Saga of the Short Classic

This is one of the most vivid memories I have of working the reference desk at Tysons-Pimmit Branch Library in the Fairfax County Library System.  (This was way before Tysons was a huge regional library, but when it was housed in two ground-floor apartments in the high-rise complex nearby.)

The English class students at the neighborhood high school had been assigned to read a classic contained on a reading list--not an uncommon assignment for librarians to deal with.  We had a copy of the assignment and knew which books were included on the list.  To save time, we had pulled many copies of the books from the fiction shelves and had them available near the ref desk.

A sturdy young man walked up to the desk while I was working and asked how he could find the classics.

I was young.  What can I say?  I was trying to be helpful.