2003-03-03 - 11:46 p.m.
It's raining here. The rain rather surprised me. I guess it's a sign that spring is on the way.
I was wandering around the library tonight shelving books and pondering my stereotypes of library patrons. I can sometimes pinpoint exactly where a patron will go when they walk up the stairs into the adult stacks. The woman who always carries a Bible gravitates to the 200s, the religious texts section. The awkward twenty-something with the averted gaze and skittish tendencies often ends up browsing the Sci-Fi section.
Last week, though, I had an encounter that made me conscious of how superficial my stereotypes are. A man approached me and asked for help. He was a bear of a man, a good foot taller than I am (easily done, as I'm only 5 foot 3), and wearing work overalls. My initial guess was he would ask for a book on electrical work or home repair. Instead, he asked for Jackie Brown. As I wasn't immediately familiar with this author, I went off to the computer to search. I only came up with a Jack Brown and explained this to the man. He thought about it for a moment and then realized he had been confusing two authors names. Jackie Collins was what he was after. Jackie Collins? I've never read any of her books (although the leopard print cover IS intriguing), and I was really taken aback that this man was a fan of hers. His friend came up as he was browsing a nearby romance novelist's work, and his friend quizzed him on what he was doing. His reply? "You gotta read about love, man."
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