Thursday, July 24, 2008

The moving table

For the last week two different oddities have been puzzling to me; an annoying intermittent beeping from the east side of the library and a study table that continues to edge closer and closer to the bathroom. After due consideration and diligent observation, one mystery has been solved and the second no longer an issue.

I have been unable to locate the source of the noise. It was faint, inconsistent, and only sounded early in morning (weird), probably because at that time all of the printers were turned off and I was able to hear; not smoke-detector loud, more like a watch timer. My guess is it was from a battery in a materials kit, probably one of the timers. However, this morning the beeping stopped. Time will tell as I am sure a student will bring it to our attention some time during the upcoming term.

The table and the bathroom was a mystery to me. Space is at a bit of a premium outside the resource center and there are two tables placed next to the stacks adjacent to the restrooms. For the last week, each morning when I arrived one of the tables inched closer and closer to the women's restroom. Since this is a high traffic area, and not the most comfortable spot to work, I was baffled. In and of itself, furniture moving in the library is a common occurrence; last summer a student consistently moved sofa and chair cushions. Returning the table to it's rightful spot today I finally noticed the lone electrical outlet outside the janitors closet next to the women's restroom.

The light dawned.

As one of two free electrical outlets on the floor, everything else is in use with computers, printers, copy machines, scanners, and so on and so forth, they were moving the table to be able to plug in a laptop.

That, at least, makes sense.

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