Life on the Ref Desk

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.

Settling Down and Keying Up

After a few weeks settling in Manassas, VA I've had a few more changes happen. Just yesterday I got a placement in the Gainesville Library for a volunteership. I start on June 17th and will be coming in for 4 hours every week on Thursday. My friends in the area say that it's a very small library and the Volunteer Coordinator for Prince William County assures me that the need there is great. I'm very excited to start.

In the past few weeks I've had two professional interviews: one for a children's librarian in MD and one for an academic library in VA. I was rejected for both of them, but I remain optimistic and continue to apply for jobs daily. I wanted to start a tally for the number of jobs I've applied for each day, but I find it more productive to keep track of interviews I receive instead. I haven't yet started beating the roads yet with my resume, though I did see a man in the Bull Run Library doing the same thing. I felt a hint of sympathy for him because he came in very nicely dressed with an attache case, asking for work. The woman behind the information desk politely informed him that there weren't any positions available at the moment, but that he can look into volunteering with the library instead. A few places I'm looking at in Manassas are Barnes & Noble or McCabe's Used Books, possibly working part time or volunteering to help shelve. We'll see how it goes.

ALA Annual is in a little over two weeks. I'm very excited and nervous so I've been stocking up on information to prep. I've saved event calendars for Public Libraries Association (PLA), YALSA, and ALSC. I don't know how many events I'm going to be able to go to along with visiting the Job Fair, but I at least want to have the information. I'm trying to get a friend to let me spend a night in her DC apartment so I can save a few bucks on commuting.

I've left both my part-time job and volunteer position in Maryland. The commute from Manassas takes about an hour and it's become too stressful, specifically when I have to fight traffic every day. Both of my employers seem very understanding and support the fact that I've relocated and need to find work where I am now.

I'm feeling very relaxed since graduating. I realize that I'm not going to get a full time job tomorrow and don't need to stress myself out trying to find one, but I am open to the possibility. Until then I can only take things one day at a time and continue to network the DC Libraries, JMU, and UMD.

Why I'm here

Volunteering for Maryland Day at the University of Maryland this afternoon, I was confronted with one of the reasons why I decided to become a librarian in the first place. On the second leg of my volunteer stint I joined two graduate students in front of Hornbake. There was a carpet set up, a swivel chair, and a ring of books to be read. I picked up a few and read it to a very critical audience of a two-year old girl. A Spanish girl joined us a few minutes later, but she wanted to leave halfway through the story. The next group of girls were two boys and a girl. Their parents stared at me as I read a Chinese fable about how there is only one sun in the sky. The kids were very quiet and transfixed as I read, though I'm not sure if they were actually hearing what I was saying. I tried to engage them with voices and read the story slowly. That look on their face, transfixed, their eyes wide as I read made me realize why I love being a librarian and why I still want to work with kids one day, hopefully with a more participatory group, though.

Volunteering business

I've completed my paperwork and the process has been started to run my background check, once again, so that I may volunteer with the DC Public Library. I don't know where they will put me yet but I am excited to be a part of a DC library, however I can help.

I'm still volunteering in Maryland helping run a Conversation Club for community members and patrons who want to brush up and improve their English. I'm only volunteering once a month now. Last week the numbers reached incredible proportions with 11 participants (more than I've ever had). It was a bit daunting but I've found that if you let them lead the discussion they'll run with it.

Upon confirming my eventual departure to Manassas, VA I'm looking for libraries to volunteer around there, as well as in Fairfax. Though nothing definite until I make the move from MD to VA I saw that most libraries in Manassas want at least a six month commitment.

DC Public Library

I was interviewed a few days ago by Carrie Wolfson, the head of the Volunteer Corps at the DC Public Library. I told her I was planning on moving to Manassas in July and am trying to dig my heels into working in the DC, NOVA area. By volunteering at branches in DC this will get me into the city. After discussing where I would be best suited to volunteer, I requested to be put on a rotating basis within the main branch, she gave me a tour of the library. I was thoroughly impressed by the library and its departments but did not think the Teen Room was big enough. Because of its size volunteers are not needed there very often as it's only staffed by one person. I am eager to try my hand in all the special collections, science, humanities, teens, circulation, and children departments. She gave me a list of events such as the DC Big Read and ALA Annual where I might be able to help.

The best part about Carrie was her advice to me that instead of working in a bookstore I apply at D.C. Learns. D.C. LEARNs works with adult and family literacy programs here in the District to raise public awareness of literacy issues. This lead to me to look at a Literacy*Americorps for a possible job. Getting involved with literacy organizations doesn't seem like a bad idea since the budget crisis is effecting libraries in VA and DC so terribly.