Have I mentioned here at all one of the things we do in our library over the summer is dust? “We” makes it sound like there are a bunch of people doing it, but really it is only me and the other circulation assistant. I have it on good authority, however, that in the old days there was a whole crew of students during the summer that did the dusting. Those were the days and budget cuts have left only the two circulation assistants to do the work of many.
We use a Swiffer on a periscoping “stick” so we can reach high and shorten it for low. We grab a book, or books in one hand, remove from shelf, Swiffer the shelf where the books sat, put the books back, remove the next book on the shelf, Swiffer, put book back, and so on and so on. At the same time, we shelf read which means look at the call numbers to make sure the books are in order.
I am very allergic to dust so I always take some allergy medication several hours before I know I will be dusting. I also have a mask that I wear. I feel like such a complete dork wearing it, but I would look even sillier with a bright red face and runny nose and watery eyes. I think maybe I should start racing through the library, randomly dusting students just so I can hear someone say, “Who is that masked Swiffer-er?”
The thing about this mask is that it is pale blue and stiff so that it makes a sort of round cup over most of my face. Inevitably, as soon as I put it on, my nose itches. Or my cheek. It gets to be rather comical sometimes which makes me think it is good that I am not a surgeon. As part of my surgical team I would need someone on hand to itch my nose for me otherwise I’d constantly have to stop, itch my nose, scrub up again and resume the operation. No one would want me to operate on them even if I were the best in the world.
What makes my nose start to tickle is not the dust or the mask. It’s that while wearing the mask I can’t touch my nose. I generally don’t spend much time touching my nose, but it’s like when you try not to think about something and you think about it even more. Or when you have an itchy mosquito bite and you know you aren’t supposed to scratch it so you try to ignore it and suddenly it itches even worse.
My only consolation in all this is that by the end of the summer I should have some great muscles on my arms from lifting all the books.
Ha! Sorry about the allergies and the annoyances of the mask, but your description of it all is funny. And yay for some good arm muscles! Much better than going to the gym — you get paid for working your muscles instead of paying for the privilege!
Oh the glamour of library work! My library hasn’t had the air ducts cleaned for over 20 years so perhaps we should all start wearing those masks in protest…
But, as Dorothy says, great workout for the arm muscles. I always say the only part of me that’s in shape is my book lifting muscles.
It sounds like a very tedious task. How long does it take, to dust all the shelves in the library?
Since not much dust is not likely to get underneath the books, could you possibly cheat and just dust the exposed parts of the shelves and the tops of the books, and just forget about taking them off? (Um, I guess that lets the cat out of the dust bag with regard to my bookshelves at home.) In any event, very funny post. Reminds me of a ditty we sang as kids…if I had a nose full of nickels, I’d sneeze them all at-schew :>
All that education, and they’ve got you doing janitorial work…
I have allergies, too, and have to take medicine before I dust! I should wear a mask as well. But I’ve never found one that is comfortable enough. I love the image of the “masked Swiffer-er”–lol!
The masked swifer-er – haha…
Oh I feel for you. Allergies are a pain. Have you tried Zyrtec? I find that’s the only medicine that helps and doesn’t turn me into a complete zombie. Most others I’ve tried either don’t work or put me right to sleep.
Library work is truly glamorous. Dust is a scourge. I can barely bring myself to dust my own bookshelves, much less a library full of them. Poor baby. OTOH, the muscles. And if you bike to work….
Dorothy, I am glad you found my description funny. It is pretty much a comedy when I go into the stacks to dust.
Melanie, oh my, who knows what is lurking in those air ducts of yours? At this point it might be safer to not clean them!
Jeane, luckily I get to listen to my iPod so it could be worse. With two people, it takes a very long time. We don’t have time to work on it everyday. One row of side of one aisle usually takes about half an hour.
Grad, it would be nice if I could just dust around the books but you’d be surprised at the dust that actually collects beneath them. Your little song made me laugh
wil, ah yes, I know. But we can’t afford the student workers and it would be even more expensive for the librarians to do it. And at least I am learning all the interesting things that are in our collection and where they are located.
Gentle Reader, the mask doesn’t make it all okay but it certainly helps. I doubt that there is actually a mask that could be called comfortable
Iliana, I take Claritin the generic version and that works for me. When antihistamines like Benadryl and Dimetapp were the only choices I couldn’t take them because they would knock me out. So I am grateful for the newer ones that don’t make me fall asleep.
Carrie, yup, anyone who says library work is a glam job doesn’t know what they are talking about. I don’t dust my own bookshelves either. I am looking forward to the nice muscles though, it will help me advance my dream career of world champion arm wrestler
Very funny post. I have to say that library dusting never crossed my mind (maybe that’s a reflection on how little time I spend dusting at home). Can’t imagine having to do this at the Library of Congress and other huge libraries. Maybe it’s a hidden benefit of ebooks — they never need dusting.
Wow, I didn’t know that you’d have to spend so much time dusting – but I guess it makes sense. I’ll think of it as “cleaning up the world of books,” thought I agree that the mask sounds like no fun. Good luck!
What a hoot! We might all be wearing those masks over here as we;ve had our first two confirmed cases of swine ‘flu and the university is hopping about like mad over them. I can imagine how tickly a nose becomes when you can’t itch it!
We recently started cleaning out old storage rooms in the lab where I work, and I had a very similar experience with the dust mask I was given to wear. We all ended up looking like ducks, not cool masked Swifter-ers (see: http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2f0j00UBLtZqARZhkvM/Prevent-Flu-Prompt-Goods-FFP2-Mask-Disposable-Face-Mask-WB09-RE0422-.jpg).
And you are SO right about the internal turmoil that not being able to scratch one’s nose causes. The one time I scrubbed into a surgery with my uncle, I struggled the entire time with my urge to tear off the surgical mask and rub my face!
Very funny post. Best of luck with your dusting adventure!