I just had dinner with a group of librarians here in Huntsville, Alabama. I was graciously asked to come speak on WICKED CITY after it was chosen as the book for their Community Wide reading project. While the evening started with a serious history/lit discussion on Phenix City, we moved into the more sordid side of the librarian trade.
We all need to show librarians a lot more respect. I really felt ashamed for making them listen to me talking about vice and sexual depravity in the 1950s. I will illustrate some key details gleamed at a Mexican dinner after my talk.
* poop is often found in the Bookmobile near the hand puppets.
* study rooms become .
* men have been known to roam aisles without pants.
* one man made his home in the rafters after closing hours. (He kept bags of clothes and jars and peanut butter.)
* romance novels are stashed in the men’s room.
* one patron came in every day dressed as Uncle Sam.
* the main branch of the library was known as a “hot” spot for hookups. the other was a local Wal-Mart.
* one library branch had to shut down because a batch of returns books had been infected with fleas.
* one family always returns DVDs coated in maple syrup.
I actually apologized to the brave group over a round of margaritas after my reading. How could I have been so damn insensitive to library vice?