Thursday, May 8, 2008

Day in the Life of a Children's Librarian

7:30am - Wake up, hit the snooze button
7:36 - Get up, get dressed, brush teeth, etc. Check email.
8:05 - Leave for work. Listen to CD recording of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in the car.
8:25 - Arrive at library, return books and head upstairs. Put lunch in fridge, turn on lights, computers, printers, etc.
8:35 - Start getting ready for today's preschool Summer Reading Club visits. Collect items to take: books, stickers, and gong.
8:43 - Talk with graphic designer about getting a copy of the read-to-me folder to bring. Talk with my coworker about what we're going to do. Make notes about summer programs I want to talk about.
9:05 - Leave library and drive to local preschool.
9:15-10:30 - Visit seven preschool classes ranging in age from 2-5. We read a story in each class, show them the SRC folder, explain how to sign up for the SRC, and talk about some of the preschool programs we're having. They'll get fliers to take home later in the week with the schedule of programs and SRC details.
10:40 - Arrive back at library, return a school loan book we picked up at the preschool, talk with coworkers about our visit.
10:50 - Check email.
11:00-12:00p - On desk. The weather is awesome and the library is quiet. I straighten up the teen section and the audiobook section. I work on some damaged books (deciding whether to replace them) and work on some weeding in the 900s.
12:00-1:00 - Lunch time! As previously mentioned, the weather is awesome so I eat outside with a couple of friends. I read So Totally Emily Ebers while I eat.
1:00-3:00 - Back on desk. Here's a sampling of questions I am asked:

I need a readaloud for a second grade class. (I suggest Me First, Aaaarrgghh! Spider!, and If You Hopped Like a Frog)

Can you put Evil Star on hold for me? (Yes.)

Where are the bird books? I'm looking for bird pictures, can I find them online? How do I print them? How do I change the size? Do you have basic computer classes? (I show her the bird books. I show her Google Images. I walk her through finding bird pictures, saving them, and manipulating the size on MS Word. I send her downstairs to inquire about computer classes.)

I'm looking for Huck Finn in the Classic Starts series. Do you have it? (We do not own it, but I ILLed it for her and showed her the other Classic Starts books we have.)

3:00-4:00 - Off desk, I work on pulling books for a couple of preschool loan bags. One teacher wants books about graduation/celebrations and beaches/oceans. The other teacher wants books about outer space and the Old West. I get most of the books pulled and print labels for them.

4:00 - I head for home! (Short day today because I'm coming in for a few hours on Saturday for a program.)

And there you have another day in the life of a children's librarian. I've been meaning to do this for awhile, but we've been soooo busy that by the time I remember I wanted to do it, the day is halfway over.