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#2: Book of the Day
The Amazing Vacation by Dan Wickenden.
Hah.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sdn is a genius and a saint. So is a lady named Erica at the Multnomah County Library. And so are the proprietors of the Portland State University Library.
See, I'd posted a query about my "mystery book" from my list of ten influential books, tosdn's LJ in response to an "ask me a question" entry. The answer I got was "Ask A Librarian" -- which was an answer I deserved, because (silly me) that was the one thing I'd never so much as thought of. I've been using libraries and library catalogs for long enough that I rarely need a reference librarian; most of the time I can find what I'm looking for on the first pass.
So I did. It happened that I needed to return some library books anyhow, so I stopped at the children's desk yesterday and laid my puzzle before the pleasant and helpful person at said desk. She didn't find it on the first pass, but took down all the proper notes and promised that someone would get back to me, though it might take a few days.
Lo and behold, this morning comes a phone call from one "Erica" at the library; they have a title and author for me. The book is not in their collection, but the descriptions fit, and Interlibrary Loan should be able to snag a copy from somewhere (a search produced 56 copies scattered hither and yon in libraries on the network).
It is a good thing Erica was on the other end of the phone. I would have been tempted to kiss her....
Meanwhile, however, Erica reports (and a quick Web query confirms) that my local public university library has a copy of the book. That one I can't check out -- though it won't surprise me if it turns up again via ILL -- but I could certainly go look at it to see if it's the right book....
(Well, I could check it out if I paid for a visitors' library card. But those are $50/year, and I'm an impoverished freelancer.)
Anyhow. Come late afternoon, I hop on a bus downtown, grab the new streetcar up to the center of campus, and wander casually up to the fifth floor.
The book is there. And it is the right book, I know at once. Yellow binding, with a black engraved period automobile on the front cover. The title, even though it's not the one I remembered, looks right. And inside -- it's the right story. Two kids. Summer vacation (though in New England, not Colorado). Mrs. Breadloaf. The Porpentine (whose name turns out to be Federico). The verses. And more.
I did no more than zoom rapidly past the text, just enough to find all the window-opening verses and the character references. But it's the right book.
I am faintly astonished that I didn't levitate on the way back out of the library. And lnterlibrary Loan cannot come soon enough.
Hah.
sdn is a genius and a saint. So is a lady named Erica at the Multnomah County Library. And so are the proprietors of the Portland State University Library.See, I'd posted a query about my "mystery book" from my list of ten influential books, to
sdn's LJ in response to an "ask me a question" entry. The answer I got was "Ask A Librarian" -- which was an answer I deserved, because (silly me) that was the one thing I'd never so much as thought of. I've been using libraries and library catalogs for long enough that I rarely need a reference librarian; most of the time I can find what I'm looking for on the first pass.So I did. It happened that I needed to return some library books anyhow, so I stopped at the children's desk yesterday and laid my puzzle before the pleasant and helpful person at said desk. She didn't find it on the first pass, but took down all the proper notes and promised that someone would get back to me, though it might take a few days.
Lo and behold, this morning comes a phone call from one "Erica" at the library; they have a title and author for me. The book is not in their collection, but the descriptions fit, and Interlibrary Loan should be able to snag a copy from somewhere (a search produced 56 copies scattered hither and yon in libraries on the network).
It is a good thing Erica was on the other end of the phone. I would have been tempted to kiss her....
Meanwhile, however, Erica reports (and a quick Web query confirms) that my local public university library has a copy of the book. That one I can't check out -- though it won't surprise me if it turns up again via ILL -- but I could certainly go look at it to see if it's the right book....
(Well, I could check it out if I paid for a visitors' library card. But those are $50/year, and I'm an impoverished freelancer.)
Anyhow. Come late afternoon, I hop on a bus downtown, grab the new streetcar up to the center of campus, and wander casually up to the fifth floor.
The book is there. And it is the right book, I know at once. Yellow binding, with a black engraved period automobile on the front cover. The title, even though it's not the one I remembered, looks right. And inside -- it's the right story. Two kids. Summer vacation (though in New England, not Colorado). Mrs. Breadloaf. The Porpentine (whose name turns out to be Federico). The verses. And more.
I did no more than zoom rapidly past the text, just enough to find all the window-opening verses and the character references. But it's the right book.
I am faintly astonished that I didn't levitate on the way back out of the library. And lnterlibrary Loan cannot come soon enough.