I don't know what it is about libraries, but they seem to attract fringe personalities - sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way - that you generally wouldn't come into contact with anywhere else. Contrary to mainstream stereotypes and popular cliches, library folk are never dull, especially the library assistants, who are the nonprofessional staff workers in a library (i.e., the people actually doing all the work). Extremely overeducated and awash in abundant reading material, L.A.'s are some of the best conversationalists I've ever met, and definitely keep an otherwise dead weekend shift merrily rolling along. The only time I'd worked alongside of more interesting people was when I managed at that coffeehouse in Central Square; and even then, I'd say these guys are neck and neck. People fall into lifetime library assistantship for various reasons. Some are former students addicted to university life. That's how I felt when I left MIT to work at Dewey Library- although I had had enough with a career in science and engineering, MIT's culture had won me over completely, and it took me a few years more to let go enough in order to move on. Others come to work at libraries as a kind of compromise between practical work and a life of the mind. If you have to get paid to do something, why not make it something involving books? Others come here to pay the bills why they work on projects (artistic, literary, musical, what have you) that don't pay for themselves quite yet. These are the coffeehouse types, but make no mistake, there are just as much of them kicking around in libraries than there are pushing pastries and overpriced lattes.

Best conversation today: I was talking with a coworker originally from Ukraine, and I asked her how many times she's been back since leaving. She smiled and said zero. I asked her why, since many people I know who have come to the United States from other countries tend to visit their native lands, if not frequently than at least from time to time. She said, very matter of factly, "I lived there for forty years. Why go back, when there's the rest of the world to see?"

I've got to admit, she had me there.