14 Librarians Share Weird Stories

From Redditor /u/delettt

I work at an urban public library. One day, a man brought a tomato box holding a dying cat. He placed it on the circulation counter and asked us to watch his cat for a few minutes while he went outside.

That was a thing.

From Redditor /u/dyllybyllyns

The urban libraries! Man.

Yesterday, I told a former middleweight boxing champion he could not come into the library drunk and ask for cash.

A few hours later, a patron told us our steel grating was gone. It weighs over 200 pounds. Someone definitely took it for scrap metal cash.

Just a TYPICAL DAY!

From Redditor /u/bmtri

My current job is in an academic library.

Patron asked, "I chose color on the copier. Why didn't it print it in color?"

I replied, "Your original is black and white."

Patron asked, "So?"

I said, "It cannot print what is not there."

Patron insisted, "But I chose color."

I explained, "How does the printer know which colors to use if you only put a black and white picture in there? It cannot fill it in like a kid with a crayon."

Patron said, "Oh."

She looked confused and walked away. I do not know if she ever understood.

From Redditor /u/niikaadieu

I worked at a rural library from age 16 to 17. While closing one evening, a man around 25 hid between the shelves while we locked the main doors. He showed himself just before I left. He asked, "Can I have your number?" I was shocked and gave it to him. My experience was fine, but watch for people before you lock up!

From Redditor /u/raix-corvus

I work evening and night shifts at a university library. We have many regulars, and two stand out now. First, Baking Tray Fort Man. While clearing the building one evening (around 23:50, we close at midnight), I went up some steps to a mezzanine to tell a guy I saw we were closing. Halfway through my sentence, I saw he had built a fort of baking trays around the study carrel he was in. As he turned to see me, I saw he was hugging one across his midriff. My colleagues did not believe me until someone else saw him doing the same thing a week later.

The second guy irritates me more. He acts combative and obstreperous constantly. He argued with me because I would not let him use a two-pin international plug in our UK 3-pin sockets. Early in January, we had to close at 9 pm due to "extreme weather" (snow). This closure was advertised on the university website, Twitter, Facebook, and physical posters in the library lobby. Simple, right? But an angry man showed up and tried to yell at me when the closing bell rang at 8:45 pm. He wanted us to lock him in and leave him until midnight; he claimed it was his "human right" to stay until then. Security removed him. He later threatened a manager, saying he would call his embassy because we closed three hours early. He is not banned and still hangs around. I secretly glare at him when he is not looking.

From Redditor /u/raix-corvus

People are very interesting in libraries. These guys...

Bag Man: A guy with an external borrower membership regularly appears with his blazer pockets full of plastic carrier bags, leaving a smell behind.

The Alcoholic: The weekend team deals with this guy more often. He shows up smelling of vodka and rumbles around, talking and shouting at himself.

"Vicky Pollard": This young woman is curious. She never wants to leave, gets argumentative, drags her feet, and often wears strange clothes (pajamas, slippers, leggings/tights with holes in the butt area). She has a distant look on her face most of the time.

From Redditor /u/[deleted]

Two kids entered the library one with a harmonica and the other with an aboriginal instrument. They played for forty seconds in the library center. This happened around 9 pm during midterm week. It was very busy; it was weird.

From Redditor /u/sethra007

In my library, I have Tommy. He arrives daily with a stack of newspaper articles about a boxer (supposedly him) who won a fight against Muhammad Ali. He corners anyone to tell them about it.

From Redditor /u/nazna

I worked at several branches of a well-known library. Every branch has the strange.

Blanket Lady: She is sadder than anyone else. She covers herself with large, fluffy blankets, perhaps because she sleeps on the street.

Hoarder Lady: She buys many discarded magazines and books. A coworker took some of her purchases to her car once, saying the car was full of books and magazines. Every inch.

Ninja Dude: A guy in his mid-twenties dresses like a ninja in a white outfit. I recall he seemed to like Naruto and never washed the suit.

Buns of Steel, the older man, biked to the library weekly to renew or check out the Jane Fonda workout VHS. Eventually, it warped so much he could not watch it.

Super Dog appeared infrequently, but seeing this guy ride his bike with a dog in a cage on the back always impressed me. He mounted the cage on a pole, raising it above the seat.

From Redditor /u/booya1214

I work where many crazy people are. One homeless person in town writes raps. As a shelver, I watched this guy and saw his behavior. He placed his unfinished raps in the teen area in a graphic novel. All the books this guy reads are M.C. Beaton mystery novels. He is just one special character.

From Redditor /u/booya1214

Yesterday, a kid threw a pickle at me after I signed him up for a card, simply because I would not let him check out video games due to his card type.

From Redditor /u/chompquistadora

A woman struggling with job searches, divorce, and hospitalizations came in. She asked if we had a spare hard drive because her computer failed the night before. We had one lying around we weren't using.

From Redditor /u/emilyis

I shelve books in the children’s section at a public library, so things stay calm. An older man comes a few times a week, asking librarians to help him find a song title. Sometimes he does not know the lyrics but has a general idea. The librarians always help him.

From Redditor /u/mOdQuAr

This library sits in this slim eight-story building near LA. Every time a decent earthquake hit, they needed many students to lift books thrown to the floor because the building shook like a tuning fork.