian who hasn't been asked out at least once by a patron (and it's inevitably the skeezy, smelly patrons). And I do regularly see people use the library's resources to try to further their quest for romance. Patrons use the computers to manage their online dating profiles, social networking sites and when it comes to print resources don't even get me started on all the romance-centric self-help books that circulate. (If I had to hear one more request for Steve Harvey's Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man last year...) I've seen the library used as a place to hook-up, I've definitely chased teens out of the darker corners of the non-fiction section and we've all heard the stories about the study carrels in University libraries. However, none of these are really the stuff of romance and love songs. I'm not sure what it is that makes a bookstore a likelier place to meet someone than a library. Maybe the ubiquitous attached coffee shops? The later hours? Are bookstores just cooler than libraries?

Plus reading this article now has me wondering, would a bookstore be a place for to try to pick up potential friends? (I will at some point post about how miserable it is to try to make friends as a grown-up [it sucks].)

What do you think, why is a bookstore a better spot for romance than a library?

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

So I started my new job today. (I'm officially a part-time, media-assistant at an elementary school in Durham.)

The Good:

I really like the school media specialist (read: librarian) that I'm working with, he's friendly and funny and he seems excited to have me working with him. He also seems to be interested in using me more as a second librarian rather than as an "assistant" in the traditional sense and this makes me SO happy (and relieved).

The Bad:

I'm a part-time assistant. (And I know it's stupid but I died just a little inside each time the very nice media specialist introduced me as his new assistant.)

The (REALLY) Ugly:

The salary is 1/2 of what was listed when I applied. I've spent (literally) weeks asking HR, my principal, the asst. principal, etc. what my exact salary would be (as the posting listed a range) and nobody could give me an answer. Today when I went to HR to get my new badge, fill out the tax and benefits forms, etc. I asked about the salary as soon as I was alone with someone in a position to tell me anything. The lady wrote a number (the number was around what I'd expected) on the form listing my employee identification number, my school, my start date, etc. and then she said that I am classified as a permanent part-time employee and my salary is 1/2 of that number.

WHAT?!?!?!

Ignore, if you will, the obvious questions: Why didn't she write my salary down? or Why'd she want to show me a number that it will take me two months to earn? Let's just stick to the facts. The posting listed the job as a part-time position with a salary with a range of xy NOT xy/2!!!!

I asked her to repeat herself...and then I asked her to repeat herself again and then I did the math myself (out-loud) just to be sure I was hearing her correctly. We went on with the meeting (I'm pretty sure my face was completely white at this point) and then before we ended the meeting I confirmed the salary again. (It hadn't changed from the last time I asked.) Then I got the tax/benefits/direct deposit paperwork, then I hid in the bathroom and hyperventilated. 1/2?!?!?!

I've calmed down a bit but I'm still pretty upset. (The HR/salary-stuff all happened in the morning and I spent the afternoon at the school.) It feels a little (a lot) like I was misled...and if I'd known the pay scale, I'm not sure that I'd have applied. However, there are silver linings to every gigantic, ugly gray storm cloud and I'm sure that is true of this as well.

Tomorrow is another day.

And other cliches.

9 To 5

OH! I forgot: I got a job! I'm the new school media assistant at an elementary school in Durham. I'm excited but at the same time I feel a bit conflicted. I'm happy to have found a job in my field in this economy. However, I'm overqualified for the position and it is part-time. I'm worried that I'm not working as hard as I should be...but I'm intrigued to try a new library environment. I think after spending a year in this job (assuming I like working in a school library) I'll continue in the job for a second year and go back to school to take the remaining coursework I need to get my school media certification. (I need to live in NC for one year in order to qualify for in-state tuition.)

I don't yet know my start date but I have high hopes...we'll see how it all turns out!