The Summer-Reading-Club-Starts-Next-Week Version!
8:50am - Arrive at library. I am a tiny bit late because I forgot to set my alarm and I ignored my kitty cat alarm clock. That'll show me!
8:55am - Check email, look up email from teen librarian to make sure I have the right time for our middle school visit today. Respond to a nice email from a local homeschooling parent.
9:10am - Talk with staff member about her schedule, remind staff that we'll meet this afternoon about the Summer Reading Club. Chat with staff who are going on a school visit this morning and ask them to run a bunch of errands while they are out. (My employees are so awesome!)
9:15am - Grab some music from our CD collection and start listening to pick out the music I'll use for Mother Goose on the Loose this summer. I picked out several of the Putumayo children's CDs because I like to use music from a variety of cultures and in using children's music I can be sure that the songs are child-friendly even if I don't speak the language!
9:25am - While I'm listening to music and deciding which tracks to use, I make promotional signs for some of our summer programs. I'm not making signs for all of them, but just the programs that I think will need a little push.
10:15am - N comes down from the Business Office with a new print cartridge for us, so I install it in our printer.
10:20am - I continue working on the signs and music.
10:30am - I put together the registration sheets for our summer programs that require registration. Since we do not have a computer system, we use a binder at the reference desk with a file separator to show where each program's sheet is.
10:45am - I take a short break and then get my stuff together for the middle school visit I'm going on.
11:00am - I leave for one of our local middle schools.
11:25am - Arrive at middle school and meet our teen librarian in the office.
11:30am-2:00pm - We set up a table in the commons area outside the cafeteria where we will pass out information about our summer programs and sign up kids for the Summer Reading Club. Some of them have seen us before and they're very excited to sign up again. Other kids aren't so sure. This is the first year I've gone along on the middle school visits, and I'm trying to figure out how we can more effectively get the word out. Our Teen Summer Reading Club is fairly new still, and we're definitely always trying to improve it!
2:00pm - We leave the middle school and rendezvous at one of the high schools on the way back. We meet with the librarian, get a quick tour of their fantastic, remodeled library (I had never been there) and chat a little bit about the layoffs happening in our school district. We give her information about our summer programs so she can promote them with her students.
2:15pm - We get out just before the buses and head back to the library.
2:45pm - I get to the library and grab a quick snack before holding a meeting with my staff about the Summer Reading Club, which starts next week. I go over all the sign-up procedures with them and explain all the stuff the kids are going to get. We go over the prizes and what to do when the kids finish and bring their logs in. Then we take turns simulating a parent signing up for the reading club to make sure everyone's comfortable with what to do. My staff have great questions and they make me think about some things I hadn't thought about!
3:45pm - I am starving, so I run out and get some lunch/dinner!
4:30pm - I'm back from eating and I pull together some of the stuff for our TSI (Teen Scene Initiative) meeting. We always put out ARCs for the teens and we always have snacks.
4:45pm - Before our meeting gets started, I try to clear off my desk somewhat. I manage to make small piles, anyway...
5:15pm - TSI! We do various things with our TSI and this month, we asked the kids to help take down the eggs from the ceiling. With 12 or 13 kids, they got all the eggs taken down and put away in record time! And then we had pizza and some booktalks. :) Our meetings always go by so fast! I think we're going to try holding TSI every week in the fall and maybe then we'll have more time for fun stuff. :)
6:15pm - Eggs done, teens gone, I check my email one last time...
6:30pm - Long day... time to head home! (Especially since I have to be in extra early tomorrow for a Summer Reading Club visit at one of our elementary schools!)