The library is also hiring an Education and Outreach Coordinator–perhaps, an ideal position for someone with a background in rare books and children’s literature, public programming, and K-12 education.

Anyone who works in a library or office where unsupervised stapling is allowed can probably attest to this. At a library where I worked previously, jammed and broken staplers were a daily sight for me. The regular staplers for public use had to be unjammed two or three times a day, and the (very expensive) heavy-duty staplers had to be stored behind the circulation desk after three were broken in less than a month.

For a long time, I assumed that this was a public services problem, since people are often careless with “free” equipment and materials, but a recently overheard customer service interaction changed my perspective. I was in a local stationery/office supply shop when a customer came in to return a “defective” stapler. The clerk explained that the stapler was not defective; it was not working because the man had put heavy-duty staples in a standard stapler. “Well, how am I supposed to know that heavy-duty staples can’t go in a regular stapler? No one ever explained that to me, and it doesn’t say that on the stapler,” complained the customer. With much grace and aplomb, the clerk sympathized, claiming that he also had trouble with staplers and staples before he started working in an office supply store. Then, he helped the man select a new stapler and a supply of standard staples.

The moral of the story: everyday things are not always as simple (or self-explanatory) as they may seem.

Now, as a non-stamp art enthusiast, I must find a good use for this ink pad–scented stationery, perhaps?

I am very phobic about bees (and all other types of flying, stinging creatures), but in gathering information for my knowledge-hungry younger brother, I have gained a new appreciation for honeybees. Last summer, I was even caught reading a few books about bee culture and musing about beekeeping as a new hobby. Knowledge can be surprisingly therapeutic sometimes.

Bees in special collections (not comprehensive)

• Abuzz about bees
  • The E.F. Phillips Beekeeping Library at Cornell University’s Mann Library
• Apiculture manuscript collections at the University of California–Davis
  • The Biological & Agricultural Sciences Reference Department also has a pathfinder for apiculture research
• Moir Rare Book Collection
  • Deposited by the Scottish Beekeepers’ Association at the National Library of Scotland
• Richard Stannard Baker Bee Collection
  • Michigan State University, Special Collections

Bees and information science

• Apiary and beekeeping indexers
• Gentle art of beekeeping
  • Internet Public Library page by Erica of Librarian Avengers
• Apiarists and antiquarians?
  • According to the MARIAB site, Massachusetts has three dealers specializing in books on bees and beekeeping.

Books about bees (a selection)

• Life and times of the honeybee / Charles Micucci
  • my little brother’s favorite bee book
• Hooray for beekeeping!
  • another well-loved children’s bee book
• A book of bees: and how to keep them / Sue Hubbel
  • the book that almost turned me into a beekeeper
• Literary beekeeping
  • An Amazon “listmania” list–The Secret Life of Bees and beyond

…and the reason why I started this list…Parisian beekeepers

• Paris bee venues: urban beekeeping in the city of light (APIS, July 1997)

I usually do not respond to the search engine queries that I find in my referer statistics each day, but this one was too tempting and providential to ignore. Plus, now, I have somewhat earned my place as the number one result for that particular query by not only mentioning bibliophiles and collections and the Library of Congress at various points in this weblog’s existence, but also pointing to the real authority on this topic.