Lisa A. Raney

This past week was a fantastic work week, with Thursday being the icing on the proverbial cake. Because there are so many different roles a librarian plays, no day is ever the same. I find this to be especially true in public libraries.

Some background: I have my MLS, but currently work 3-hourshifts in a literacy outreach position with children. I help with homework,interact with the children through educational and fun games, pose a question each Thursday for discussion and/or written reflection, and assist the Children’s Librarian with weekly programming. Since I am embedded within the children’s space in the library, I often get pulled away by library patrons and will help them with reference questions if I am not working with a student. There's a lot of flux in this position, but it’s something that keeps me on my toes and allows me to interact with the community. It also gives me unique insights into the user experience.

On Thursday, I started my shift by chatting with two of my regulars who were already sitting at my regular table when I walked in. One of them showed me her report card, and I noted that she had brought her grades up in two classes and is now rocking all A’s with the exception of a B in Music. They left soon after, and from there I assisted a child with the Early Literacy Station.Because there were no children in my area other than the one on the ELS, I decided to do a quick sweep of the library and found a student who needed help with math. We read over the instructions and went over the example problem a few times. From there we walked her through a few problems until she started to get a hang of them (V=Bh).

After that, I returned to the children’s area and started a student on a Spiderman jigsaw puzzle. I checked up on the girls with their homework (math finished, science not), and waved goodbye to one of my regulars as she left for the day.

I was pulled away to help a child find and unlock the bathroom. When he came back up, I spoke with his mother and discovered that he had homework that he needed help with. It was a double-sided worksheet on which he had to circle triangles and circles. When we finished the homework, we started working on the Spiderman puzzle that the child I had worked with earlier hadn’t had time to finish.

Another boy joined us. He was focused on cutting out and assembling a paper bus, which he later gave me as a present. The three of us chatted and discussed my Thursday question of the day.

I spent the good part of the next hour going back and forth between helping the boy with his jigsaw puzzle and his brother who was using the Early Literacy Station, helping him close out of games and providing instruction on maneuvering the mouse.

That made up the rest of my afternoon - except for when I assisted the boy who had earlier been cutting out buses. He needed help on the computers, too.

Somewhere in those three hours, I had the opportunity to meet one of my regular student’s older sisters, had brief conversations with library patrons and co-workers, and read an Encyclopedia article about cephalopods.