Smile Though Your Heart Is Aching

Abstract

However much it might sound like an old chestnut, this is not an apocryphal story. During my first month of employment in a library when my advisory work had consisted entirely of fielding questions about the availability of lavatories, public telephones and photocopiers I was approached by a man who said, “You used to have a book, I can't remember what it's called”, and vaguely waving towards the windows added, “it had a green cover and used to be over there”. For a timid waif, as yet unaware that there was such a grandiose thing as enquiry technique, this was a devastating challenge so I looked anxiously around for professional assistance. But as usual, my senior colleagues were either at a meeting, hiding from the public in the office or else out in the foyer harassing a defenceless pensioner for spilling tea over a crochet book. Manfully I single‐handedly set about the task. By careful questioning, some inspired guess‐work and a bit of luck (I still hadn't quite got the hang of the catalogue) I advanced from subject to title and triumphantly dug the required item out of the reserve store. Naturally it had a red cover.