Stump the library clerk

I was working at the library yesterday morning when a middle-aged man with graying hair and glasses came to the desk and asked me if we had any books about Lake Superior agate. Long story short, we didn't have what he was looking for and he wasn't interested in seeing if there was a book with something about Lake Superior agate in it. So he decided to ask for something else random.

Lake Superior agate, which is apparently Minnesota's state gemstone.

"Would you happen to have a book about Victorian [word that sounded like fairies]? Spelled F-A-I-R-mumblemumble."

"Sir," I said, all excited because I don't usually get to search for books on fairies, "we don't have a book specifically on Victorian fairies, but I'm sure there's a book on Victorian culture that mentions them, or a book about how fairies have been viewed throughout history--"

"No, no, no, I meant fairings. F-A-I-R-I-N-G-S."

"I'm sorry, sir--"

"It's okay, sometimes people don't understand me. I speak too softly."

"Mmhmm." I was a little embarrased at this point, because if I'd been listening more closely, I probably could have caught the -ing the first time. I heard the F-A-I-R and just jumped to fairies. It probably doesn't have anything to do with the book I'm reading right now. Nope, not at all.

I looked at him a little blankly as I began to search for "fairings", because I had no idea what he meant. Picking up on it, the man said, "They're little prizes that people used to get at Victorian fairs."

"Oh."

I got nothing for any type of search on "fairings", so I said, "I'm sorry, sir, we don't have any books specifically on fairings or even Victorian fairs, but there might be something about them in a book on Victorian culture or an antique collecting book."

"That's okay," he said, "I'll just go to Barnes and Noble and see if they can order something for me."

I wished him luck.

When I got home last night, I googled "Victorian fairings" out of curiosity, and in case you're thinking what I was thinking, yes--they are real, and they were indeed small china figurines given as prizes at Victorian fairs. Go here for more info as well as to view the more risque fairings, such as "The landlord in love" (it won't let me do a direct link, but I believe in your ability to click "Gallery" and "Category F" and find it in the top row). I learn something new everyday :)

The elusive Victorian fairings.

Later on, one of my favorite little girls (who happens to have parents that use the library as a daycare center) asked if we had books on the Equator, because she was learning about it in school. We didn't have any specifically on that, so I took her to children's nonfiction for a quick stroll through the climate and map sections. As I browsed the shelves, she helpfully pointed out that "Equator" starts with "E" and pointed to a book called "Easy Science Experiments". (I don't think she can read very well yet.)

Next, she grabbed a random book and asked, "What's this one about?"

"It's about the planet Mars," I told her.

"I'll take it. Do you have a book about Martians?" Pause. "Do you have books about dolphins?"

We walked over to the catalog computer in the kids' section for a quick check on a dolphin book, and the child before had typed "books about animals" in the Any Keyword box. I thought that was absolutely adorable--whoever typed it was trying to do a smart, big kid thing and had talked to the computer just like they'd talk to a person. Unfortunately, "books about animals" doesn't get one very far in our database.

As for the dolphin books, etc? I think the little girl ended up coloring, which is way more interesting than the Equator anyway. (For some reason, Blogger is not letting me press enter at the ends of lines for the second half of this post; sorry for the cramped words!)