Sometimes you can’t help but feel paranoid.

One such instance is when your library card is scanned and the librarian pauses and squints to read the screen.

What’s going on? Is the FBI about to close in? Am I the millionth customer?  In this installment of “What’s going on behind the desk?” we will examine some of the reasons for “The Squint.”

There are a lot of reasons for that pause and fortunately, that's not necessarily bad!

For example, you could have an item on hold that’s ready to pick up. Hey, you’re a winner!

Or, it may tell us that there’s a fine on your account. If that’s the case we’ll let you know. If the fine is under $5.00, it won’t interfere with checkout or renewals.

You may be expired. Well, not you – your card. Your library card expires every two years, which allows us to see if anything has changed: address, phone number, or email address.  

And then there are reminders we have for your account. That may be an instruction that you have shared with us. Or, if you are using an ID instead of your library card too many times – yes, we keep track of that – we may ask you to update it if your card is lost.

So the next time you get “The Squint,” don’t fret. It means we are keeping your account up-to-date. And who knows? You could always be that one millionth customer!