Anecdote on the last day of the semester

Final exams are over and the grades must be in by the end of the day.  The library is quiet and the only action is student moving out of the dormitories.  Early in the afternoon two older gentlemen approached the reference desk asking for information on how to build a robot.  They were obviously not students or faculty here.  They said they just came from the Newark Public Library where they just found one book which was not sufficient.  I did a search in the library catalog for such books and brought them to the TJ 211 sections.  After 10 minutes, they came back and said those books were too old.  I did a quick search of the periodicals database and thought those articles were too specialized for them.

I proceeded to show them how to search Google. I said that they didn't have to come here to search it, that they could do it at home.  After all, in this day and age everyone has internet access.  He said we live in a homeless shelter and don't have internet access there.  I then brought them to a computer in the information commons and some time later they found a web site that was a good starting point for them.

How are they going to obtain the materials to build a robot if they are homeless?  This was the first time in a long time that anyone from the outside asked for reference assistance.  These two gentleman were very polite and appreciative of my help.  At least I had a reference transaction.

Its time for a staycation.  I need to rest at home and "recharge my batteries."