I work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan. Published by Aadams Media, in 2014, with 157 pages. I read this as part of the GoodReads Summer Challenge 2018. For the month of July, one of the challenges was to read a humor book. Also for the Popsugar’s 2018 Challenge #39. A book that involves a bookstore or library.
After Gina became a librarian, she realized that there are a lot of weird and wonderful things that happen at the library on a daily basis. Things that just seem straight up hard to believe! Originally, Gina decided to share the daily library oddities on her tumbler blog. After receiving feedback about writing a book about this kind of stuff, she decided to do just that. The book has 12 different categories, each one gets it’s own chapter. The chapters are categorized like the Dewey Decimal System making the book like a tiny library! The topics range from computer problems to over heard conversations to acts of gratitude. Each chapter has a short introduction from Gina, explaining a little bit about the chapter. After the chapter introductions, you get snippets of the daily going ons at the library. Each one is hilarious and you find yourself either shaking your head in disbelief or face palming yourself at the hilarious lack of common sense people display.
At my library in California, this surprising exchange occurred.
Woman: Do you have books on different countries?
Me: Yes! What country are you looking for?
Woman: Hawaii.
Humor is a genre I rarely read. Like, almost never. I can’t even remember the last title I read that was straight up humor. To say comedy is not my favorite category is putting it mildly. Horror is my true love followed closely with mystery. I’ve read dark comedies that fit in those two genres, but It’s been a long time since reading a comedy for comedy’s sake. I really enjoyed this book. I wish it had been longer! To a bookworm like me, to work in a library sounds like the coolest fantasy ever. Surrounded by stacks and stacks of books. Reading everything. In those fantasies, you never think of all the -usually unusual- interactions with the patrons of the library. It is a truly eye opening view in to what librarians deals with or over hear in their libraries. It….is also kind of sad at some of the things people don’t seem to know. I’d like to assume that everyone in this book was really, really old or really, really young and maybe that is why they didn’t know some of this stuff… but, I have a sinking suspicion it is all age groups. D:
(This is exactly the whole point of the book challenges- to bring books to you that you normally would never even give a second glance to. Just to try it. Trust me, when I get the list at the start of the year or the start of whatever season the challenge takes place in, I do a LOT of eye rolling and slapping my face looking at some of the stuff they want us to read. But I do it anyways (or try to! Sometimes I run out of time before I can finish the list). Sometimes, at the end of the book I will feel MEH. But sometimes…. sometimes you find something that you end up really enjoying. And then that makes it all worth the time and energy. I digress…)
This was a really funny, but short book that you can read in one sitting. I think anyone who loves the library, or works in a library will enjoy this for sure. Even if you aren’t a huge fan of libraries, but are looking for something humorous to read, you should try this book. It is something anybody can enjoy.
Creature From The Book Lagoon 
I also thought this book was very funny. I work in a public library and can say that, with some variation, these things happen!