Hey, it’s pandemic time. Things will be a little different. For the record, I love the New York Public Library. Even when it doesn’t work exactly right.
I give you A Tale of Three Holds.
NYPL allows you to place books on hold and then pick them up a
grab-and-go (approx. 50 as of now) location. Great concept. I have three books
on hold: Underfoot in Show Business (Helene Hanff); Death in Venice (Thomas
Mann, new translation); and Dog on it (Spencer Quinn). I am, respectively, 1 of
1 holds, 2 of 3 holds, and 1 of 1 holds.
Unfortunately, the only copy of Underfoot is at Lincoln Center
Library for the Performing Arts. I only learned that by calling NYPL after my book
had been on hold for more than a month. LPA is not a grab-and-go location, so
they’re not sending books out.
Death in Venice, I’m just holding my breath on. Hopefully not
for too much longer. I don’t want someone to have to announce Death in
Manhattan.
Here’s why I really love the NYPL. When I returned a book at
96th/Lex. on Friday, I asked the librarian about Dog on it. She told me that NYPL only has two
copies. One is listed as ‘Missing’ and one is listed as ‘In Transit’. It has
been ‘In Transit’ since Aug. 13 (before I turned 66!). She said that it might
be at the Parkchester branch and gave me their phone number. I called
Parkchester after work today. No dice.
Parkchester thought that the book might be at the E. 67th St.
library (which is a grab-and-go location) or at 40th St/5th Ave. (which has a
new name that I will never use; it will be the Midtown Library for me forever).
Well I called both. No dice. But here’s the thing. The librarian at Midtown
told me she’d check to see if it was on their shelf (this has happened to me
once before at this branch in these pandemic times.). Even though I called her
at 5:45pm (and the library closes at 6pm), she gave me a return call before she
left for the day.
I spoke with three NYPL librarians today and got superb service,
even if I didn’t get the result that I was looking for. I am a proud supporter
of the New York Public Library. And I can’t wait to get back to live
performances at LPA, and writing about them, just as soon as it’s safe to do
so.
Concert/BookMeister
