So a book caught your eye.
It’s in Jackson County Library Services’ online catalog, and it seems to have some key characteristics that get their hooks in you: your favorite author, a sequel you’ve waited about seven years for, short chapters.
But you’re at the Medford branch, and this book is in Ashland. So you place a hold and wait. In a few days, it will be on the Medford hold shelf, marked specifically for you and ready for checkout.
What happened in the interim? Drone delivery? Carrier pigeon? Quantum realm portal?
Nope. Thank a courier. JCLS employs a team of three to chaperone books, DVDs, audiobooks, and materials from JCLS’s Library of Things from branch to branch after they’re pulled from their respective shelves.
“We want patrons to have their holds from one branch to another within the week” says JCLS courier Rosie Webb. “It just depends on open hours and when materials are pulled.”
On a cold early February day, Rosie is in the driver’s seat of a delivery van on the second leg of her daily route: Gold Hill > Rogue River > Rogue Community College’s Redwood Campus > Applegate > Ruch > Jacksonville. It’s been a couple days since heavy snow closed all JCLS branches, but the roads are clearing up, and the snowfall’s strength has waned.
A courier’s normal shift starts at 5:30 a.m. and goes until 2 p.m. Like always, Rosie is en route to drop off materials, supplies, and correspondence, then collect outgoing materials for distribution elsewhere. There and back again, repeat. It’s work she’s been doing for eight years – through all the ebbs and flows – and she still enjoys it, especially the job’s task-oriented nature and solitude.
Well, solitude in the human sense. Audiobooks are common companions. You can see a list of some of the courier team’s favorites here.
Delivery drives can offer up great scenery, too. Rosie’s wildlife sightings have included the usual suspects: squirrels, turkeys, deer. During one drive between Prospect and Butte Falls, she spotted dozens of elk crossing the road.
“I came to a stop and waited as they all hopped the fence to cross in front of me,” she says.
There have also been a few encounters with domesticated animals, including cows on open rangeland and, in one case, a dog loose in Ruch. Rosie got it to follow her with a jar of peanut butter she had on hand – something she would typically pair with apples for a snack – and was able to return it to its owner.
“Apparently this dog’s an escape artist; he’s done it before,” Rosie says.
Today is mostly uneventful. Deliveries and pickups at branches in Gold Hill, Rogue River, the Redwood Campus, and Applegate are all efficient, quiet successes. But today she skips Ruch because the main driveway – one way in and out – is still being plowed. Jacksonville still gets its materials, but some finesse is needed while navigating around county workers digging out the sidewalks.
Inclement weather can be a true monkey wrench for couriers. The first winter after Rosie started, she got stuck on an icy Gresham Street near the Ashland branch. Luckily, she was able to make it off the temporarily angled skating rink OK.
When couriers aren’t driving, they also work in JCLS’s technical services department, where they unbox new materials deliveries and inventory them. It’s a good vantage point for spotting new books that might pique Rosie’s interest.
“That’s where a lot of my holds come from,” she says.
So, with all that in mind, the next time you check out your hold that made the journey from Prospect to Ashland or Talent to Ruch – any A to B trek, really – know that a JCLS courier made it possible.
“I love it. I would much rather do behind-the-scenes work stuff that is never noticed by anyone,” Rosie says. “For me, personally, I can find a lot of contentment in that. Even if it goes unnoticed, I know, and it makes me happy.”