Most recent book they've read?

"If someone comes in looking for a book about vampires, what would you recommend?"

"Why do you think I rang the bell? FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE... too late!"

I think one of the trickiest things in public library work is helping people find something when they're not really even sure what it is they want. Perhaps you could frame a question around that.

Most recent book read, or recent favorite, is one of my usual interview questions--partly to get the person talking about something that isn't a prepared answer, partly to see them acting enthusiastic about something, and, frankly, partially because if someone's favorite book is something routinely assigned to high-school students, that's a bit of a red flag.

Something about thinking on their feet and being respectful to all patrons. Libraries are used as community centers, which is great, but because they're public they attract people who have been turned away from other places or don't have another place to go.

But if you're a librarian, you know that :P

So make sure that even if this is just someone who is shelving books, they're committed to keeping their eyes open and making the library a comfortable place for everyone -- including people whose presence might make other patrons a little wary at times. Everyone deserves a safe and welcoming place.

What's your favorite Dewey Decimal number and why?

I am late to this, but I always want to know how they feel about computers. "What's your favorite internet timewaster?" or something. I like to know what people are reading and I like to know what magazines they like and I like to know what their earliest library memories are [people have totally hot/cold stories from the great kid's room somewhere to the mean old lady librarian who wouldn't let them read Rolling Stone]. I'd like to know what other jobs they've had working with the public and what were good/bad points about them.

And if they asked me about DDC, I would fail!