Matilda

Yesterday an elderly patron came in and made a beeline in my direction.  

"You!" She said loudly.  "You!"

"Er... Yes?" I said, shrinking away.

And then I remembered.  Two days ago grandma and granddaughter came into the library, asked for Matlida, and when I told them it was elsewhere and would place a hold for them they looked at me so sadly.  That's when grandma said that her granddaughter would be going home on Sunday. Because the library that had Matilda happened to be in Timbuku grandma and granddaughter didn't want to make the drive out there.  The best bet was to call the library and get Matlida in the tub in the hopes that the courier would deliver it the next day.

So I called the library that had the dvd, which happened to be a library with a sorter.  Any time an item goes through the sorter it immediately shows as available at the branch.  Unfortunately this usually means that the item is really just buried in a tub waiting to be processed.  Because the record showed that the item had been turned in that day I knew it was in a tub waiting to be processed.  I explained the predicament to the librarian I spoke with and because they had five tubs waiting to be processed they could not make any guarantees. They did agree to call me back if they found it. 

Sadly, I relayed the news to grandma and granddaughter.  Crestfallen, they thanked me and left.  Twenty minutes later the librarian from the faraway branch called.  She had found it.  Matilda was officially 'in transit' status, ready to make her journey here.

Perhaps it was the combination of the perservering librarians at Timbuktu and Matilda's magical powers.  But here was grandma in near tears.

"Thank you thank you for making it possible for me to watch Matlida with my granddaughter before she goes home tomorrow.  When she wakes up and comes down for breakfast I'm going to have Matilda sitting right next to her pancakes."

My heart instantly turned into melted chocolate and red wagons loaded with books and sunshine-filled libraries.