Thursday, July 10, 2008

Day in the Life of a Children's Librarian

8:20am - Arrive at work, put lunch away, fill out review slips for employee summer reading club, return books

8:30am - Organize desk, check email, go over the storytime I'll be doing later, check with other staff members going on outreach this morning to make sure we're all on the same page

9:30-11:30 - Outreach program at local neighborhood. We bring books for families to check out, sign kids up and check them in for the summer reading club, have a storytime and do a craft. This week I read Minerva Louise, Tanka Tanka Skunk, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, and Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? (and had them retell it with velcro pieces). We also sang a few songs and did a craft.

11:30 - Back at the library, I put together the narrative report for the grant I co-wrote and get that mailed off. Call the winner of our weekly prize drawing for the middle school SRC and leave a message telling him he's won.

12-1pm - Lunch time!

1-4pm - On the reference desk. In between signing kids up and checking kids in for the summer reading club, here's a sampling of questions I was asked:

Where are the shark books?

J597.3

Do you have any novels about gymnastics?

She was already looking at the American Gold Gymnasts series, so I gave her The Gymnastics Mystery and Megan's Balancing Act. She took both.

What are some good books for 4th- and 5th-grade boys?

I handed her the lists we update every year for summer reading. We keep spiral bound copies at the reference desk and the SRC table.

What programs do you have in July?

Gave her a copy of our calendar and let her know the schedule's on the website as well.

Can I sign up to put my collection in a display case?

Absolutely! Signed her up to bring in a collection next year.

Do you have any books about the Jonas Brothers or Hannah Montana?

No to the Jonas Brothers, but yes to Hannah Montana. Showed her the books and also pointed out the High School Musical books which were one shelf down.

4:00pm - Back in the office, go over Wednesday's storytime with J, we pick out books to read and songs to sing

4:15 - Work on planning a middle school craft program we've scheduled for August. We're doing back-to-school crafts inspired by a couple of posts I read on The YA YA YAs

4:35 - Am starving, so take quick break to grab a donut in the staff room. Our new director started today, so there were donuts! Yay!

4:50 - Tidy up desk and make to-do list for tomorrow

5:00 - Time to go home!