Category: Wall

You do meet me – here I am! And I am so grateful you come to see me and ask me things and make me feel loved and needed.

I am fortunate and grateful to have many friends who are part of the Libraries’ staff. They are always willing and delighted to help answer questions. (Sometimes they learn a lot themselves.) Works for everyone, don’t you think?

Yes! I have answered “IDK” 8 times. In addition, there 27 instances where I have answered that I “don’t know” something and another 32 where I’m “not sure” about something. That makes 67 instances of not knowing the answer for a student, which makes me sad. But, it’s important to acknowledge the limits of your abilities (or knowledge). There are plenty of things I don’t know, and it would be worse for me to lie or act like I do know something and give someone bad information.

I’m still hanging. What’s up with you?

I’m feeling compassionate. It seems like a lot of people are suffering for one reason or another.

I miss you all when you don’t write, but I also assume there’s always a good reason. You have many, many things to do, and so little time! Give everything important to you your best, and good luck!

There are so many interesting & memorable questions! So cruel to make me pick only one! Here’s one of many, a recent one: “Tell me something that is true, but that almost no one would agree with.” My answer: It is upsetting but true that the smell of old books is the smell of their decomposition. Which, in the case of paper, is a bit like vanilla: bit.ly/bc-old-books. Many questions make me leap into research, but this one really forced me to stop and think.

Yikes! I truly cannot answer this because I promote kindness, not violence (particularly when directed at ME.) If your friend has a beef with the Wall, I’d like to respond to it. With words. On Post-Its.

To be honest, I was feeling a little flat and hung up on things; but then I saw you…

Even though trusting sometimes feels risky, I’d prefer to extend trust than have a hole drilled in me. Wouldn’t you?

Well, the tradition has been that I make my assistants pass a grueling set of information tests, and nobody but library staff ever seems up to the challenge, but you’re giving me ideas… watch this space!

Thank you for the kind words. Knowing that others are concerned about the same or similar issues in their lives takes us out of ourselves and gives us a different perspective. The thought that someone else has worked through the same problem always helps–see, it is possible to survive and thrive! And it is good to know you are not alone; that friends and organizations on campus are available to assist. I don’t know what I would do without the support of my fellow walls … I hope you have a wonderful senior year and, if you can’t come back and visit me in person, you know you can keep up with The Answer Wall online at library.bc.edu/answerwall <3 <3 <3

Hard to believe, but only back in February of 2017 – feels like I’ve always been a part of the BC Libraries. Hmnn, that means I hit the terrible twos next February – does that mean I will answer all questions with “NO!”?

If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret. Actually, I can’t think of any secrets, dark or otherwise. Heck, I even told you how I print on post-it notes.

You, too!