The Alabama Landline That Keeps Ringing
April 25, 2025 at 09:24PMWhen the James E. Foy desk opened at Auburn University in 1953, they used to use the Farmers’ Almanac and the Guinness Book of World Records to answer the public’s burning questions, which run from “Who is the most famous person in the world?” to “What is watercress?” The desk is staffed by university students and provides a vital service and source of genuine human connection to people who, for whatever reason, have to decided to stay off or do not have access to the internet.
During the day, the phones ring about ten to fifteen times an hour. Most of the calls are from the general public. Occasionally, an Auburn student calls to ask about basketball tickets or whether their brown jacket ended up in the lost and found. As classes wrap up for the afternoon and the sun sets, the big windows that filter sunlight turn into mirrors. Calls become less frequent, so students working at the desk settle into their homework. It’s a perk of the job. By nine o’clock, the student center is quiet. That’s when people like Beulah call.
Beulah has a lot of pets and an affinity for bearded dragons. She seems to attract wild animals too: There’s been a fox in her yard, a snake in her house, a spider on her curtains. She’s called to ask for the phone number for an exterminator more than once. While most callers are off the line in less than two minutes, Beulah’s calls last at least fifteen. But who she is, the students hardly know. Accents are sometimes a giveaway, but hers isn’t Southern, nor is it apparently from the Northeast, where her area code suggests she lives. Kamran Kimber, an overachieving junior studying business management, loves getting Beulah’s calls. “She sounds like—oh, my goodness—who was the lady who played in White Lotus?” He stops to think. “Jennifer Coolidge. She sounds like her.”
More picks about libraries
Contraband Marginalia
“When I checked in the books, I was supposed to look for notes or objects hidden inside.”
Seattle’s Little Free Libraries Offer a Catalog of Collections and Connections
“The Little Free book idea has spread to other community-sharing opportunities, like a Little Free bakery, a crop of Little Free seed libraries, and much more.”
The Department of Everything
“Dispatches from the telephone reference desk.”
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/04/25/the-alabama-landline-that-keeps-ringing/
via IFTTT
Watch