From the Princeton Weekly Bulletin, February 10, 1997
500,000 books a year
You need to be a bit of a diplomat, and more than a bit of a detective"
By Caroline Moseley
Did you take a book out of Firestone Library today? If so, it was one of approximately half a million that circulate in a typical Firestone year, according to Circulation Librarian Joan Martine. It is Martine who, with an eight-person staff augmented by 24 student workers, serves the faculty, staff and students who appear at the Circulation Desk.
"We charge books out, renew them, discharge them on return, recall them, put them on hold and chase them down, wherever they are," she says. "Our patrons use these books to carry out their course work or research, and we try very hard to get them every book they need."
Firestone books circulate for varying lengths of time, says Martine, depending on the status of the borrower and the nature of the loan. All due dates are subject to change if another user requests the book.
Library users can find out much about the books they seek on the library's Geac online circulation system: the call number, and, if the book is out, when it is due back. However, it is necessary to consult the desk staff to find out to whom a book is charged. "It could be charged to the bindery, the cataloging department, one of the two annex storage areas in Fine Hall and Forrestal Annex or an individual," says Martine. Borrower's names are shared only within the University community, she points out.
Nobody likes fines
The person who works the circulation desk needs a certain amount of technical knowledge: how to charge and discharge books and manipulate the other functions of the computer system; he or she also needs to be familiar with numerous library policies and procedures.
That's the easy part. "You also need to be a bit of a diplomat, and more than a bit of a detective," says Elsie Toon, a 26-year veteran of the desk, whose Aberdeen accent and cheerful demeanor make her the "heart and soul" of Circulation, according to Martine.
Toon points out that "Most people are pretty cooperative, but nobody likes fines." When they have been fined for overdue books (25 cents per day) or for not responding to a recall notice ($1 per day) or for losing or defacing a book ($80), she says, people receive "very courteous treatment." After all, "They come to us for service, and we are here to provide service."
The detective work comes in when a book cannot be located--whether because it is not on the shelf or because a patron insists the book has been returned and the computer insists otherwise. The staff devotes a great deal of time to book searches, and Martine finds it "very satisfying when we can solve a problem, get people to the right book or the right information, and locate a book that was 'missing.'"
When you can't find it
Toon has "all sorts of tricks" for searching the stacks. For example, she says, when looking for a particular call number, "look for the letter before and after the one you want; look for the number before and after the one you want. If a number is 3511.2, look at 35112." Mainly, she says, "look everywhere, high and low."
She has found lost, strayed and abandoned books in unexpected places. "I'll go to the Annex Restaurant on Nassau Street for lunch," she says. "Many a time, I'll spy some of our books in the cloakroom. So I just round them up and take them back." She has also responded to phone calls from the Princeton Junction railroad station, where Firestone books often turn up. "I go right past the junction on my way home," she says, "so it's no trouble at all to collect them."
Martine says, "When a patron claims a book has been returned and we think it is still out, we'll talk about it. We'll say, 'Have you looked at home? Could you have lent it to someone else? Could you have returned it to another library?'" Sometimes, she says, "The book will appear in a day or two."
Some books take longer than others to find their way back to the Circulation Desk. One that recently returned to the stacks, says Toon, "was from an alumnus who had it out more than 30 years. His letter said, 'I am preparing to meet my Maker, and want my record clear.'"
Boxes, wagons full of books
While the flow of books over the Circulation Desk is approximately 1,400 to 1,500 per day, says Martine, there are busy and less busy times of year. Reading period is busy. Things heat up when junior papers and theses are due. But all staff members agree, crunch time at the Circulation Desk is just before the June 15 return/renew deadline.
Then, "People come in with boxes and wagons full of books," says Forrest Swan, who staffs the desk evenings and weekends. "It's like the post office when income tax returns are due. We use three or four full-time staff and two student workers, and you can still hardly see the people for the books." To Firestone patrons targeting the June 15 deadline, he points out hopefully, "It's okay to bring the books in any time after May 1. It's easier for you and easier for us."
Though Firestone is one of the world's great research libraries, it is not only for scholars. "Anyone with a University ID can charge books out of Firestone," points out Paula Clancy, who is head of the Circulation Division but often works the desk. She says the Dixon Collection, located on the main floor of Firestone, attracts many users who wish to read current fiction and nonfiction. She finds "a special satisfaction in serving patrons who are reading for pleasure and not only to fulfill an assignment.
"Working at the Circulation Desk," she says, "is about one thing: getting people together with the books they want."