In reply to Thomas Sanders, his inquiry about the quirky things libraries
will do:
1.  Our local daily newspaper is delivered to the security office at the
entrance to our building.  We're lucky that Norfolk is a relatively small
place and the building is adjacent to a residential area.  Our out-of-
town paper (Wash. Post) comes by mail.  I couldn't imagine having to deal
with the baroque arrangement that was proposed to him.
2.  Yes, do accomodate strange requests for gift documentation each spring.
It irks me, but we do.  It's a personal pet peeve that we have to help people
get along with their accountants.  But there aren't too many, and we stand by
what we understand to be the law on such gifts so that we can present a
consistent line on doing such tasks.

We've considered oddball operations to be part of the baggage of a new
institution growing up.  We have needed support from a lot of sectors to
get going, and some of the nice things we could do for individuals then
could become burdens as we flourish.  I'd guess that many places have little
tasks that have a peculiar history and take staff far afield from their job
descriptions.  The question is when we feel comfortable drawing the line,
and how to do it tactfully.

In the meanwhile it's nice to know we're not alone.

Renee Mansheim
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Norfolk, Virginia - MANSHEIM@EVMSVMS