Bookstore Loans

One of the many small perks of working at a major bookstore is the employee book loans. I just "checked out" the latest Artemis Fowl. Tomorrow I'm thinking of looking into either Eat, Pray, Love, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (the first chapter was fabulous), the rest of A Voyage Long and Strange about early American history that you don't usually get in grade school, something about teaching preschoolers (if I can find something in hardcover), or something else that I haven't thought of.

The only drawback to the whole system is that I can't borrow a paperback. It must have a dust jacket that I can leave in the manager's office when I sign for it.

Or . . . I could check out the Nook that they have to loan to employees and download an eBook! I'd have to actually learn how to use it though. I think that's the point. We all wear buttons that say Nook Smart, but like the people who work in the Cafe, I'm Nook Dumb. I'm just the drudge who picks up after kids in the kid's section and tells people how to find Alex Rider, Bone, Geronimo Stilton, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Beverly Cleary, and vampires.

Actually I got out and about today. I was at customer service and helped people find Hemingway, a book about birth order (specifically about being a middle child--for a college paper), the elevator, the cash register, and the rest room. We've hidden our restroom in place where you can't find it unless you break down and ask for directions. It's all part of our secret plot to make bookstore customers speak to the employees. The broken down self-search monitor also helps.

People sometimes ask if we get a percentage on our sales. Nope. We just get to keep our hours from being cut if the store meets its projections. We do it for the employee discount.

And . . . the book loans. Of course.

By the way, the Nook is fabulous, and not that hard to learn how to use. I just haven't had time to do it thoroughly yet!