I was on The Desk the other day, which is to say it's the Reference Desk, the Desk where people ding hello or wait for you to stand around and notice them, or the Desk where people give their two cents. The strangest comment I heard came from a little boy who walked by me muttering, "There's a baby crawling around the library." I left the desk to investigate and did indeed find an infant crawling between fiction and young adult. Her mother was staring transfixed at some fiction titles. I went back to the desk thinking I'd never seen a baby crawl that fast.
While I'm on the desk, mothers and babysitters alike descend upon the library in one massive convergence to sign their children up for summer reading or apply for library cards. Now and again we'll get a very opinionated patron who wants to give her two cents on the .25 fine to reserve a book that's being instituted in September. I think one of the staff members told her, "Well, the library lost 1.5 million dollars in the budget last quarter so we had to come up with a unique way to charge patrons money that would make sense." I had a discussion about charging for holds with a librarian in DC during an informational interview. I told him I didn't think it was fair but he reminded me of the cost to transport holds from library to library and half of the time the patrons don't even pick them up. At least if they start charging, perhaps patrons will be more selective about which titles they choose.
Between shelving, pushing tiny carts around narrow shelves, and working the cash register I am having way too much fun at this volunteership. The ladies who work there have dubbed me "the Barefoot Librarian." Every week I stay a little longer past my 3 hour volunteer time slot to make sure I'm not leaving them with too much work. I love finding books in the free bin, leaving books in the free bin and seeing them disappear during my shift, checking out books to myself as patrons hand them in (yay Stephen King), and drinking coffee. I am so lucky to be able to work here, even if it's volunteering.
What you do as a volunteer were my favorite parts of working at my old library. And I guarantee that you'll have the same "likes" when you get hired somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWhat Stephen King novel was it?
Yay for coffee!!
His new one about the bubble? Under the Dome!
ReplyDeleteSee, these are all signs that you are meant to do what you studied for. And before long, it will turn into a paid career. Obviously you have the chops to stick it out until then. The fact that you already have so many anecdotes to recall is a good sign. I had none of this joy when I was teaching, even the positive moments seemed like only brief respite. It's very nice to hear you're enjoying yourself.
ReplyDelete