[[Begin interview transcript.]]
[Where were you during the party?]
I was assigned to staff the children’s desk the whole time. Usually I might be annoyed, because that’s Tricia’s area of expertise, but during the crazy programs I’m happy to let Tricia and Joe deal with patrons.
[Were you there the entire time?]
Yeah. No—I went to the bathroom once. It was right at the beginning of the program, and there was no one in the kids area. I figured Joe could handle any patrons for the two minutes I was gone.
[Did you see or speak to anyone?]
Once the party let out, Kelly Warner and her kids came through. I had to tell Bayleigh to put the cookie away, and Kelly almost kicked up a huge fuss. They went to browse the picture books and I went back to reading my magazine.
[Do you spend a lot of time reading while scheduled on a circulation desk?]
Only when it’s quiet. Kelly’s a pain in the butt, and so is Bayleigh, but they don’t usually rip up books or anything if I’m not watching them like a hawk.
[Did you do anything else that evening?]
Yeah, around 5:15 I went to go tidy up the bookshelves and put more picture books on display. I had to squeeze around Kelly’s double wide stroller twice, because she loves to leave it in the middle of the aisle. After that I went back to the desk. I couldn’t finish neatening things until we closed and they had left anyway. Kelly’s kids always make a huge mess.
[Did you start reading again?]
Well, yeah. There wasn’t much else to do for the last fifteen minutes. I could keep Kelly in my peripheral vision for the most part.
[You didn’t see anyone go to the bathroom? They would have to pass right through your line of sight.]
No, but that doesn’t mean much. I’ve been telling Joe that the sightlines are terrible here ever since we remodeled a few years ago. You can hardly see anything in the rest of the library from the children’s area. That desk? Total blindspot. He keeps telling me we won’t get approved for more funding to make those changes for at least another five years.
[Is it possible that Ms. Warner or one of her children went back into the main part of the library while you were reading, and you just didn’t notice?]
I mean, I guess. It’s not my job to babysit the patrons. So long as they aren’t stealing or destroying books, I don’t really care what they do.
[Well, thank you for your time, Ms. Nowak. You’ve been very helpful.]
Sure. Can I go now?
[[End recording.]]
