I work in a university library. I’m a library aide which isn’t very high up the ladder in fact and on those organizational flow charts you get mine is the job put at the bottom of the page right in the corner. But I like my work which I know makes me luckier than a lot of people. There’s variety, and I get to meet some interesting people. In fact I meet people from places I wouldn’t even know where to look for on the map.
　　There are periods of boredom however, skull-crushing, mind-numbing boredom. And summer is the worst, as you can imagine summer in a university library doesn’t exactly buzz. You might think that’s a bonus, especially if you’ve worked somewhere when at times there is almost nothing to do you can’t appreciate the sense of time creeping, the felling of sleepiness, the sheer physical dullness in the atmosphere and the sense of something like panic that sets in at the thought of yet another hour of trying to shelve from empty shelves or an hour standing at a desk waiting and hoping for readers to appear. But that only lasts two or three months until, suddenly, they’re back and the year starts again with its moments of frantic effort and spells of inactivity.
　　There are a lot of misconceptions about library work—many of which I was guilty of before I started working in one. Most people think of it, when they think of it at all, for it seems to have this reputation as dull, as a nice, quiet almost charming job. Well, think again. At the sharp end it’s hard, heavy and sometimes dangerous work. And if you think I’m kidding about the dangerous part how about the risk of a heavy metal, very springy, hanging bookend flying out from the shelf into your face which has nearly happened to me more than once or a five or six pound book dropping on your head or your foot—both of which actually did happen to me. There are a lot of bruises, paper cuts—and dust.
　　For all that I have to repeat I enjoy it. When it’s not dead quiet it’s hectic, the time flies and you get a good feeling of accomplishment. It’s a nice place to work, the students mainly are great and so, with one or two exceptions, are the academic staff we have to deal with. And there’s a good feeling among the staff, especially among us lowly, put at the foot of the page in the corner aides.
　　參考譯文:
　　我在一所大學的圖書館工作。作為一名圖書館的助手，我的地位不是那么高，甚至在工作表上我的名字都在最下面的角落里。
　　但是我喜歡我的工作，我覺得這工作使我比許多人都幸運。我能見到各種各樣有趣的人。事實上在我遇到的人中，有些來自我聽都沒聽說過的地方。
　　但是有時候也會很無聊，令人無計可施、麻木的無聊。夏天是最難過的。你可以想象得到大學的圖書館在夏天毫無生氣。你也許會覺得這是件好事，尤其是在不停的工作的時候。但是你錯了。除非你曾在某些地方工作，在那里你有時完全無事可做只能深切感受時光的流逝，并且昏昏欲睡;在這樣的環境下，你的身體會變得遲鈍，一想到又要花一個小時去擺書架或者站在書桌前等待讀者出現你就會感到恐懼，這些都不是你喜歡的。但是這種情況只會持續兩、三個月，突然學生們都回來了，新的學年又開始了，大家又重新投入到快節奏的生活當中，偶爾也會有不活躍的時候。
　　對于圖書館的工作有很多錯誤的觀念——我對來此工作之前的一些想法感到很慚愧。多數人在想到這個工作的時候都覺得這是份有些呆板，但是舒服、安靜甚至有些迷人的工作。實際上這工作很難，并且繁重，有時還有危險。如果我覺得我說危險是在開玩笑的話，那么掛在書架上的那么有彈性的金屬書擋從書架上掉下來砸到你的臉上會怎樣?這種事差點發生在我身上可不止一次了;又或者是五、六磅重的書砸在你的頭上或者腳上呢?這些在我身上都發生過。還有多次的擦傷，被紙割傷——更不要說灰塵。
　　我還是強調我喜歡這份工作。不死氣沉沉的時候就是緊張忙碌的，時間過得飛快，你會很有成就感。這是個工作的好地方，除了個別學生不好對付之外，大部分的學生都很好，而且我們接觸的教師也都是搞學術的。和同事之間的相處感覺也很好，尤其是我們這些名字都排在工作表角落里。