another library tale

so i'm sitting in the local library this afternoon marking the final thirty or so legal philosophy essays from my junior classes when suddenly i hear a loud voice emanating from just beyond the book stacks to my left. and naturally i am a little put off because this is, after all, a public library and over time one has come to expect a certain level of peace and quiet to prevail in communal spaces of that stripe. and so, being the curious chap that i am, i decide to investigate the source of the din in order to satisfy my inquisitive nature. but as i rise from my chair and begin to make my way to the front of the chamber where the reference desk is located, i am somewhat astonished to learn that the source of the aforementioned racket is not some elderly patron disputing the 15 cent overdue book fine on his library card. nor is it some rowdy teenage type giving lip to some overzealous library cop for enforcing the no food or drink policy in place in all metropolitan libraries. no, the source of the tumult this afternoon was none other than that same matronly librarian from one of my more recent posts - you remember, the lady with the slice of chive wedged between her two front teeth. only today those same choppers were being used to enunciate every single syllable that passed by her lips, and at a decibel level that would make a heavy metal band blush with modesty. apparently she was attempting to point out the whereabouts of the library's newest teen fiction collection to one of her adolescent clients.

and so here's the thing: how can one possibly ask one's friendly, neighbourhood librarian to pipe down when it is she, in fact, that is ultimately responsible for ensuring calm and order in our hallowed halls of literacy?

so let it be written, so let it be done



p.s. what do you mean, not very music box-esque? tiny dancer? a music box featuring a tiny ballerina on top.