Librarians are unsung heroes.  We have a home library, it has taken years of work to catalog and maintain, not to mention new acquisitions… and the process has given me an appreciation for Librarians unlike almost any other profession.  The office of Librarian must be one of the most anal-retentive jobs on the face of the earth, and also the most masochistic.  After all, so much work and effort to achieve and maintain order… and then they OPEN THE DOORS and LET US IN!  How they manage to not SNARL at the NERVE of the intrepid souls who touch the sacred shelves is beyond me, ok, that’s a lie, snarling I’d understand… it’s the RESTRAINT of not KILLING US that boggles the mind… 

Those who know me best are laughing by now.  They know what brought this on… Yes, I have been cataloging books once again in preparation for the new school term, always necessary before planning the lessons for said term.  Once cataloged, the books must be shelved and as they are NEW, room  must be made on already groaning bookcases for the new arrivals. Shelving books in our home library is not unlike walking into a child’s room for the first time in six months.  The disorder apparent at first glance is deceptive, greater evil is afoot beneath the sheen of disarray and if it is not yet radioactive, it is not for lack of effort. For the bookcases, this translates into books shelved improperly… adults in the juvenile section, 550’s in the 590’s – or vice versa, books pushed behind others so as to be invisible when searching spines… all manner of evil to the librarians eye, and all done by those most HELPFUL of  creatures… the children. 

One of those children made the mistake of entering the Lair of the Librarian while she was at work. The Librarian (me) barked a request of intent to said child… and as this was the ELDEST child who’s self-preservation instinct is the more reliable, said child stopped cold in it’s tracks and carefully swivelled it’s eyes round to the Librarian and cautiously said, “I was going to get a book?” with the proper inquisitive tone.  The face of the Librarian must have given away the carnivorous desires lurking deep within, because the look on said child’s face instantly changed and it said, “but I really don’t need to do that right now!” At which the beast within the Librarian grumbled a bit over the lost meal, as it watched said child back slowly away from the books… and if that beast muttered something along the lines of ‘my precious’… well, what Librarian would blame it?

In a few days, when the Librarian has finished the job and has exchanged the Librarian hat for the one which says Teacher, when the books currently lurking forgotten in the recesses of the house have been read and reread by… those creatures… and the Teacher is once again lost in the planning stages of the next school term, the children will again enter the Lair of the (now dormant) Librarian and gleefully pillage the shelves for stories and other lore for yet another term in safety under the more benevolent eye of Teacher or Mom… but the Librarian only slumbers and who knows when she will awake…