Chen: Excuse me, Lily. Could you help me? You know we’ve got an essay to write about eating customs across the world?
Lily: Yeah. We have to borrow some books, don’t we?
Chen: Yes, but I missed the library training. Do you think you could show me how to find the books and how to take them out?
Lily: Sure, no problem. Shall I tell you about the different parts of the library, first?
Chen: Oh yes …Thank you very much.
Lily: OK, then, let’s look at the plan of the library. 1Here, you can see the main door in the north that leads into the lobby. In the middle of the building, there’s a big open PC zone. 2The lift and stairs are on the left as you go in, and on the other side of the building there’s the library café. That part of the library is pretty sociable … It’s a good place to study with friends.
Chen: I really prefer to study alone. Is there anywhere in the library I can go?
Lily: Oh, 3if you like studying in a quiet place, it’s better to go upstairs, to the silent zone. As you come out of the lift, or up the stairs, you’ll see a section on your right, facing north, which is closed off. That’s the silent zone. 4On the other side, facing south, are the bookshelves with all the cookbooks … [fade]
Chen: Now can you show me how to find a book?
Lily: Well, the library’s very big, and the books on food could be under cookery, or they could be in history, or even entertainment. 5So, the first thing to do is to look the book up in the online catalogue.
Chen: Where do I do that? Lily: It’s easy … there are lots of computers in the library for that.
Chen: OK, I see.
Lily: Right, you look up the title first. When you’ve found the book, you’ll see it has a class mark next to it. 6The class mark is one or two letters and a number … Make a note of the class mark … 7then look it up on the plan of the library. The plan shows you exactly what section of the library the books are actually kept in.
Chen: Thank you very much, Lily. So how do I borrow a book?
Lily: That’s simple, too. When you go to the library, 8you’ll have to take your student ID card. When want to borrow a book, you take it downstairs to the scanner. Then, scan your ID card first. Then, open the book and slide it under the scanner until it 9makes a sound… a short beep. And that’s all you have to do … Oh, sorry, I forgot. At the end the system 10prints out a ticket. It’s a good idea to keep it for a while, just in case you have a problem with your loan.
Chen: Thanks again, Lily. You’ve been really kind … [fades out]
