The Librarian

The Oakley Public Library in Peachtree, Georgia is one of the oldest and largest important landmarks in the small town. The librarian Miss Quimby has been at the library for thirty-five years. There are six other staff members at the library working helping and keeping things in order. She's a small-framed woman with gray hair that she keeps up in a bun. She wears eyeglasses that hang around her neck and sits firmly upon her long nose. Miss Quimby and the staff keeps the library in immaculate order and running smoothly for the locals. She looks forward to seeing the people and enjoys the job she does helping them inside the library.

On Monday mornings the library is filled with students from the local college, older people socializing with one another, using the online services in the computer lab, and young children with their parents. School buses line up in front of the library and unload children from Briarwood Elementary for a field trip to the library. The children come to explore the adventures of the library, story time with Miss Quimby, and check out books to take home. The bookmobile is always outside in front of the library for people to purchase books, stuffed animals, and magazines. The local college students come to the library to hang out and work on their mid-term papers. They enjoy being at the public library because they can see Miss Quimby with her perky personality. Some of the students even check out reference books, magazines and use the computer lab to study for tests for their classes. The library on campus is always crowded and it's harder to find places to study. Jordan Willis and Paul O'Bryan are students at the college. The two come to the library frequently playing video games online with other gamers. They find an empty table and drop their backpacks onto the table. They go to the reference section of the library to look for information on their paper. When they find what they need, they go back to their table. Jordan has an arm full of books and ends up dropping them onto the floor of the library. Miss Quimby hears the book fall and looks over the top of her eyeglasses at him with a frown.

"Let's keep it quiet please," said Miss Quimby.

"Sorry Ma'am," said Jordan.

Jordan picks up the book and places it on the table. The boys sit down and start doing their work. Miss Quimby walks to the front of the library to ask the customers if they need help with anything. 

At 11:30 a.m. is the beginning of story time for elementary school children. They form a circle around a chair in the center of the room. Miss Quimby sits in the chair and opens up a book by Dr. Seuss and began reading the children a story. After she finishes the story, she asks the children questions about what she has read. The children line up with their books they want to check out in the front of the library. The elementary school buses line up on the side of the library. The children wave goodbye to Miss Quimby as they board the buses going back to school. The rest of the college students take their material and leave the library. Jordan and Paul sit at their table working on their assignment. The two boys are behind on their work and try to play catch up to finish. They continue to look through reference books and other material they found on the topic of their paper. An old man enters the library needing help to use the computer lab. Miss Quimby shows the man how to search the internet and check his email. He tells Miss Quimby that his daughter was sending him a picture of the grandchildren on vacation at Disneyland. He wants to print out pictures to show his wife because they don't have internet service at home. Miss Quimby shows him how easy he can print out the pictures and take them home with him.

"Thank you, my dear," said the man

"You're welcome sir," said Miss Quimby.

The old man gathers up his coat, hat, and printed pictures and leave. Miss Quimby follows behind him to help him with the door. There is a lot of work to do before the library closes. Miss Quimby fastens the door to the computer lab and starts gathering material left on the tables and picking up scraps of paper from the floors. Moving chairs back underneath tables that were left out. Jordan and Paul look at the clock on the wall in the library. They began putting the reference books, used newspapers and old magazines they use to research their mid-term paper onto the newspaper station, bookshelves, and magazine shelves. The boys gather all their belongings from the table and put them back inside their backpacks and leave for campus. The library has quiet down now that it's less crowded with the rustling and noisy customers. There are two hours left before the library closes at 5:00 p.m. Miss Quimby goes up on the top floor of the library checking to see if all the customers have gone for the evening. She straightens up the tables, chairs and turns out the lights. The last of the customers downstairs are getting ready to leave. Most of them are looking for movies to check out for the evening. Miss Quimby comes back downstairs and shuts off the open light outside the window. The cleaning crew arrives through the back entrance and starts to clean the library from top to bottom. All books, music, newspapers, magazines, and movies are placed back and cataloged for the evening. Miss Quimby collects her purse from her locker and her coat out of the closet and sets the alarm. All the workers and cleaning crews have left. Miss Quimby is the first to come in and the last to leave the library every day. She locks the outside door and leaves for home and anxiously awaits tomorrow to do it all over again.