Librarians are mocking all the people who annoy them at work

The library feels like a warm, welcoming place where you go to be gently shushed and read in a place that smells a bit like mildew. But behind the scenes, librarians experience the same level of customer frustration as any other customer service professionals - and perhaps even more so.

Taking to X, user @metafrantic shared a photo from a library showcasing a display of red books adorned with a banner mocking the common customer request to locate a book simply by its color.

This is apparently a common library troll, as someone else shared a photo of a wall of blue books. "Lolz my library did this too. I took a photo because we used to get this question all the time when I worked at a bookstore,"they wrote. 

Apparently, the phenomenon is so widely known, there are even comic strips about it.

But some librarians are impressing the internet with over-the-top identifying skills. "My proudest moment was working in an episcopal library of 200,000 books, someone asked for 'that book about bishops with a yellow cover' and I got it straight away *even though it was purple*," one person shared.

Another even added a funny anecdote: "YEARS ago at Waldenbooks I relabeled the New Age shelf "Blue and White Books About Light." It took a few weeks but one day while at the register I heard it, from way in the back of the store: my manager giggling uncontrollably." 

Other librarians and book store folk chimed in to say what bugs THEM about all the people coming in for help: 

But my favorite is this comment that indicates not only do people ask for books by color, but they mostly seem to ask for red.  

Do they think that makes the book more attractive? 

This article was originally published on December 17, 2019 It has since been updated.