Back to Basics, 2009

Lisa. Lucinda. Librarians. Lovely, lively, literate librarians. Lots of library patrons have them confused. Occasionally it can be a tad embarrassing.

I can relate. When I was in high school a perfectly sweet girl called me Chris, even though my name is Lulu Dewey. At some point it became clear to me that there would never be a good time to correct her assumption. I accepted it as an opportunity to be someone else occasionally. Just what was Chris-like about me, anyway?


However, we are blessed with a Lucinda and Lisa, one apiece, who bear their names beautifully and fill them with possibilities that needn't be swapped or shopped around. After yet another instance of mistaken identity, Lucinda tossed me a challenge. "Write a blog on how to tell us apart."

Sometimes this job is a little too much fun, I thought. My first impulse was to employ mugshots. A distinction-maker with all the charm of a Wanted poster. My mind does seem to run in tacky directions, but as the results above indicate, I am sometimes indulged.

Tina Avery, our cataloger, and I tried to put our impressions into words. "Uh... Lisa lives north of here; Lucinda lives south. Lisa has long hair, Lucinda short. Lisa is a blonde. Lucinda's a brunette."

Blah, blah, blah. Dud City. Language has its limits when you're trying to describe these excellent women.

Both are funny, caring, compassionate, kind. They work together beautifully in an atmosphere of mutual enjoyment and respect. Both are Twenty-First Century techies, comfortable with the fast-paced changes that confront librarians in these times.

Should you be in search of an interlibrary loan, Lisa is the goddess of that opportunity. Lisa buys the fiction.

Should you want to discuss the direction of the library or discuss in depth the need for more hours or a smaller budget, Lucinda is your woman. Lucinda buys the non-fiction and the audiobooks.

But what most distinguishes these two is... um... themselves.


Got that? Now we move on to...Pop quiz! Match the librarian with the name below:

On the left:

On the right:

If you placed Lisa on the left, and Lucinda on the right, you're correct!

A's for everyone!

And a happy new year to YOU.