Last week I overheard someone say that she spent an hour googling, trying to find a story she had heard about "some lady doesn't own her own blood". The bookseller in me took over and I interrupted to say, It's Henrietta Lacks and tell them about the book. Later in the evening, I heard the woman say to a friend, "Just ask Katherine. She's kind of like Google."
This has sparked an idea in my head that makes me wish I was better with computers and video editing...
If I could make a commercial celebrating booksellers, it would go like this...
That google commercial where you see them auto-completing all the searches. But it would be all searches going wrong for all those customer questions we get.... "The Crystal Palace" "Something about a cherry at the bottom of a cupcake" "On NPR last week, some lady didn't own her own blood".
Then it would show the bookseller version of google... when it gets typed in, it gets translated to what a bookseller hears... "The Glass Castle" "Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie" "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks".
Because sometimes, the fact of the matter is, you need a real live person with a brain. (Sorry, EMERAC... you know I love you, but it's truth.)
Librarians, too! :)
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