#29 Self-service

Dear diary,

The self-checkout machine has been broken for almost a year now. It was accidentally damaged during an 'argument' between Sylvia and Goldie, and was thought to be beyond repair. Its status as been "In Technical Services" for so long that everyone thought it was gone permanently.

Then today Sylvia rushed into the library with a beaming smile, made all the more animated by her bright red lipstick amidst the backdrop of her black-and-grey dress ensemble. She said she had a surprise waiting in her van which was parked out the back. TJ said he'd hold the desk while the rest of us went to see what the surprise was.

We gathered in the carpark as Sylvia unveiled the brand new self-checkout machine. It was shiny, it was hi-tech, it even had streamlines to indicate which way to swipe the books. We were all very impressed. Sylvia show off the designs like a game-show hostess. She was clearly very proud of her work. Turns out she and TJ had been given a grant from a library technical services company called BiblioTech, and they’d been working on restoring the machine (and adding a few extra functions) for months.

We wheeled it into the library and up to the front counter. The stand it normally stood on had remained empty for so long that Bron had taken it over and used it to display pamphlets, which she had to hurriedly relocate. Sylvia got Talia and I to heave the machine onto its stand and then connect all the wiring. We shelvers are often used for various tasks involving manual labour.

When it was all set to go Sylvia wrapped the machine up in red tape then cut it, just for effect, and switched it on. It hummed into life and the screen displayed its name: BOB (Borrow Own Books). Sylvia then took it for a test-run by fetching some recently returned items from the desk, which just happened to be a Bob the Builder board book, a music book featuring works by Bob Dylan, and a biography on Bob Hope. All three books were scanned by BOB with a pleasant chirruping sound, and at the end of the transaction a receipt printed out with the due dates and an inspirational quote. We all clapped in appreciation.

BOB performed excellently, and people were queuing up to try it out. Sylvia stood and watched like a proud parent, and when one woman came up to the desk to hand her a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine she cried. At the end of the day we were all lounging around in the staffroom, drained from all the excitement. Sylvia

-Jay