My new job

For a couple of weeks, anyway. Now that school is out, I'm putting in my share of hours at the University Library's Oak Street high density storage facility. This morning, John gave Corinne and me a tour of the book vault itself, home of the reknowned 40-foot-high bookshelves. I'd forgotten that they keep the temperature at 50 degrees in there. Brrr. Last Friday I spent four hours constructing trays, specially designed acid-free boxes that effectively make short rows of books. Today I was promoted to accessioning, which involved scanning the bar codes of trays and then the books within them. The whole process has numerous checks and balances built into it so that every book has its secured place and can be retrieved without a spot of trouble. A real live patron actually came in today, providing me with solid proof that the system works.

I think Lisa has the best job, though. She's the one who gets to drive the forklift up and down the stacks, hoisting my trays up to those shelves and then back down again.