So I had this call today in telephone reference. It was a woman, probably older but not elderly. And she said, "Could you do me a favor? Could you call me back at this number so that I can make sure it still works? I don't have anyone else to call."
You know, it's certainly possible that she didn't have anyone else to call because it was 10:30 in the morning and people she knew were at work. Maybe she's home with the flu, or something. Maybe it was a brand new phone number and she didn't know whether it was receiving calls yet. There are all sorts of reasons she might have made that request.
But...
When you work telephone reference enough, you get to know the demographic of people who tend to call the library for information. They are older. Most of the time, they are working class or working poor. I have to be honest: Sometimes they are straight up crazy. She didn't have that air of crazy though. My guess is that she was on disability or something, because she didn't sound old enough to be retired. It was just so sad, to think about not having enough contact with people to be sure your phone number is actually working.
Then again, I was also kind of glad to get the call. I could have said, "That is not a service the library offers." But it was a local number, so I thought, why not? I am so happy the library is there for people like this woman. It feels good to be able to help them, in ways large and small. Like, sure, yeah, we'll call you back. And yeah, anytime we're open, go ahead and drop us a line.
We will listen as you describe your terrible debilitating medical condition or your financial woes or your legal troubles or how your son never calls you or that you can't remember where the post office is or how you are confused because the world is changing so fast. We will listen and we will find what you need or refer you to a place that can help. Or sometimes, we will just listen because we know that's all you really wanted.
I can relate to your views on this subject. :)
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