Scary Library
Does every library become Scary Library when it closes and turns off the lights?
We're between sessions here at Library X, and we close in the evening instead of staying open our usual 24hrs. I'm the last one in the library every evening. I let the students out, turn out the lights, and then make a mad dash for the elevator, go one floor down (I use the elevator for the light that spills out when it opens), unlock a door, unlock another door, go down a back passage, and then exit onto our loading dock.
My heart is beating like an epileptic hummingbird until I set foot in the loading dock. It's insane. I know this. I tell myself this every night as I scurry out, but damn, the library makes a lot of noises as soon as the lights go out. I'm peering into the shadows, jumping at dark objects, and convinced that tonight, the guy with the chainsaw has managed to hide and wait for me. And he's even scarier now because the lights are out.
But I'm not afraid of the dark! As soon as I'm out of Library X, I'm fine. Sheesh, I leave work at 1AM every night during the semester. I stroll out without a care. I go grocery shopping. I don't care. It doesn't bother me. I've been in other buildings at all hours by myself and never batted an eyelash. But as soon as the lights go out in Library X, my little hummingbird wakes up and goes into convulsions. It's stupid, but I can't stop it. That guy with the chainsaw is lurking in a dark corner. I just know it.
Sad to say, but this is the reason they give me things like the Maglite. I am a WUSS.
We're between sessions here at Library X, and we close in the evening instead of staying open our usual 24hrs. I'm the last one in the library every evening. I let the students out, turn out the lights, and then make a mad dash for the elevator, go one floor down (I use the elevator for the light that spills out when it opens), unlock a door, unlock another door, go down a back passage, and then exit onto our loading dock.
My heart is beating like an epileptic hummingbird until I set foot in the loading dock. It's insane. I know this. I tell myself this every night as I scurry out, but damn, the library makes a lot of noises as soon as the lights go out. I'm peering into the shadows, jumping at dark objects, and convinced that tonight, the guy with the chainsaw has managed to hide and wait for me. And he's even scarier now because the lights are out.
But I'm not afraid of the dark! As soon as I'm out of Library X, I'm fine. Sheesh, I leave work at 1AM every night during the semester. I stroll out without a care. I go grocery shopping. I don't care. It doesn't bother me. I've been in other buildings at all hours by myself and never batted an eyelash. But as soon as the lights go out in Library X, my little hummingbird wakes up and goes into convulsions. It's stupid, but I can't stop it. That guy with the chainsaw is lurking in a dark corner. I just know it.
Sad to say, but this is the reason they give me things like the Maglite. I am a WUSS.
posted by Vampire Librarian at 4:33 AM
9 Comments:
Ha ha, I know exactly what you mean!! I close up in the evening at 10pm at Library Y and I don't mind if the lights are out - what I do mind is if I have go back into the building to close a forgotten window - that gives me the heebie-jeebies!!
There is definitely something disconcerting about being in a huge space that is normally teeming with activity when it's quiet and dark. It's kinda' creepy.
Even my perky, open, book store-ish public library is creepy when we turn off the lights. Monday night, there was a strange message on our alarm panel as we shut down. So with one or two emergency lights on in each space, two of us went back through the gloom to peek in the big meeting room and check for chain-saw wielding fiends. I had that humming bird feeling.
Maybe you work in a HAUNTED library. After all, you are a...vampire librarian!
I worked third shift in a library where a small section was open all night for study space and reserves, but the stacks were all closed. To use a bathroom or get to the lounge, I had to walk through the dark stacks to the other end of the building. It was seriously spooky. I would run, as fast as I could, to the bathroom and back because I just would get so spooked. The only other place where I get that spooked is in the woods at night, but then I am an urban library assistant.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.
IB,
Ha, that's the last thing I need.
Whenever I have to shut up (and this is at seven in the evening, but it's winter, so it's dark), I shut off the lights and run as fast as I can (in the dark), shrieking a little inside.
It doesn't help that one evening we had two scary people who tried to rob the staff room..
Oh, don't tell me that. Whenever I hear about crimes at other libraries, even if they're in other states, I get worried.
And I like your name, nibblepig.
Thankyou :) If it's any comfort, I'm in another country, far away across a fairly big ocean..
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