4/28/08
3-7 pm
4 hours
I've discovered that one of my useful skills is finding books others can't seem to. I've impressed a few of the others with this a couple of times, and even myself! I'm very proud that I was able to do this, and it has boosted my confidence in my own competency. Shelving really helps you get to know the collection and which books might get put in the wrong spot. Understanding this fact has helped me to find books patrons are looking for multiple times. Keeping a watchful eye on books that have been placed on the shelves wrong, and pulling them right away also helps. Being aware of this helped me to find a book that even the Director couldn't pinpoint.
I'd noticed recently that there had been an unusual amount of 'lazy' shelving this month. Books shoved on top or in random empty spaces. I was sure to mention it because I was finding it really annoying how often it was happening. I personally think it was one of the newer volunteers, but I won't dare judge because I can't know for sure.
I was able to more quickly spot miss-shelved books, too. Even though I know the basic sections of the Dewy classification, I knew the shelves so well that I could take patrons directly to an area for what they were looking for. I could do this more than half the time without looking in the catalog for books. This internship experience has given me great confidence that as long as I'm alert in whatever position I get after graduation, I will get better and do well. I've always had trouble with my confidence and this experience has greatly helped me to realize all I need to do is gain an understanding and familiarity of the patrons and collection, as well as the needs of the community.
I was able to finish the Newberry's today. I was so happy to finally be done with the list. I'd made sure all the books (winners and honors) had stickers, as well as the sound recordings. If books were damaged, I passed them on to Cheryl. I gave her the list of which ones they didn't own, as well as the few that were checked out and hadn't been given a sticker.
The night was fairly busy with computer use and check outs, keeping Marie and me busy most of the time. I was glad that I got to sit at the main desk for a while as Marie did the holds. This was my last night and one of my favorite things to do was chat with the patrons
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
A busy monday
4/21/08 3-8pm
5 hours
My time today was packed full of things to do. I didn't have the Newberry list, so I moved on to doing Printz Awards stickers. This was a much smaller list so I was able to get the books done very quickly. Most of my other tasks were upkeep. I came across a few broken video cases, so I switched them out for new ones. I also put some blue tape (their color code for Juvenile Literature) on some new Non Fiction books. If there were any older copies of the new books, I had to take them off the shelf and give them to Cheryl.
I was excited to work on another display, this time for Earth Day. When I went to find books to set out, I discovered most of them were already checked out. So, I looked for some books about recycling and Earth care to set out.
I was able to help a patron find some maps he needed. While I was at the main circulation desk, I took care of fines people had to pay, a problem with a claimed return (one of the DVDs was on the shelf), and as always, of course, checking out items for patrons.
5 hours
My time today was packed full of things to do. I didn't have the Newberry list, so I moved on to doing Printz Awards stickers. This was a much smaller list so I was able to get the books done very quickly. Most of my other tasks were upkeep. I came across a few broken video cases, so I switched them out for new ones. I also put some blue tape (their color code for Juvenile Literature) on some new Non Fiction books. If there were any older copies of the new books, I had to take them off the shelf and give them to Cheryl.
I was excited to work on another display, this time for Earth Day. When I went to find books to set out, I discovered most of them were already checked out. So, I looked for some books about recycling and Earth care to set out.
I was able to help a patron find some maps he needed. While I was at the main circulation desk, I took care of fines people had to pay, a problem with a claimed return (one of the DVDs was on the shelf), and as always, of course, checking out items for patrons.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
4/15/08
4/15/08
5-8 pm
3 hours
Originally my reason for coming in on this day (since normally Tuesday evenings are well covered) were two-fold. It was Brian's birthday so he was taking off to celebrate and I was going to help by giving a short tour of the children's selection to a local Daisy troop. However the tour was canceled at the last minute. Cheryl also thought it would be good for me to see the evening story time being given by Mary Ann Owens.
Until the story time, I continued my task of finding Newberry winners and putting stickers on the spine. I covered the desk for a while as the other clerk did a few other tasks. Until the story time started, I checked books in and aided patrons in checking out their materials.
The story time began at 7pm. The library advertised it as "Stories From Around The World" with Mary Ann Owens. The attendees were the Daisy Troop that were going to come in early for the tour. Mary Ann's theme was Native American Stories. She had a small set up with a cloth that had a Native American pattern, small battery lights that looked like candles, Native American story telling dolls and one small tea light candle. The real candle was a wonderful mood setter.
I was glad Cheryl suggested watching because it's great experience to see different story telling styles. I liked this one because it felt like I was sitting around a camp fire. She didn't have any books, but were telling the stories from memory. The best thing that I think she did was involve the kids within the stories. She gave them parts and they got up and moved around as she directed them. They really enjoyed it. For her other story, she used stuffed animals and handpuppets to enact the tale.
After the story time, there wasn't much time left before closing. I returned to the circulation area to help finish checking people out and checking in returned items. The last half hour on a Monday night is always the busiest with last minute patrons.
5-8 pm
3 hours
Originally my reason for coming in on this day (since normally Tuesday evenings are well covered) were two-fold. It was Brian's birthday so he was taking off to celebrate and I was going to help by giving a short tour of the children's selection to a local Daisy troop. However the tour was canceled at the last minute. Cheryl also thought it would be good for me to see the evening story time being given by Mary Ann Owens.
Until the story time, I continued my task of finding Newberry winners and putting stickers on the spine. I covered the desk for a while as the other clerk did a few other tasks. Until the story time started, I checked books in and aided patrons in checking out their materials.
The story time began at 7pm. The library advertised it as "Stories From Around The World" with Mary Ann Owens. The attendees were the Daisy Troop that were going to come in early for the tour. Mary Ann's theme was Native American Stories. She had a small set up with a cloth that had a Native American pattern, small battery lights that looked like candles, Native American story telling dolls and one small tea light candle. The real candle was a wonderful mood setter.
I was glad Cheryl suggested watching because it's great experience to see different story telling styles. I liked this one because it felt like I was sitting around a camp fire. She didn't have any books, but were telling the stories from memory. The best thing that I think she did was involve the kids within the stories. She gave them parts and they got up and moved around as she directed them. They really enjoyed it. For her other story, she used stuffed animals and handpuppets to enact the tale.
After the story time, there wasn't much time left before closing. I returned to the circulation area to help finish checking people out and checking in returned items. The last half hour on a Monday night is always the busiest with last minute patrons.
Monday, March 31, 2008
March 2008
Wed the 5th 10-12
Sat the 8th 10-5
Tues the 11th 10-2
Wed the 12th 10-2
Thursday the 13th 10-2
Mon the 24th 3-8
Sat the 29th 10-3
Mon the 31st 3-8
Month Total: 47 Hours
One of the things that I did this month that I was really excited about was weeding. Cheryl let me work in the Fantasy section because she knew I loved that genre. It was also helpful because I'm aware of which fantasy books were more popular than others, or which ones are well written. Overall, I pulled between 20 and 30 books off the shelves. Cheryl and I decided that if books hadn't been checked out in the last three years that I should pull them. She'd make final decisions later. This job was a little bittersweet because I was taking books off the shelf that I know I would have liked to read when I would have the time, as well as ones I HAD read before and thought were really good. I was also looking for damaged books in need of replacing. I later asked Cheryl if I did the job well. I was worried about it since I'd never weeded before (and thought of getting rid of fiction books makes me sad). However, she alleviated my fears and told me I'd done a wonderful job, especially in finding the books that needed to be replaced.
This month I found myself sitting at the main circ desk a lot less than before. However it wasn't all that bad because the second desk was now reorganized and had stamps of their own so it would easier for both circ desks to share check out duty when the lines are long. I had also done less of notifying patrons of their holds, but more of pulling the hold list from the shelves. I Think this is because I was doing more days during the week when more workers came in, instead of on a weekend when it would be one circulation clerk and then me to help.
Brandywine's DVD collection has really been growing quickly lately. Cheryl is often getting new titles and patron requests to add to the library. She asked if I would re-arrange the DVDs and videos so that they used more of the shelves, but left space on the end for new and returning items. I was more than happy to do this. Part of me had wondered why so many shelves were empty in that area why some of the others were so packed.
When things get moved or new shelves come in, it makes me so happy when it makes better use of space. Another thing that was new that made my librarian heart happy was that the new magazine (the ones not allowed to circulate yet) were put into jackets. It would easier to tell which were the new issues while protecting them at the same time. I know it sounds silly, but it really makes the job easier.
This month I worked more with patrons, usually one on computers having trouble, but it helped me gain confidence. Most of the questions were about finding certain websites, or how to use different features of microsoft word. One of the more involved problems we had was a brandywine student trying to view a podcast from one of her teachers. It wouldn't load and when Marie couldn't figure it out, she asked me to help. I knew almost right away that the cast wouldn't play because the computer didn't have Quicktime installed. I've had trouble with that before. Though we had to wait 20 minutes for the software to download and install, that WAS the problem and the student and her mother were very greatful for he help.
Sat the 8th 10-5
Tues the 11th 10-2
Wed the 12th 10-2
Thursday the 13th 10-2
Mon the 24th 3-8
Sat the 29th 10-3
Mon the 31st 3-8
Month Total: 47 Hours
One of the things that I did this month that I was really excited about was weeding. Cheryl let me work in the Fantasy section because she knew I loved that genre. It was also helpful because I'm aware of which fantasy books were more popular than others, or which ones are well written. Overall, I pulled between 20 and 30 books off the shelves. Cheryl and I decided that if books hadn't been checked out in the last three years that I should pull them. She'd make final decisions later. This job was a little bittersweet because I was taking books off the shelf that I know I would have liked to read when I would have the time, as well as ones I HAD read before and thought were really good. I was also looking for damaged books in need of replacing. I later asked Cheryl if I did the job well. I was worried about it since I'd never weeded before (and thought of getting rid of fiction books makes me sad). However, she alleviated my fears and told me I'd done a wonderful job, especially in finding the books that needed to be replaced.
This month I found myself sitting at the main circ desk a lot less than before. However it wasn't all that bad because the second desk was now reorganized and had stamps of their own so it would easier for both circ desks to share check out duty when the lines are long. I had also done less of notifying patrons of their holds, but more of pulling the hold list from the shelves. I Think this is because I was doing more days during the week when more workers came in, instead of on a weekend when it would be one circulation clerk and then me to help.
Brandywine's DVD collection has really been growing quickly lately. Cheryl is often getting new titles and patron requests to add to the library. She asked if I would re-arrange the DVDs and videos so that they used more of the shelves, but left space on the end for new and returning items. I was more than happy to do this. Part of me had wondered why so many shelves were empty in that area why some of the others were so packed.
When things get moved or new shelves come in, it makes me so happy when it makes better use of space. Another thing that was new that made my librarian heart happy was that the new magazine (the ones not allowed to circulate yet) were put into jackets. It would easier to tell which were the new issues while protecting them at the same time. I know it sounds silly, but it really makes the job easier.
This month I worked more with patrons, usually one on computers having trouble, but it helped me gain confidence. Most of the questions were about finding certain websites, or how to use different features of microsoft word. One of the more involved problems we had was a brandywine student trying to view a podcast from one of her teachers. It wouldn't load and when Marie couldn't figure it out, she asked me to help. I knew almost right away that the cast wouldn't play because the computer didn't have Quicktime installed. I've had trouble with that before. Though we had to wait 20 minutes for the software to download and install, that WAS the problem and the student and her mother were very greatful for he help.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
March 12 - Story Time
Wed March 12th
9:30am-3pm
5.5 hours
Today I presented my story time for an audience. In fact, besides giving a few example story times in classes, this was my first real story time in front of kids and parents. I was nervous, maybe more so because I was being observed, but I felt it went well. I realized a few of my mistakes after word however. I forgot to use my rabbit puppet as much as I wanted and I didn't repeat the songs. I wanted to sing each song at least twice, but I only did them once. I felt that the volume of my voice was good, as well as my inflection and trying to do different voices for certain characters. Charlotte told me that she thinks storytelling is definitely in my future. That's a good thing to hear from someone who gives story times as part of their career. There is always room for improvement however. I'll need to add more movement and use more names of those who attend.
As far as getting ready for the story time, I began a week in advance. I searched for book titles and had some sent to Brandywine to pre-read. The songs and craft were chosen from the book “Storytimes for two-year-olds" by Judy Nichols. The most time consuming part of it was craft prep. I cut out all the bunny shapes myself. Charlotte told me that I could have left the cut outs for volunteers, but I didn't know when they were coming in and I just felt better taking care of it myself.
9:30am-3pm
5.5 hours
Today I presented my story time for an audience. In fact, besides giving a few example story times in classes, this was my first real story time in front of kids and parents. I was nervous, maybe more so because I was being observed, but I felt it went well. I realized a few of my mistakes after word however. I forgot to use my rabbit puppet as much as I wanted and I didn't repeat the songs. I wanted to sing each song at least twice, but I only did them once. I felt that the volume of my voice was good, as well as my inflection and trying to do different voices for certain characters. Charlotte told me that she thinks storytelling is definitely in my future. That's a good thing to hear from someone who gives story times as part of their career. There is always room for improvement however. I'll need to add more movement and use more names of those who attend.
As far as getting ready for the story time, I began a week in advance. I searched for book titles and had some sent to Brandywine to pre-read. The songs and craft were chosen from the book “Storytimes for two-year-olds" by Judy Nichols. The most time consuming part of it was craft prep. I cut out all the bunny shapes myself. Charlotte told me that I could have left the cut outs for volunteers, but I didn't know when they were coming in and I just felt better taking care of it myself.
Theme: Spring and Rabbits
Opening song: To the Library we go
First story: Busy bunnies by
First song: Little flower
2nd Story: Hopper hunts for spring by Marcus Pfister
2nd Song: Hop hop hoppy
3rd story: Home for a bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
3rd song: Here is a bunny
4th story: Rabbit’s Good News by Ruth Lercher Bornstein
4th song: Five little bunnies
Craft: The Rabbit Hole – A paper bunny is colored then taped to a straw. The straw goes into a hole in the bottom of a cup. The bunny goes down into the cup so it is hiding in a ‘Rabbit Hole.’ Moving the straw up and down makes it look like the bunny is hopping around.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
March 8th
March 8th / Sat / 10 am - 5 pm
In the morning I began by checking in items from the drop boxes. I spent an hour looking for the books I'd searched for to use in my story time. To my dissapointment, many of them could not be found, but luckily I found some possibilities by just browsing through titles.
After using the Horizon search to look for books, I really decided I didn't like it. Before I found it hard to use and inconvienant, but now it was frustrating. Sometimes I just want to know what Brandywine has - but I have to go through all the results to find the titles available - which can be time consuming. I also kept getting logged out a lot. I also didn't know there was a limit on items you could put on hold - which i discovered while looking for good books to read for storytime. Since I'm a regular user type I was limited to 10 titles. Charlotte has gotten many more than that in the past but I bet that's because she's a children's librarian.
It was a very slow day, which isn't normal for a saturday. It was pouring heavily for most of the day so we figured there wouldn't be many people coming and going. It made for less shelving and more of a chance to get some tasks done around the desk (like refilling staplers). Lynn also got a new set of phones, the types with handsets that can synchronize and be used around a large area. This will be very convienent for all the work stations
I replaced more broken CD cases, most of them from the YA section today. I found some artists (like Janice Joplin and the rolling stones) which could have been in the regular section and Linda agreed with me. There were also quite a few that had new lables which were deffinately not new, so I removed the lables and the new tags in the system.
I also spent a little over 2 hours shelf reading the non-fiction section. I skipped around to the most used sections which were in dire need of help! (Cooking, Sports, Poetry, Religon)
In the morning I began by checking in items from the drop boxes. I spent an hour looking for the books I'd searched for to use in my story time. To my dissapointment, many of them could not be found, but luckily I found some possibilities by just browsing through titles.
After using the Horizon search to look for books, I really decided I didn't like it. Before I found it hard to use and inconvienant, but now it was frustrating. Sometimes I just want to know what Brandywine has - but I have to go through all the results to find the titles available - which can be time consuming. I also kept getting logged out a lot. I also didn't know there was a limit on items you could put on hold - which i discovered while looking for good books to read for storytime. Since I'm a regular user type I was limited to 10 titles. Charlotte has gotten many more than that in the past but I bet that's because she's a children's librarian.
It was a very slow day, which isn't normal for a saturday. It was pouring heavily for most of the day so we figured there wouldn't be many people coming and going. It made for less shelving and more of a chance to get some tasks done around the desk (like refilling staplers). Lynn also got a new set of phones, the types with handsets that can synchronize and be used around a large area. This will be very convienent for all the work stations
I replaced more broken CD cases, most of them from the YA section today. I found some artists (like Janice Joplin and the rolling stones) which could have been in the regular section and Linda agreed with me. There were also quite a few that had new lables which were deffinately not new, so I removed the lables and the new tags in the system.
I also spent a little over 2 hours shelf reading the non-fiction section. I skipped around to the most used sections which were in dire need of help! (Cooking, Sports, Poetry, Religon)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Feruary 2008
Feb 9th (Sat) /12-5pm/ 5 hours
Feb 11th (Mon) / 3-8pm / 5 hours
Feb 16th (Sat) / 10am - 5pm / 7 hours
Feb 28th (Thur) / 10-11:30 am / 1.5 hours
A lot of my time this month was spent with upkeep and repairs, as well as doing the normal circulation tasks. One of the jobs I had that was ongoing was CD case repair. I pulled damaged cases from the CD racks and sat down with replacements. There were more broken cases than new ones so the job had to be split over a few days after some more new ones were dug out of storage. A few times I had to remove labels and barcodes from the cases. I moved them onto the CD insert so if a new case is ever needed, the labels can be transfered more easily. A few times, due to how some of the newer cases were opened, I had to copy the insert cover and slip the new picture into the case so the patron could see it. Some other jobs I was given were putting genre stickers on children's books and repairing more rips and tears in pages. I found I liked these small jobs because I could get many of them accomplished in one day.
I also did a lot of shelf reading this month. I worked heavily in the regular fiction and non-fiction collections. Shelf organization can be a difficult task for librarians who rely on volunteers to shelve for them. Some don't always know the proper way, or others might get confused where certain items might need to go, or can simply misread a label and put it in the wrong place. I always like to work in fiction, mainly because I get to see what titles there are that I may want to read. I alphabetized first by the author's last name, and then their first names, making sure all of the books were where they should be. I think that task is a lot easier than reading in a non-fiction section. Authors names are usually on the spine and easily visible. In non-fiction, the dewy numbers wrap around the spine and sometimes on the cover so you can't see them easily. And the non-fiction was a lot messier and out of order, as well as packed tight onto the shelves. I started in the back because others had been shelf reading from the beginning dewy section, so there was no point of me doing it again. I was pulling out stray books all over the place - they were so out of order! I remember going back the next day to do more shelving and once again things were out of order. It sometimes feels like an almost futile attempt if it gets messed up again so quickly, but if you don't keep up with it, who knows how bad it could become.
It's not an exciting thing for most people, but when you get more shelving in an area that is packed with books... The teen section shelves were always very tight and it was a struggle to find places to put the overflow. A new set of shelves in the area made me very happy, especially because they were lower and books could be displayed on top. There is a bit of space o one of the walls to display the new books, but it is partially hidden by the other shelves and not always noticeable. A book display is my favorite way to promote good books that may usually get passed over.
I really enjoyed being able to witness one of Charlotte's lapsits. I've always enjoyed reading and playing with infants and toddlers. At this particular one, there were toddlers between one and two years old with their moms. The parents were very attentive and enthusiastic. They held their children or helped them with hand motions during the songs and pointed out different items to them when they had the chance. The theme was about airplanes, which I thought was perfect for the kids (two boys and one girl). Besides airplanes, the books included different kind of vehicles like trucks, buses and even a space shuttle. It was a great educational start to different types of travel.
Her program included a puppet, songs, books, noise making toys, and a stand to display son lyrics for the parents. She started off very personable and asked everyone how they were and if things at home were going well, so they all had a chance to chat with one another.Charlotte
Grand total hours: 55.5
Feb 11th (Mon) / 3-8pm / 5 hours
Feb 16th (Sat) / 10am - 5pm / 7 hours
Feb 28th (Thur) / 10-11:30 am / 1.5 hours
A lot of my time this month was spent with upkeep and repairs, as well as doing the normal circulation tasks. One of the jobs I had that was ongoing was CD case repair. I pulled damaged cases from the CD racks and sat down with replacements. There were more broken cases than new ones so the job had to be split over a few days after some more new ones were dug out of storage. A few times I had to remove labels and barcodes from the cases. I moved them onto the CD insert so if a new case is ever needed, the labels can be transfered more easily. A few times, due to how some of the newer cases were opened, I had to copy the insert cover and slip the new picture into the case so the patron could see it. Some other jobs I was given were putting genre stickers on children's books and repairing more rips and tears in pages. I found I liked these small jobs because I could get many of them accomplished in one day.
I also did a lot of shelf reading this month. I worked heavily in the regular fiction and non-fiction collections. Shelf organization can be a difficult task for librarians who rely on volunteers to shelve for them. Some don't always know the proper way, or others might get confused where certain items might need to go, or can simply misread a label and put it in the wrong place. I always like to work in fiction, mainly because I get to see what titles there are that I may want to read. I alphabetized first by the author's last name, and then their first names, making sure all of the books were where they should be. I think that task is a lot easier than reading in a non-fiction section. Authors names are usually on the spine and easily visible. In non-fiction, the dewy numbers wrap around the spine and sometimes on the cover so you can't see them easily. And the non-fiction was a lot messier and out of order, as well as packed tight onto the shelves. I started in the back because others had been shelf reading from the beginning dewy section, so there was no point of me doing it again. I was pulling out stray books all over the place - they were so out of order! I remember going back the next day to do more shelving and once again things were out of order. It sometimes feels like an almost futile attempt if it gets messed up again so quickly, but if you don't keep up with it, who knows how bad it could become.
It's not an exciting thing for most people, but when you get more shelving in an area that is packed with books... The teen section shelves were always very tight and it was a struggle to find places to put the overflow. A new set of shelves in the area made me very happy, especially because they were lower and books could be displayed on top. There is a bit of space o one of the walls to display the new books, but it is partially hidden by the other shelves and not always noticeable. A book display is my favorite way to promote good books that may usually get passed over.
I really enjoyed being able to witness one of Charlotte's lapsits. I've always enjoyed reading and playing with infants and toddlers. At this particular one, there were toddlers between one and two years old with their moms. The parents were very attentive and enthusiastic. They held their children or helped them with hand motions during the songs and pointed out different items to them when they had the chance. The theme was about airplanes, which I thought was perfect for the kids (two boys and one girl). Besides airplanes, the books included different kind of vehicles like trucks, buses and even a space shuttle. It was a great educational start to different types of travel.
Her program included a puppet, songs, books, noise making toys, and a stand to display son lyrics for the parents. She started off very personable and asked everyone how they were and if things at home were going well, so they all had a chance to chat with one another.
Grand total hours: 55.5
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Brandywine December through January
December 29th (Sat) / 10 - 5 / 7 hours
January 3rd (Thur) / 12 - 5 / 5 hours
January 5th (Sat) /10 - 5 / 7 hours
January 26th (Sat) / 10 - 3:30 / 5.5 hours
Grand total hours: 37
January 3rd (Thur) / 12 - 5 / 5 hours
January 5th (Sat) /10 - 5 / 7 hours
January 26th (Sat) / 10 - 3:30 / 5.5 hours
I began to worry a little bit when I felt like I was constantly shelving in January. I didn’t want to be treated as just another volunteer. I was feeling disappointed that I wasn’t doing more professional activities. I did understand the fact I wasn’t staff and they were in dire need to have items shelved however. They also hired Brian so there was another staff member to help take care of necessities. So I decided to hold off on saying anything until I felt it had gone too far. Fortunately once the shelving back up had greatly dwindled, I was back to doing things I thought were more useful to the learning process. I found them helpful as the sort of things that need to be done, but I know they had me do them because they were the kind of tasks they normally couldn’t get to right away. Such things included minor repairs like torn pages in children’s books and becoming more familiar with the circulation system. I learned how to find items in the system, put items on hold for patrons, what procedure to follow if someone doesn’t have their card (or if someone comes to pick up a hold for a family member) and take care of fines. I’ve also taken the holdings list and pulled the items from the shelves.
Brita left her position as assistant director mid January (which made me sad because I loved how independent she made me feel in my tasks) and
I went through the process of signing up a new patron for a library card and creating an Inter library loan record. I only did each once so I know I’d like to see it again (or at least write down the steps) so I can remember to do it.
The children’s librarian, Charlotte has story times on Wednesday mornings and lapsits on Thursday mornings. I really enjoyed sitting in on a lapsit because the kids there were adorable. I also loved seeing how she presented stories and educational material to the parents and their children. She usually has a theme during the half hour sitting (music and sounds, air planes, animals, etc) and reads 2 or three short books and incorporates songs, finger plays and movement. One of the songs she did was Jingle Bells and she passed around these small toys called shaky eggs which make a rattling sound. It was obvious they were a normal part of the lapsits because the parents and children especially were happy to use them. She uses a lot of repetition within the sit and every week. The parents knew the songs (but she still had visuals up with the words to be followed along) and though the children were to young to speak, I could tell they recognized them. A few could follow along with hand motions. I loved how
After Christmas was over I helped to take down decorations and pack them away. We took down all the holiday books on display and I got to create a new book display about Martin Luther King Jr. I included adult, teen and children level biographies and non-fiction materials, as well as books on the civil-rights movement and diversity. After Martin Luther King Jr day was over, I got to do another small display until they thought of a new theme. I collected books about winter and winter sports.
Grand total hours: 37
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Brandywine Day 2
Thursday, Dec 27
10-3:30
5.5 hours
Because of the time I was at the library (close to and after the holidays) they didn’t have a lot of volunteers coming in. They usually depend heavily on their volunteers to do the shelving so they can take care of everything else - like holds, helping patrons, circulation, calls, and helping patrons. Because there was a small staff at the time and little time for them to do shelving, they asked if I would do that. Because there was a lot of back up on the carts (at least 3 full ones and a lot of returns were coming in steadily), I spent a lot of my time shelving over the next few days. It really felt like I didn’t get ahead and my lower back isn’t very strong (because of a childhood injury) so I had to go slower when the constant up and down strained my muscles. I alternated between shelving and checking in returned items.
Grand total hours : 12.5
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Brandywine
Saturday, December 22
10 am to 5 pm
7 hours
On my first day at the
I also learned how to use CafeZ. It’s a program on the main circulation computer that control the computer stations. After you scan a patron’s card to make sure they have signed an internet agreement, you start a session for the numbered computer that they’d like to use. You can input the amount of time they’d like to have, the default time being an hour, before the session ends and the computer becomes locked. It’s a newer system. They used to have a sign up sheet. The computer program better monitors how often and for how long the computers are used.
Another thing I got to do was call patrons who had items on hold. I also got to sit at the circ desk and check out patrons when they were leaving.
I really enjoyed working with Brita because she understood that I had a grasp on how things worked and what had to be done. She also knew that the point of my internship was to learn professional activities and have a chance to do a lot of different activities. It felt like she was treating me as an equal while I was learning their way about things.
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