8:30am - Arrive at work, grab Cybils nominee book from downstairs (Aurelia by Anne Osterlund), return a CD, and head upstairs. Turn on computer, put away lunch, greet coworkers.
8:45a - Head into story room to prep for storytime with M. Look over the books we've planned, decide who will do what, pick out a song.
9:15a - Finish prepping the room by setting up easel for felt board, pulling browsing books.
9:30a - Brief staff meeting. We get a tour of the new RFID check-in device. It is super cool. I could watch it all day, except, well, I have work to do. :)
10:15a - Back in the office, browse carts of new books. When new books arrive, we keep them on carts in our office for a few days (if any have holds they go on to circ). It's important to keep up with what's new, browse new picture books for storytime possibilities, etc.
10:50a - To story room for final prep (pick out a CD for the few minutes between when we open the door and when we start reading, look over books one last time).
11:00-11:30a - Drop In Storytime for ages 2-5. We read Raise the Roof by Anastasia Suen, Sheep Out to Eat by Nancy Shaw, Silly Sally (big book) by Audrey Wood, Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems, Let's Go Visiting by Sue Williams, and do the song Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and a felt story of Blue Rabbit and Friends. As you can see, we typically don't stick to themes for our storytimes.
11:30a - Say goodbye to kids and caregivers, clean up room, record the books we used. We may use a few very favorites more often, but we try not to repeat the same books for 18 months or so. Nothing wrong with favorites, but it's nice to discover new books at the library, too.
11:40a - Back in the office. Start filling out graphics requests for the Preschool Fair. Last year our PF was in November, but this year we're moving it to January. I put in requests for signs and flyers to advertise the fair.
12:40p - Lunch time! I start reading Aurelia while I eat.
1:40p - Back from lunch, I return an email from a preschool teacher and discuss Newbery contenders with coworkers.
2:00p - We gather to meet with a rep from a publisher. She brings samples of some of their new titles so we can browse and select which books we'd like to order. She also answers any questions we have and asks for our feedback.
3:00p - Back at my desk, I check email and talk to coworker J about a performer coming next month.
3:15p - Fill out weeding slips for the last of the audiobook cassettes. We still have a few left on the shelves, but not many.
3:30p - Work on preschool loan bags about fall, Halloween, and make believe.
4:00-5:00p - On desk. I answer the following questions:
I need biographical information about this person for a certain grade level.
Where are books about these specific animals?
Do you have these DVDs?
I need CD-ROMS on a certain subject.
5:00p - Time to go home!