Can You Watch My Fish; and other questions at a full service library

I never know what sort of questions I will get each day; you expect that at the Reference Desk. However, the Circulation Librarians certainly won the prize for the most unusual question last week when one of our patrons said he couldn’t take his fish home with him and would we mind watching it for him? Sure enough, he had a small glass bowl with a very disgruntled looking fish in it. I found myself looking around for a hidden camera. Would the Cat in the Hat be walking in next? Having no policies in place to guide us in answering fish sitting queries we agreed. However when he came back the next day to ask for another day of fish sitting we had to politely decline. Who knows where this could lead? Would there be hamsters trundling through the gardening section, kittens frolicking past the knitting books, and a pony on the lawn? While we do pride ourselves in offering a vast array of services, sadly, pet sitting is no longer one of them.

I wonder what I will be asked tomorrow….