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.
　　参考译文:
　　我在一所大学的图书馆工作。作为一名图书馆的助手，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。
　　但是我喜欢我的工作，我觉得这工作使我比许多人都幸运。我能见到各种各样有趣的人。事实上在我遇到的人中，有些来自我听都没听说过的地方。
　　但是有时候也会很无聊，令人无计可施、麻木的无聊。夏天是最难过的。你可以想象得到大学的图书馆在夏天毫无生气。你也许会觉得这是件好事，尤其是在不停的工作的时候。但是你错了。除非你曾在某些地方工作，在那里你有时完全无事可做只能深切感受时光的流逝，并且昏昏欲睡;在这样的环境下，你的身体会变得迟钝，一想到又要花一个小时去摆书架或者站在书桌前等待读者出现你就会感到恐惧，这些都不是你喜欢的。但是这种情况只会持续两、三个月，突然学生们都回来了，新的学年又开始了，大家又重新投入到快节奏的生活当中，偶尔也会有不活跃的时候。
　　对于图书馆的工作有很多错误的观念——我对来此工作之前的一些想法感到很惭愧。多数人在想到这个工作的时候都觉得这是份有些呆板，但是舒服、安静甚至有些迷人的工作。实际上这工作很难，并且繁重，有时还有危险。如果我觉得我说危险是在开玩笑的话，那么挂在书架上的那么有弹性的金属书挡从书架上掉下来砸到你的脸上会怎样?这种事差点发生在我身上可不止一次了;又或者是五、六磅重的书砸在你的头上或者脚上呢?这些在我身上都发生过。还有多次的擦伤，被纸割伤——更不要说灰尘。
　　我还是强调我喜欢这份工作。不死气沉沉的时候就是紧张忙碌的，时间过得飞快，你会很有成就感。这是个工作的好地方，除了个别学生不好对付之外，大部分的学生都很好，而且我们接触的教师也都是搞学术的。和同事之间的相处感觉也很好，尤其是我们这些名字都排在工作表角落里。