A recent post by a friend about the rigors of his job made me stop and think about mine, working in the Children's Room of a public library. One slow night I had someone remark to me as she left the Children's Room, "I'd sure love to have your job, just sitting around reading." This from a woman I had asked two or three times if I could help. Yes, I was reading a book. I lead an online book discussion. I was actually having to take notes on it, which takes some of the fun out of reading, I must tell you.
But what do I actually do besides sitting there watching people search aimlessly for some unnamed book?
I read children's books to children. I teach them fingerplays, tell them stories using a flannelboard or puppets, sing songs and dance with them, hug them when they leave. It all sounds idyllic, doesn't it? We have many people who come in who want to help by "reading stories to the children." It looks so easy.
But I'm working with pre-school kids, kids with the attention span of a gnat. This isn't the cozy, one-on-one reading you've done with your own child. This is a roomful (sometimes) of strangers aged three to four, and though one year doesn't sound like a lot, developmentally it can be a Grand Canyon. I have to be prepared to drop something that isn't working and move on to something that does. I have to be prepared for anything - such as vomiting children. There's a storytime stopper if ever I saw one.
Although I have boasted that you could turn me loose in a strange (to me) library and in five minutes I could put together a half hour storytime, that's only because I've been doing this for sixteen years. My head can now pinpoint a familiar book or story, pull relevant peripherals from my memory, arrange it all and spew it out with verve and ... whatever. However, that is all built on the back of using pre-existing flannelboards, fingerplays, etc. and reading books on doing storytimes and creating new flannelboards etc. that I like better or that will fit with some theme. [Here I plug
The flannel board storytelling book by Judy Sierra once again as being the absolute best and the blog
Mel's Desk for more great ideas.]
And I do puppet shows. These are programs I have created from scratch (well, using existing picture book stories I think lend themselves to puppet dialog): laying down audio with voice characterizations (I'm not exactly Mel Blanc, but you get the idea), sound effects, music (much provided by my brother-in-law), a sing-along in the middle; making props, puppets, and stage dressing; not to mention kicking the ankles of my assistants when they are too slow exiting puppets from the scene. You won't believe the energy that goes into one of these. But they are all recorded, so they can be put on again and again or remixed with each other or new stories to freshen them.
Lately I've been in charge of programming for homeschoolers, something I really enjoy because it involves school-age kids. You can do so much more with them. We've had programs ranging from Ancient Egypt to Geology, which key into my own interests in archaeology and science stuff. Okay, so maybe that's just too much fun.
This season I've been spared the monthly craft activities that have to be multi-age friendly, but I'm still doing crafts with the homeschooler programs and the branch storytimes.
And this is just the fun stuff.
Then there is the sitting at the desk for hours at a time trying to help people who don't know what they're looking for half the time and you have to tease the information out of them with the Reference Interview. I know all librarians have anecdotes about someone who comes in and says they're looking for one thing but actually they wanted something completely different, they just didn't know how to ask for it. Insert your favorite anecdote here.
Part of my job is finding a book for someone to read that they will enjoy. I have my own bad experiences with that, so I'm careful. "What was the last book you read that you really liked?" "A dog book? Do you want a dog
story or
true stuff about dogs?"
While out there I have to monitor computer usage. Children have to show me a library card to get on the computers, but most of them just go sit down and start playing so I have to ask them for their card and make them come to the desk and sign up. I also have to refuse this activity to kids who don't have a valid card or one with too many fines on them (which, of course, is not their fault because they can't drive to the library, can they?) in some way that doesn't humiliate or traumatize them. "Oh, honey, have your mommy take this card to the big desk and get it fixed first, okay?"
Then there is the state-of-the-art printer/copier I have to help people use that makes me want to beat my head against the wall. If you even lightly brush the screen, you'll make some hideous change and 30 copies will come out wrong. "You want to make two-sided copies? On
this machine? Let me take this in the back. We have a machine back there that will do it automatically."
They come to the Children's Room for lamination because the machine is closest to our door. "You want how many pages laminated? You do know that it's a dollar a foot, right?"
We are in a new library and many people just want to wander through and look it over. Well, adults are not supposed to be wandering around in the Children's Room, so I give them mini-tours and then send them on their way to "see the upstairs!" This, at least, gets me off my duff. They have to be politely reminded (or informed) that there are bathrooms, copiers, computers, etc. for adults elsewhere in the library. As taxpayers they are owed some courtesy, aren't they? I remind them that if they have purchased anything in the county, the sales tax is helping to pay for the library and I thank them for that. Now, run along and see the view of North Main Street from the rotunda upstairs.
At the same time, although I'm 57 and chronically depressed, I have to be bright, helpful, and charming. I have to remember how I would like to be treated if I were in this situation. I've had a store owner complain about how her customers mess up her organization while I was still standing there. Did I purchase anything in that store? Oh, no! I'll be
nice to my patrons who want to stick things back any old way. I use the old "I have to check that in as 'in-house use' first!" wheeze. I stop to show kids that the spine needs to be pointing out and while I'm there, show how to mark where the book came from so it can go back in the same place (assuming that we put it away in the right place to begin with) and then give them the option of letting me put it away.
Believe me, it's exhausting. I can be totally zoned out when I get home. Heck, I can be just staring into space while at the desk.
I am not 100% happy all the time at my job, but it is the best job in the world ... for me anyway. I hope you taxpayers think it's worthwhile.
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