You’ve Got a What in Your Rotunda?
Beth Bradshaw
Head of Reference and Technical Services
When I tell people that I work in a library they always say something along the lines of “you must like to read allot” or “that would be a peaceful place to work.” Yes, I do like to read, but not necessarily book reviews and as to peaceful, strange things can happen in libraries.
A few Sundays ago two staff members who came in to set up saw a “bird” flying near the skylight. Upon taking a closer look, the reference person noticed that the “bird” had points on its’ wings. She yelled, “It’s a bat! It has pointy wings. What are we going to do?”
The reference person, who was also acting manager-on-duty or MOD, decided to call Animal Control. This being Sunday she ended up talking to the Police department. That’s when the bat decided to do some flybys of the circulation area. The circulation person started screaming. The dispatcher said that an officer would be sent out.
The library opened and the MOD waited for the officer outside while a second staff member watched the reference area. People in the computer area were doing something similar to “the wave” while screaming and laughing. The bat was swooping over them (obviously playing its’ own computer game).
It turns out that the second reference person is afraid of bats. When the bat swooped, she screamed and crawled under the desk. Her reaction produced even more laughter because she is usually so calm. Nothing seems to faze her…except for bats.
The bat must have gotten tired because it landed on a low wall. The officer, who had just arrived, got a ladder, a trashcan and a plastic bag and climbed up to catch the bat. The MOD stood under the ladder waiting to assist the officer if necessary. The officer got the bat in the trashcan and the bat was contained. They took the bat outside to let it go.
Once outside, they took the bag off of the trashcan and set it down. The bat, which was probably a bit disoriented, wouldn’t fly away. It fell out when they turned the trashcan over…and just sat there. A library patron, who had been watching, took a wood chip and pushed at the back of the bat to encourage it to fly away. The bat turned around and hissed at him like an angry cat, which was pretty funny because the bat was tiny. Finally the bat flew away and life went back to normal at the library.
The library has many wonderful resources on bats. Here are just a few:
- Amazing Bats
- Bat Adventures
- Bats
- Bats: Hunters of the Night
- Bats in Question: the Smithsonian Answer Book
- Bats: Shadows in the Night
- Flying Foxes and Other Bats
