Day Three--Children's Room, Baby Bookworms, Main Desk

9:00 am - 2:00 pm
5 hours
15 hours to date

Today, I began the day in the Children's room, located in the basement of the library. There, Kimberly showed me many of the procedures and routines of the children's section. I learned how to check in and check out books, procedures for managing bookdrop, rerouting phone calls to the cell phone, where to place specific groups of books on the J cart or E cart, managing holds, and the locations of various types of materials in the Children's room. In this area, the following separate sections exist: parent resource materials, videos, easy readers, picture books, juvenile fiction, biographies, non-fiction, packet/audio-visual materials, magazines, computers, play area, display above ramp. I also had the privilege of helping Halee set up the classroom for a group of 1-year-olds, the Baby Bookworms. I helped set up the room for refreshments and crafts and helped to supervise the program. Approximately 12 children attended, accompanied by a parent/grandparent. Usually, this program consists of a story time and a craft or activity, but today, it was a special Valentine's Day party. The children made a valentine using paint, stickers, and construction paper. They also ate a snack together--cupcakes, pretzels, teddy grahams, cheese cubes, and a juice drink. The kids and the parents also exchanged Valentine cards and everyone seemed to have fun. Halee and I discussed the possibility that I may be able to help out with toddler story time on Tuesdays. This activity was fun and I really enjoyed being involved. I met and talked with several of the parents, grandparents, and kids. As a parent, I can appreciate this kind of activity for young children. It provides the opportunity for children and their caregivers to engage in a structured activity with other kids of similar age. Many children do not have frequent interaction with other kids their age, when they do not attend a daycare, so this type of program provides that special opportunity for social interaction as well as helping to expose children and their parents to books and the library's services.

After spending the morning in the Children's room, I went upstairs to help out at the main desk. I learned more about helping patrons to print from computers and did a good deal of shelving fiction. In the paperback section, there were several rows that were in need of some major rearranging because they had become so out of order that it was difficult to place anything. So I did what I could to remedy problems in those areas. It is an impossible expectation to expect perfect order and accuracy with shelving, especially when patrons often re-shelve books as they are browsing. When it becomes difficult to re-shelve because there are so many books out of place, order really must become a priority. I made final plans to attend the annual Friends of the Library Author's luncheon that will take place tomorrow. Several members of the library staff will also be attending. I am excited to be able to attend.