A special Branching Out guest post by Lisa S.

Protective Services visited the Murray circ desk on Tuesday morning to inform us that during their walkthrough, they had discovered that the map area on the 2^nd floor smelled like barf. I decided to take one for the team as I have 3 kids and 2 dogs so always seems to be dealing in body fluids and solids of some sort. Mimi (our caretaker) came up with me and we didn’t notice a smell until we got around halfway through the room. The smell hit us like a wall. No gradual “ease” into it. We knew immediately that there was vomit somewhere. We searched the floor, chairs, tables and took the garbage can apart. Nothing. We were able to tell with our keen sense of smell which zone of the room it was in, but could not see anything.

After a few minutes, a girl approached us and asked what we were looking for, but I could tell she already knew. I said we were looking for the source of vomit smell. She said it was likely related to the travel mug on the shelf behind us that had EXPLODED an hour earlier. We turned to see the wall covered in barf from about the 5’5 mark to the floor. The shelves were covered in chunks, and the poor books that were the innocent bystanders were covered in someone’s sick. Mimi and I went closer to take a look and despite my high school chemistry teacher telling us to never sniff stuff, we sniffed stuff. We immediately looked at each other and dry heaved. Then dry heaved again. Possibly a third and fourth time. We left to get Younas, another custodian, to help Mimi with cleanup. The cleanup required the shelves being removed and sprayed down, as well as a good wiping of the wall. A library staff member took care of the books that got spattered.

I am perplexed as to why the girl did not report the fact that 1) something had exploded and 2) that it happened to be a cup of puke. It’s not every day that you come across a puke projectile (puke-jectile?) in the library so this is one for the history books.

The moral of this story is: Don’t sniff stuff, especially when it looks like barf because it probably is.

Last week, staff in the circulation unit of the Murray Library finally got the answer to the question they’ve been asking all year: “When are we moving downstairs?” The answer to that question is Wednesday, March 27th, 2019.

Although they had been mentally preparing themselves for months, the announcement of a firm deadline sent them scrambling to clean their desks and pack all of their worldly goods onto book trucks in preparation.

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go

On Tuesday afternoon, their computers were unplugged and put on carts as well, ready to be put back onto the desks once they all reached their final destination.

I’m standing here outside your door / I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

The desks were left quite bare, as they waited for the arrival of the movers from Facilities Material Handling on Wednesday morning.

But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn

The movers were a bit late on Wednesday morning, leaving the circulation staff at loose ends, not knowing where to go. But they did finally arrive, shortly after 9, and started hauling everything downstairs.

The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowing his horn

When the desks were removed, many dust bunnies and miscellaneous pieces of ancient debris were discovered. Who knew Duane had so many dried leaves under his desk?

Already I’m so lonesome I could die

Room 122 is now half-empty of people and fully-full of emptiness. Room [number not yet assigned] is now fully-full of people and half-full of hope. Circulation and LS&IT staff are hard at work putting everything together again.

Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane / don’t know when I’ll be back again

There’s still lots to do, so please be patient with Duane, Rachel, Kim, Cathy, Brittany P, Muhammad and Lisa if they don’t respond to emails or answer phone calls today. They literally don’t have computers or phones right now.

(Wondering why all this office movement is happening? It’s all part of the University Library’s Master Plan!)

Are you interested in visiting the new circulation office on the Murray ground floor? We’d love to have you visit, but we’re still unpacking and getting settled in! We are tentatively planning a come-and-go reception for April 17th April 25th. Keep an eye out for an invite in your email inbox coming soon!

Today is a very romantic day at the Murray Library. Our break table in room 102 has been covered with Valentine’s Day decorations and treats. Staff members are dressed in matching red attire (obviously we called each other last night to plan this). And the best Valentine’s Day surprise of all – a singing Love Note delivered to us from our dear friends at the Education & Music Library! Thank you!! We are feeling the love today.

Don’t look at the shoes!

L is for the way you look at me

There are still lots of V-Day snacks left this afternoon, so anyone is welcome to come by and enjoy a treat and the warm glowing warming glow of our platonic love.

Walk into the Murray Library this week, and you’ll see some big changes as soon as you come in. Our check-out desk is under construction! This is the first of many major renovations expected to happen in Murray over the next few years, thanks to the university’s bond.

The Reserve shelving area has been consolidated, and soon a new office space will be built along the back windows for our circulation staff. While this new space is being built, the entire reserve area, as well as a large portion of the circulation desk have been walled off by the construction crew. Our centre island has been demolished and our reserves counter will be downsized.

This is what you see when you walk into the library now. A big white wall.

For the first time in a long time (or maybe ever?) students who want to borrow reserve items at Murray will have to follow the same procedures as they do at the other branches: look up the item’s call number and show it to the staff, who will then retrieve it for them.

Rachel H. cheerfully models our new uniforms.

Our high-demand reserve material will remain on book trucks behind the desk, but there are still many lower-demand items trapped in the construction zone. Several Murray staff members attended site safety orientation, and are now prepared to retrieve these reserve items when students request them. It won’t be a quick process – we have to don safety boots, vests, gloves and hardhats before we’re allowed to enter the construction zone. But we’ll do anything to get our beloved students the resources they need. (And any excuse to walk around in a fun hardhat is a good one.)

Dear Duane,

By now, you should probably know that if you try to avoid celebrating your birthday, you probably shouldn’t sneakily take the day off, because then your coworkers WILL make a big deal about it and decorate your desk while you’re away.

Happy birthday,

your coworkers