At every word a reputation dies

I take a call for the Acquisitions Team (she'd gone to the lavatory). It's the reference library.

"We told a customer we'd be buying a copy of a book he asked for. He's just come in and he's asking if it's arrived yet."

"What's the book?"

"I don't know. It's about coins."

"I'd need a bit more of a clue than that to check the requests and orders file."

Amazingly enough, Noreen can find the book on her return. It's a prodigiously over-priced tome which raises the perennial question about our reference library. How come we tell lending that we probably won't buy requested titles over the price of £25 but expensive references are bought ad lib to suit individual customers?