Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Library Page Song

The following lyrics playfully parallel "Day-O", with appropriate adjustments for library pages:

Hey-yo, hey-yo
Library closed and me wan' go home
Hey, me say hey, me say hey, me say hey
Me say hey, me say hey-yo
Library closed and me wan' go home

Work and work with a bit of fun
Library closed and me wan' go home
Shelve those booksies till me shift is done
Library closed and me wan' go home

Hey, circulation staff, tell me me can go now
Library closed and me wan' go home
Hey, circulation staff, tell me me can go now
Library closed and me wan' go home

Shelve one full, two full, three full trucks
Library closed and me wan' go home
One full, two full, three full trucks
Library closed and me wan' go home

Hey, me say hey-yo
Library closed and me wan' go home
Hey, me say hey, me say hey, me say hey, me say hey, me say hey
Library closed and me wan' go home

Our lovely stacks o' nice fronted booksies
Library closed and me wan' go home
Hide the friendly little mousies
Library closed and me wan' go home

Shelve one full, two full, three full trucks
Library closed and me wan' go home
One full, two full, three full trucks
Library closed and me wan' go home

Hey, me say hey-yo
Library closed and me wan' go home
Hey, me say hey, me say hey, me say hey ...
Library closed and me wan' go home

Hey, circulation staff, tell me me can go now
Library closed and me wan' go home
Hey, circulation staff, tell me me can go now
Library closed and me wan' go home

Hey-yo, Hey-yo
Library closed and me wan' go home
Hey, me say hey, me say hey, me say hey
Me say hey, me say hey-yo
Library closed and me wan' go home

While the meter is a bit off in several places and the use of "circulation staff" conflicts with the grammar and vocabulary style of the rest of the song, I am somewhat happy with the result.

Of course, the lyrics are not an accurate portrayal of working as a library page. One might shelve three full trucks of books in a shift, but one does not need to ask staff if one can leave and most page shifts end before the library closes. Mice have been seen at the Silver Spring library, but they probably do not hide among the stacks. (I also sometimes wish I could stay overnight to do things at a more leisurely pace and work on lower priority tasks.)