maxm50•1mo ago

Serious question, I saw a guy in Boise ask a librarian how to find out if a tree in his yard was protected

I was at the main library downtown yesterday, just grabbing a book on hold. Right at the info desk, this older guy was asking the librarian a super specific question. He said his neighbor told him he couldn't cut down a big pine tree because it might be a 'heritage tree' under some city rule. He had no idea how to even check. The librarian was amazing. She didn't just give him a phone number. She walked him over to a public computer, pulled up the city's planning department site, and showed him the exact map overlay for protected trees. She even printed the page for him. It made me realize how many random, super niche questions librarians must get every day, and they just know how to find the answer. It's like a free 'ask anything' service for real life stuff. Has anyone else ever asked a librarian a weirdly specific question like that and been surprised by what they could find?

2 comments

2 Comments

sagesingh1mo ago

Wasn't there a whole article a while back about librarians being the original search engines? This totally fits. I remember reading that their whole training is basically about how to find information on anything, not just books. It's wild when you see it in action for something so random like a tree rule. That librarian going the extra mile with the map printout is the perfect example. Makes you appreciate those quiet skills a lot more.

angelaellis1mo ago

Used to think librarians just checked out books. Watched one help a guy find the exact city code about fence height limits. Changed my whole view.