Pauline Bronstein and Alan Jinich

[00:05] ALAN JINICH: Hey, my name is Alan Jinich. I'm 24 years old. Today is May 16, 2024. I'm at the San Diego Central Library with my interview partner, Pauline.

[00:18] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Hi, my name is Pauline Bronstein. I am 29 years old. It is May 16, 2024. I am at the San Diego Central Library. My interview partner today is Alan And we've just met, I think, yesterday.

[00:39] ALAN JINICH: Yeah, we just met yesterday. You approached us at the StoryCorps table, which is so awesome. So, to start, Pauline, do you want to tell me a bit about your childhood, where you grew up?

[00:51] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. So I was born in Fort Worth, Texas. I might have been born in Hearst, but I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure it was Fort Worth. I am a triplet, so I have two other sisters. We do not look alike, thank God. And we are, you know, we're closer now that we've grown up than we were when we were kids. My father is a wine merchant, I guess would be the term. He's kind of like an in between. And then my mom was a pediatrician, so my mom is retired now, and my dad is just this one more year, he'll retire. Just one more year, he'll retire. You know, I think we're fairly well off, I think. Yeah. So he is basically an in between retailers and vineyards. So he's like, he'll go to wine conventions. They have conventions, and he'll network with them to be sure that, like, these people are gonna purchase, like, 10 billion cases. Right. You know, it's a lot of cases. It's not a lot of cases. It's like, you know, it's like, 10,000 cases of this kind of wine. You know, these people are preparing for the seasons. They're gonna purchase this many. He didn't do, like, small sales. He did bulk sales. He would be the one coordinating and getting new vineyards in, you know, getting ones out. He's kind of sad about it these days because a lot of, like, the salesman culture in the United States, I think, is kind of gone way more corporate. And he really kind of values, I think, the relationships he has with his clients. And it always brings him down when a client has to drop them, either because the corporate option is cheaper or because they got new management or they sold out and, you know, someone retired, someone died. And it's a lot. It's a different world for him, for sure.

[03:04] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. What is it like to grow up as a triplet with two other siblings that are. Yeah. Was it hectic in your house?

[03:13] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah, yeah. So my sisters are Stella and Bessie. Bessie is the oldest because she was born first, of course.

[03:22] ALAN JINICH: How many minutes apart?

[03:23] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Like 1 minute. It was an emergency birth, like, we were dying. It was Bessie's fault, too. She burst through a bubble. We were born, I believe, three months premature, which we were already a high risk birth, but she burst her bubble. We went to the hospital. Stella was a jaundice baby. I was perfect. And I don't know, we were. I think all three of us together weighed as much as one healthy baby. Altogether. We weighed like one. Like three pounds. I think we were tiny, but, yeah, growing up, I think we. We had, like, we didn't get along very well. It kind of sucks. Like, when you're. Our parents got out of the dress, all of them, the same phase really quickly. And then we really rebelled really hard against it, too, later on, because it was very. It was restrictive, and I don't think I bought something that was the same as what my sister wore until I had left, until we weren't going to college. And it was so freeing when we went to the store to buy our college going away clothing, and I could finally. We both liked something and we didn't have to fight over it. We didn't have to make trades. We didn't have to negotiate being like, well, you're getting this shirt, so I'm going to get this skirt that you also like, because we both like it. No, we both got it. We both got it. It was great. But, like, growing up, we had the teachers put us in different classes, and it was to the point that, like. Cause two of us would gang up.

[05:07] ALAN JINICH: On the third one, then it would always rotate.

[05:10] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Like, it would rotate.

[05:11] ALAN JINICH: Yeah, okay.

[05:11] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: No, it would rotate. We didn't bully each other well, we did, but, like, we took turns, you know, it wasn't like one. It wasn't like we had an ugly stepchild. It was just like, we know each other really well, and so you can just really pick at each other. And it's like, normally, if it's just one person on one person, you know, you just tell that one kid, you just tell them both to be quiet. With three of them, we could go off really hard. But it was to the point where I remember walking into class, I think it was like my fourth period class in high school, my first day, first day. And we saw. I walked in and saw that Stella and Bessie were already there. And I was just like, are you leaving? And they're like, no, this is my next class. And I was just like, oh, no, no, this isn't and we, all three of us walked to the principal's office and we got it changed immediately.

[06:01] ALAN JINICH: Wow.

[06:02] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Cause it was just. It was so bad, just how distracting we were, I guess. And we could. We could. I don't know, we could really play off each other really well.

[06:16] ALAN JINICH: And did you feel like it was a dynamic where you kind of had to do everything together? Like, you would have to make decisions together and activities together?

[06:25] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. By high school, we've managed to get different friend sets, but we went to a small school, so it was kind of hard to do that still. Bessie and Stella had a similar friend set. But, you know, if we wanted to go somewhere, it was always. Usually it was like, we need to go there. It wasn't. I would like to do that. It's. Oh, yeah, we would like that. And I think that it kind of messed me up a lot when I went to college.

[06:55] ALAN JINICH: Because you went to college apart from them?

[06:58] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yes, I went to Pennsylvania because I was going to go for an MLS, which is a master of library science. And they had a really good program there. Don't anymore, but they did.

[07:12] ALAN JINICH: And this is in state college.

[07:16] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: It was clarion University in Clarion, Pennsylvania. That's very small. I'm sorry. Where was it?

[07:27] ALAN JINICH: No, it's all good.

[07:27] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I said you were kind of like. I kind of messed you up when you did go to college. Oh, yeah. I just kept finding myself saying we, like, it was just you even. It was just me. I just kept being just like we. Like, I would hear myself start to say we. I was like, I don't know if we'll. I'll be okay with that, you know? And, like, even then, like, I realized we were. We had been close in a way, but it was that kind of enforced closeness, you know? Because, like, if I wanted to invite somebody over from, like, just invite somebody over from school, I had to make sure kind of, that my sisters were okay with it because in a way, like, obviously we would have people over anyway. But it was also like, it could be a problem. We're all in the same grade. We know each other. We know, like, I know she has a feud with somebody in my grade. You know, I know that they're arguing. I know that they hate. They don't like each other or they do like each other or something. And it has to be like, I don't know. It's kind of. It was just very. And it didn't help. The school was small. There were, like, 70 people in my graduating class.

[08:33] ALAN JINICH: That's really small.

[08:33] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: It was really small, and so, like, I don't know, it was just, like, it's hard to. To do stuff. And then, like, our family's kind of old fashioned, I guess. And they're old. They're all old. I think, like, we were the youngest people in our family for at least, like, 13 years, and someone finally had a baby. God bless. And being my next closest relative was, like, ten years older than me. But, yeah, see, like, even right there, I consciously, like, now these days, I say, was ten years older than me before, when I was just leaving, I would have said was ten years older than us, just because, like, so much of my life is just them.

[09:22] ALAN JINICH: Right. And were you the only one who wanted to become a librarian?

[09:27] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Before you answer that, just because our.

[09:30] ALAN JINICH: Microphones are a bit sensitive. Okay, so I can ask again, like, were you the only one of your siblings who wanted to become a librarian?

[09:43] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah, I think I started out wanting to be, like, a teacher, and then I got to middle school, and I was like, man, I hate kids. Right? Which is funny to me because. I don't know. But back then, I was just like, man, I hate kids. I don't want to deal with. My teachers are dealing with this seems, like, crazy. Why would I work? Why would I have unpaid labor? Why would I do that to myself? And then I kind of went for a librarianship, and I kind of. I decided to start volunteering when I was. Before I went to college, I started volunteering at the public library, and I didn't want to just jump into it. Right. And I liked it. I enjoyed it. I saw what people are doing, and I thought it was very cool.

[10:34] ALAN JINICH: Would you like so much about it?

[10:40] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I love it so much. I love that I get to just be part of the community that I serve because I get to do all the. I get to talk to people and do all the customer service stuff, but I'm also a part of the community. Right. So we got this caller, sometimes love him. I'm pretty sure he's a pastor. I don't actually know what he does, but I'm pretty sure he's a pastor because he's always asking for definitions of words that I think he's using for a sermon, and he always just wants three different sources for the definitions. And sometimes then he'll start asking about the etymology, and so we get to just talk about it. It's not just, oh, what's the answer? Thank you. Goodbye. It's, what's the answer? What's going on? Why is it like, this. And I'm just like, that's a weird question. You're right. Why is it like that? You know? And I, like, I just love getting to just talk to people about stuff, and. I don't know, I can. I can see the impact I have usually.

[11:44] ALAN JINICH: Yeah.

[11:44] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: And I really enjoy that.

[11:46] ALAN JINICH: Is that what led you to San Diego to become a librarian here?

[11:49] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: No, no, that's my boyfriend. So. His name's Jacob. He is an officer in the United States Navy, and he basically, he got assigned to a ship in San Diego. It was the USS Harpers ferry, and right now he's in between. And so we got moved here, and, you know, he's great. So that's why I'm here. And then, I don't know. I was lucky to get the central library job here, I think, because, well, it's actually really hard to get a librarian job. It's a very competitive field. There's a lot of people that have the qualifications that. And there's not enough jobs, and there's not enough cities that will pay to have the job openings. It's a field that's kind of getting replaced by paraprofessionals, which is fine in some cases, but it's a can of worms. There's papers.

[12:53] ALAN JINICH: Hmm.

[12:53] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah.

[12:55] ALAN JINICH: And what do you feel is lost, like, from this change that's happening? Like, you're telling me a bit about the kinds of personal interactions you have with people here. Do you feel like anything will be lost if there's fewer librarian jobs?

[13:12] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: So here, there isn't as much of a danger, because we do have a union, and I think it does a really good job. But in places where you are replacing libraries, librarians, with paraprofessionals, I think you do lose a bit of the ethos for the profession. A lot of the profession, and a lot of the degree, honestly, is, am I getting trouble for this? It's radicalizing you to be very pro free speech to understand what. What privacy is. To understand. Like, I had to take childhood development courses. You know, like, I know how kids learn to read. It's not just, oh, show them the piece of paper. It's like, what helps them read? Why do we sing during story time? Why do we play? Why do we move? Why do we do things? It's all there to just connect. Like, it's to connect your brain to the words on the page. Repetition, even if there's no words repeating, aids your memory, aids retention of everything. And I think people just. They think a lot of the times that librarians are just there to check out books, and I don't do that. I don't check out books. That's circulation. Like, they're not librarians and that's not what I do.

[14:41] ALAN JINICH: So can you tell me a little bit more about your day to day here? What's it like to be a librarian in the middle of downtown San Diego?

[14:49] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: So there's my day to day, and then there's also, like, what it's like to be in this particular building.

[14:59] ALAN JINICH: Yeah, maybe. Can you tell me first more about your day to day?

[15:02] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Okay, so I am a librarian one. I'm applying for librarian two, but that's neither here nor there. I work in the humanities section. Not all libraries are separated into sections, but ours is really big, so we are. But I primarily am a programs librarian, so I run about in adult services rather, too. I don't work with kids, so I run probably two or three programs every month or so. I currently have a Wikipedia program that I do that's every single month. And then usually I change it up on the other one. So I'll have, like, I've done author visits, I've done animal festivals. I've done, let's see, I've done. I do band book bingo for band book week, and I'm doing it for ala coming up. So that'll be fun. I do email book clubs, which are actually really successful. I was really surprised we had 70 people sign up. That's a lot for here. For a library program especially. What's an email book club? So an email book club, basically I find a book that is out of copyright. So project Gutenberg usually, and then I copy a chapter, I get some fun facts about it, send it to people once a day. So I started it. When I started out, it was Dracula. Dracula is actually a really good one for an email book club because all of the chapters are just letters. So it was like you were receiving a letter every day and there's actually an automated version of it you can get that's on a website. So if you wanted one, you could do that. And it sends it to you, like, on the dates for the letters so you can feel the time passing. But I didn't do that. I was doing like, oh, they mentioned this weird little eggplant recipe. Here's the recipe, in case you were curious. And here's the chapter. So I would do that. And then a fun chapter. Fun facts.

[17:06] ALAN JINICH: And so people respond to the email chain. Is that how it works?

[17:10] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: They don't have to respond at all? There was no strings. The first time we did it, I got really nice reviews back from people, and three people were like, where's the meeting? I want to talk about it. And I was just like, oh, we're not doing a meeting. This was a no strings book club. This was my. This was my slow month project, you know? And so the second time I did it, I did it with the hounds of the Baskerville, or Hound of the Baskervilles. I always mix the S's and that one. I did plan a book club. One person showed up.

[17:44] ALAN JINICH: Oh, yeah.

[17:44] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: To the book club, which was fine, because what I did was I told my sisters, no one's showing up for this. Like, do you guys want to stop by? And they were just like, yes, absolutely, we'll stop by. Because it was a zoom one, right? And so neither of my sisters had read the book.

[18:03] ALAN JINICH: Oh, so they did.

[18:04] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: They did come. They did come. They didn't read the book. They didn't read any of it. They had promised to. I'd sign them up for the email thing because, like, free stats, right? Sorry. They didn't. They didn't. So this woman shows up, and she's so excited to talk about this. She really wants to, you know, just engage with it and everything. And my sisters are lying through their teeth about every conversation. I'm just like, y'all are making me carry this so hard. Because I have analyzed this book, every single chapter. I had to find three facts about every chapter, right? So I'm analyzing the whole thing and just being like, oh, my God.

[18:41] ALAN JINICH: Wait, so this participant must have been like, what's going on? This book club is.

[18:45] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Oh, no, they fooled her.

[18:47] ALAN JINICH: Triplets.

[18:47] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: They fooled her. She didn't know their names.

[18:50] ALAN JINICH: She didn't notice.

[18:51] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: She didn't know their last names.

[18:52] ALAN JINICH: Oh, my gosh.

[18:53] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I didn't like, my name on zoom was humanities. Like, I said my name. I told her I was Pauline, but I didn't. You know, it was just. I didn't feel bad. She had a good time. Everyone had a good time.

[19:08] ALAN JINICH: That's awesome.

[19:08] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah.

[19:09] ALAN JINICH: And so now do you want to tell me about what it's like to work in this library in particular?

[19:15] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. Okay. So the central library in San Diego, it is a little bit of a one of a kind. It is nine stories tall and includes a high school and two of its floors. The high school is not accessible from the public. We are in downtown San Diego, and we. Because of our location, which happens to be probably about two blocks from the nearest shelter, and also due to the fact that there has been a bit of an opioid epidemic in San Diego. And I think there was an AIDS epidemic before I got here. There probably. There is a somewhat larger than average portion of our patrons who are insecure when it comes to housing. For the most part, that's not a problem. But it does mean that we have a full security team. I do have Narcan training, and Narcan is an overdose drug, and it stops overdoses. It's actually really cool. But it also means that we probably have, on average of twelve overdoses a year that require medical intervention. We have more that don't. So they're. They might take Narcan and walk off, which technically, they still do need medical intervention, but we can't stop them. We. The first year I worked here, there were two suicide attempts. One of them was successful. I wasn't there for that one. But I showed up to work basically 30 minutes after it happened and got to help clear the building. The one, there had been a previous one about eight months before I got here. They jumped from the third floor into the atrium, and they landed right on the circulation desk. Basically, the people there quit. I can't blame them. I think one of them did just move to a different branch about three months, I think. Three or four months, I can't remember. This was gossip, basically, at the time. This was like what I was told when I first started working here. Someone jumped the desk at circulation and basically attacked one of our circulation employees and broke her collarbone, which is very hard to do. So now, when you go down to the circulation desk, you see that there's a locked door in glass that used to just be plastic for, like, Covid plastic. So, in general, we take security very seriously here. I guess I have de escalation training, and part of that whole de escalation training is you try and stop things from ever being a problem in the first place. If you have to de. Actually deescalate a problem, it's too late. Like, you can't do that. It's very hard. It's like 20 times harder to do that than to just stop it from happening. But I do. I think I do a good job with it. You know, a lot of the time, like, for all the negatives, I think that it's just, like. I think it's just very important for people to have a place where they can re acclimatize to just being in society again. I think that a lot of people, they look at when, like, homeless people and how they act and they think that they can't be helped. They think of them as animals. They think of them as, like, someone who's dirty. And it's just like, imagine you have a mental illness, which is a common one where you have a delusion that people are persecuting you. And now you're homeless. And now every waking moment that you are alive, your delusion is reinforced by the fact that people are persecuting you. Or you have a delusion where you're being watched, but people are pretending not to notice you. And so you. Or a delusion that you're invisible, you know? And now that is being reinforced no matter where you go. And so even just people coming in and us saying, like, hello, sir, how are you doing today? You know, making eye contact. Just being a person and treating them like a person is so much better for them just in recovery than to do, like, anything else. And, like, we give them services, you know, we do that, too. You can't get help without actually, like, giving help. But, like, I think a big part of it is just being. Being a person.

[24:31] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. Is there any one person in particular you've developed a relationship with or who you see often? You talked about the. The pastor who calls in often. Is there anyone else that comes to mind?

[24:45] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I'm trying not to be too specific. Let's see. There's a guy that. So all of us have favorite callers, I guess, that we get. I think one of my favorites is North park man. And he is basically just. He's got a little bit of an accent. I don't know where it's from, but it's got a little bit of an accent. And he's like, I'd like to know the temperature for North park, please. And I'm just like, before he's even finished with that sentence, I have the North park temperature thing up ready for him because I know it's him because he calls clockwork. It's great. And then we'll start talking about sports, you know, he'll start asking about what. He'll start asking about scores, right? For, like, what. What was the last basketball score? How many points to. How many points did so and so make, etcetera? And he already knows the answers. He's just checking. He's just checking because, like, if I say it slightly wrong, he'll be like, oh, I thought it was 47. Like, oh, yeah, I just rounded it. You know, he's like, I thought it was 47.5. I'm like, yeah, I just rounded it down. Sorry. Sir. You know? And he's just like, oh, no, no, no. But he just wants to. He just wants. I think I'm just winning bar bets for him. Like, I think he's just, like, getting. I think he's just, like, making bets at bars and then just being like, see? See? The lady on the phone said it was right.

[26:11] ALAN JINICH: How does it feel to be meeting and interacting with so many people and so many new people?

[26:19] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Ups and downs, for sure. Oh, I had this. I just remembered, I don't know if this is, like, a prophet. I had this really interesting interaction with this guy once. He was crazy, and I usually do not call my patrons crazy, because it's a bad precedent, and it rewires your brain to think in a certain way, and I try not to do that. This guy was bonkers. So, okay, I'll talk about him afterwards. But. So this guy comes up to me, and he has a piece of paper that has, like, writing on it. Just random writing. Has glyphs, it has writing. It's schizophrenic writing, basically. And he says he's just trying to get, like, headphones to computers or something. He's just like, here. And I'm just like, oh, sorry, sir. I don't want that. And he's just like, no, no, it's for you. And we're like, no, no, no. I don't want that, sir. Thank you so much, though. I appreciate it. And he's just like, no, no, no, this is your id. And I'm just like, I'm so sorry, sir. I don't think that's my id. You know, I don't think that's right. He's like, no, no, no. This is so you can. So you can get clearance. And I'm just like, sir, I really appreciate it. I don't want that kind of responsibility, you know, why don't you take it? And he's just like, okay. And so I get another stuff. He goes off, cool. 20 minutes later, he comes back to the desk, and he's like, I don't. I remember what he was talking about. This was, like, six or seven months ago. But he was just. He's given me a pair of socks, and I don't touch. I don't touch that. I'm just like, no, thank you, sir. And he's just like, are these yours? And I'm just like, no, sir. I think they're yours. Why don't you take them? And he's just like, are you sure they're not yours? And like, sir, I don't wear black socks. You know, he's just like, oh, where did I get these, then? And I'm just like, did. Do you have socks on, sir? And he's just like, you know, I'm just like, what in the world? Like, how are we doing this? And he just looks around. He's just like, oh, I guess not. I'm like, why don't you put your socks on, sir, and head on, sit down, you know, enjoy your day. And he does. And thank God he does. And then he comes back a third time, like, 20 minutes later, and he's come back from the bathroom side. So I can. I can see he's coming back from the bathroom area, and he says, one of the security guards is, like, next to me. We're just chatting, and he says, let's just say the security guard's name is, like, Rick, right? And he says, I found the dog. And he pulls out a lost dog poster, like, a legitimate lost dog poster. And he says, look, I found Rick. And the dog's name's not Rick. It's not what it says. And I'm just. And Rick just looks at him, and I look at him, and I'm just like, so you found the dog? And he's just like, yeah, here he is. I'm just like. I'm just like, oh, thank you so much. We'll let them know. And I take the poster, you know, and then. Cause we don't know where it was. You know, it was probably posted outside security. And we just. He walks off, and, you know, security guy and I would just have a conversation, just like, what in the world?

[29:56] ALAN JINICH: Yeah, you meet all kinds of different people.

[29:59] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I had one. This one's my favorite, I think is the magician.

[30:03] ALAN JINICH: Uh huh.

[30:04] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Um. Oh, sorry. You're good.

[30:07] ALAN JINICH: Yeah.

[30:09] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: So we have the magician, and. Oh, wait. Oh, wait. No, that is the same guy, isn't he? Son of a. Sorry. We had. So I had two things that were weird that happened in the same, like, two weeks, and I was just. I conflated one of them slightly, but, yeah, no, the magician. Okay. So someone else comes up, not him. And so I forgot to mention, the whole time, this guy, the weird guy, he's dressed in, like, a bathrobe, right? And it's like, this kind of red drapey bathrobe, right? It's open. He doesn't. And he has clothing underneath. And I'm helping a different patron, and this man. No shit. He pulled out a magic fucking wanda. Like. Like your classic, like, black and white, like, white tipped magic wand. And he. He knows that the guy talking to me, the patron talking to me, is, like, stopping him from talking to me. And so he keeps trying to cast spells on the patron who's talking to me. And I'm just like. I'm just like, sarah, I'll be with you in just a moment, you know. Gotcha. And I just. It's just incredible. Sometimes, like, I couldn't have. And I realized the robe. He's wearing a robe. It's a wizard cloak. Like, that's why he has it. It all made sense. So much made sense. He was handing me magic papers. He was handing me, like, it was like, oh, this is it. This is how his mind works. And then we have other. There's this other guy. This is a shorter one. I had a patron come up and ask, oh, could you hold my phone for me? I just need to go to the bathroom real quick. I don't know where to put it. Right. And I tell him, I'm so sorry, sir. We don't hold phones to, you know, all that stuff. And a gentleman immediately next to him, while I'm talking to him, telling about our policy, comes up and says, you hold magic phone. And I say, oh, no, no, sir, I'm sorry, we don't hold phones. And then he says, oh, okay. And he takes it back, and then I turn the other guy. We don't hold phones. And he's just like, yeah, yeah, I can see that. But it's just like. You deal with a lot of fun things like that.

[32:33] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. Can you talk a little bit more about, like, how the library is like, a home for people? Like, would you describe it that way?

[32:46] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I think that it's very nice that people find that the library is a place of solace. I think that when people consider it a place of home, I think that that's kind of sad. I wish that they would have that sense of community within their own home, within their own neighborhoods. I think that the idea of calling a library a third place is beautiful, and that's wonderful, and that's great. It shouldn't be the only third place. So when people say that the library is a second home for them, I'm happy that they feel welcome. I want them to feel welcome. I wish that it wasn't the only place that they felt welcome.

[33:24] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. I'm curious about this call in situation.

[33:29] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Where people call in and ask questions.

[33:33] ALAN JINICH: I never knew that that was the library service.

[33:36] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I was just looking. May be able to speak to the.

[33:38] ALAN JINICH: Importance of that I think everyone assumes everyone has Internet access reuses Google.

[33:43] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. So we provide a service called ready reference. This is one of the most standard, basic services that public libraries offer. It's one of the first services we offered way back when, generally back. You know, even as soon as telephones became a thing, it was, you could call the library, the librarian would check the books, or they would do something, or they would do light reference requests, and you would have. That's what our reference shelves behind the shelf behind the desks are. The short ones. Usually those are going to be ready reference. So it's going to be things like auspicious dates, famous quotes, all that stuff. But today, today's days, that's changed. A lot of the people that call in are usually going to be the elderly, people who don't have Internet access, people who don't have a computer at home, people whose phone is broke or whose computer is broken, people who just aren't technologically savvy, people who can't read, people who might have a disability. And whatever system they use for interacting with something has either broken or they don't have it. Yeah. And, you know, we do everything from just directions to, I've looked up housing prices, I've looked up other stuff. I don't know. We usually keep it to. Usually you want to keep reference calls to, like, ten minutes at the tops. But I've had conversations that are 20 to 25 minutes before.

[35:25] ALAN JINICH: Have you ever, like, helped someone book, like, a bus ticket or, like, yeah.

[35:30] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Actually, I've helped a man book. This is actually a fun one. This man spoke Arabic. He wanted to book a plane flight. I do not speak Arabic. And the website would get you to the page where you could look at flights all in Arabic. And then as soon as you got to the book flights page, it would be in English. And he doesn't speak English. And so he was just trying to be sure that, like, he was setting the right dates, he was setting the right times, he was setting everything else, like, how much are they charged me, etcetera. And so, yeah, we did, actually. That one took. That one took 20 minutes. And luckily he was right next to me because we were doing it on his phone. We were just, like, sitting there being like, good God, why would they do that?

[36:18] ALAN JINICH: Yeah, it sounds like you really love your job.

[36:21] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I do.

[36:21] ALAN JINICH: It sounds like this is, like, such a.

[36:23] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: This is my passion. Like, I could never. I don't think. I've thought. Yeah, I've thought before, like, would I ever, like, leave it for a reason? Because there's been. There's been times here where I've, like, thought, like, is this all worth it? Like, is the trauma worth it? Is the therapy worth it? You know? Like. But I love it so much, you know? Like, I do feel like it's important work, and I do. I get to feel like I'm part of just, like, a system that's working. You know, I'm part of a solution. I'm not just. Yeah, I'm making things work for people.

[37:09] ALAN JINICH: Totally curious, like, what you feel like.

[37:11] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Is the future for you and for.

[37:14] ALAN JINICH: The library as well.

[37:17] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: So I will probably leave this library in probably less than four years because my boyfriend will get. Excuse me. Will get moved. But I think this library is on a good track for the most part. There's a couple staffing issues here and there, but that's everywhere. I think that for me in particular, I want a white picket fence, two and a half kids. You know, I want a library I can walk to. I think that'd be great. I want to work at a library, and if I don't, I think the closest thing I would do is I would probably try getting onto, like, a city council or a school board or something, because I really. If I can't do something in a library, I would rather do something that could also do a positive effect. Positive change.

[38:15] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. Do you feel attached to San Diego after being here for a bit?

[38:20] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, I've been here for, like, three, almost four years now, I think. And I do. I think the people here are just lovely. It's very different from Texas. I don't know. Where are you from?

[38:37] ALAN JINICH: I'm from Maryland.

[38:38] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Maryland, okay.

[38:39] ALAN JINICH: I was born in Texas, though.

[38:40] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Oh, you were in Dallas?

[38:41] ALAN JINICH: Yeah.

[38:41] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Oh, great. Okay, so this. So the south. I don't know if you know, you know this, but, like, people are very polite. They are not polite here.

[38:50] ALAN JINICH: Oh, you don't think?

[38:52] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: No, no, not the same way. Not in the same way. They are. They're not rude, but it's like, it's not as militant.

[38:56] ALAN JINICH: Okay.

[38:57] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: You know, like, yeah, yeah. And that was a funny little change here, but everyone's so much more relaxed here. And it took me a while to kind of get used to that. But it's very funny now when I'm talking to my sisters. Cause I'll just. I'll be relaxed, and they'll be just like, why are you being like that? And I'm just like. Like, what? Like, what do you mean?

[39:19] ALAN JINICH: They've noticed you've changed?

[39:20] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. And I think, like, even if. Even if I can't put my finger on it, I think that I've had a. I think I've been kind of changed by my experiences.

[39:30] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. And your sisters are in Texas?

[39:32] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. So Bessie is a city prosecutor in Texas. She handles a couple different cities, so I can't say which. And then my sister Stella, she was in training to be a ASL interpreter, but she's currently between programs.

[39:51] ALAN JINICH: Wow. And what do they think about your job now? And when you tell them about your experiences, how do they react?

[40:02] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: I don't tell them everything. I kind of. Sometimes I'll tell them some of the bigger ones because I need the help, I guess, but I don't usually. I might tell Bessie some of the harder stuff because she used to work with criminal court, and so she gets it a little bit more. My dad thinks my job is relaxing.

[40:24] ALAN JINICH: Compared to selling one.

[40:27] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: He doesn't know as much. And when they've. They've visited here before, and I kind of speed them through certain areas, and. But I don't want them to worry, you know, like, I just be like, oh, yeah, we have a full security team. Don't worry about why. You know, like. But it's okay.

[40:51] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. Is there anything that you wish I'd asked you before we end?

[40:55] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Um. I can't even. No, I think I'm. I think I'm okay. Do you feel this was valuable?

[41:04] ALAN JINICH: This is amazing. I feel like this is such an amazing conversation, and I learned so much about.

[41:08] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Are you saying that. That.

[41:09] ALAN JINICH: No, I mean it.

[41:10] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Like.

[41:10] ALAN JINICH: No, I. Seriously. I mean it. Like, I learned so much about what it's like to be a librarian, especially in a place as big as this. And I'd never been to San Diego before, so I've been learning so much from these conversations.

[41:23] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: You want any tourist recommendations? I got a billion. It's a very common question.

[41:28] ALAN JINICH: Thank you. Thank you. Maybe I'll call into the library instead of googling it.

[41:33] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Oh, give me those stats. Yes. Give us those stats.

[41:36] ALAN JINICH: Yeah. Recommendation?

[41:40] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Oh, let's see. Oh, gosh. Honestly. The USS Midway. I used to volunteer there, too. They have a library. Did you know the USS Midway is a. It's a full frickin ship. It's a. What are they called? Aircraft carrier.

[42:01] ALAN JINICH: And you can. You can tour it.

[42:02] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. And they got. They got. It's an aircraft carrier. They're really cheap. There's tons of planes on top of it that they've just swept up from everywhere. There's planes inside of it. You can take full tours of different parts of the ship if you get the audio tour. Normally, audio tours are lame. It is not lame. This guy, he will go from like, oh, yeah, we had a really fun time with the ice cream, and I never saw that comrade again. I'm just like, God. And he was just like, is very good.

[42:34] ALAN JINICH: That sounds amazing. That sounds amazing. So many places to visit. Well, thank you, Pauline. This has been an awesome conversation.

[42:42] PAULINE BRONSTEIN: Yeah. Well, thank you.