So, I was just enjoying my Wednesday when all the sudden… My #literallynoidea moment happened. Hence! My first blog post!
So, a little backstory:
I have been budgeting like crazy trying to get my life together and adult and stuff, right? Well, one of my biggest #budgetbusters was buying books online. I love reading. I love learning. I guess I’m a nerd like that (or smart—take your pick). I buy these books online or at Barnes & Noble, read about half of them, get bored, store it on my shelf, and forget about it. Then I look at my credit card statement and I’m like, “WHAT IS THIS?! Oh, yeah. It’s X, Y and Z. Probably should read those.”
Anyway, I waste money on these books because I don’t read them. One day at work, I casually said to a coworker, “Man, I really wish I could just borrow books, read them and give them back so I wouldn’t have to pay for them, you know?” He looked me dead in the eye and goes, “You mean, like a library?”
SHUT UP.
I had #literallynoidea library cards were free. I grew up in BFE, Idaho, and the closest library was about 15 miles away. I was too busy playing in the mud and swallowing tadpoles like the weird child I was to care about getting a library card.
So, at 24 years old, I got my first library card.
November 28, 2017
I’m pretty much an avid library goer now. I can search online, fake my way navigating through the 4 floors of the Boise Main Library, check out books on my own. #basicallyanexpert So, I was searching for a book on the library website from an author I learned of on my friend Whitney Hansen’s podcast, www.themoneynerds.com(shameless plug—sorry not sorry). I found the book I wanted, selected Reserve and decided I would pick it up the following day during my lunch break.
November 29, 2017
I make the short drive from my work to the library, park Starky (my awesome car), strut in the front doors and walk up to the counter.
“Hey! I’m here to pick up a book I reserved,” I say with a confident grin.
“Great, the Holds shelf is back there.”
The what?
“Okay, cool.”
So, I walk back with #literallynoidea what I’m looking for. I wander around aimlessly, looking for another desk (even though she clearly said shelf). I shout over the top of this shelf, “Okay, where?”
“That giant shelf right there?”
“… Okay, but what am I looking for?”
She gave me that same look you give that girl who runs into the fountain while texting.
“The giant shelf… under the sign that says, ‘Holds’?”
“Oh, that one. Thanks!” You could see my confusion, right? I’m assuming it’s another desk, not a shelf; that there is some genuine book lover who will hand me my book… Whatever.
But wait—there’s more!
So, I start looking at these books with slips in them, right? They all have four letters of the last name, the first initial, and some more details about the book reservation. I look up my reservation email, double check the spelling of the author’s name, and search for GALA, N. in the chaos of these shelves. Nothing.
Okay, well maybe they did it by first name?
I look up NAYA, G. Nothing.
Well, WTF. How the hell else am I supposed to find the book I reserved? Like, it’s mine. I shouldn’t have to look for something this hard that should have my name on it… Wait…
I turn the corner, search for OWEN, K. Sure as s*$#. There it was.
So, clearly, I am not an #expert. I have #literallynoidea what I’m doing in the library. But lesson learned.
If you reserve a book at your local library, it’ll be on the hold shelf, filed under your name.
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