Here's a day from a couple of weeks ago...!
11:45am - Arrive at work, put stuff away. Chat with staff about how the morning's programs went (one staff person went to visit three classes at a local preschool, another staff member presented preschool storytime at the library).
12:00pm - On desk. After the storytime crowd dissipates, it's pretty slow, so I straighten up the computer headphones and refill displays. While I'm on desk, I help a young patron find books about Chinese characters (we actually had a surprising number of them!).
12:15pm - Check email and realize that several teens have requested to sign up for the Zombie Prom via Facebook, but all the spots are taken. I give the bad news and devise a plan to give out free books to any teen who mentions that they saw me or the Teen Scene on Facebook.
1:30pm - My staff's all back from lunch and meetings and I grab the materials for next week's storytime so we can go over them. We also discuss a few storytime-related items.
2:00pm - I go upstairs to turn in my registration information for ALA Midwinter and discover that the library is going to cover my hotel and airfare in addition to my registration. I'm so thankful to have such a supportive administrative staff at my library! I know I'm quite lucky. :)
2:20pm - I meet with my boss and fill her in on Zombie Prom and various other goings-on.
3:00pm - I'm back in my office, working on music for Zombie Prom. I'm creating mix CDs with fun dance/hanging out music.
4:00pm - Break time!
5:00pm - Back from break, I chat with one of my staff members about things that need to happen to get ready for Zombie Prom. (Zombie Prom is taking over my life at this point...)
5:15 - 8:30pm - On desk. Tonight's a great night for reference questions and I answer the following:
- A homeschooling family just moved to the area and I told them all about our programs, local homeschooling resources, and gave them a tour of the library and my business card so they can contact me with questions or requests any time.
- A request for fractured fairy tales
- A request for what order the Warriors series go in and a list of all the books in each of the series
- A request for appealing nonfiction for a boy whose teacher told him to branch out into reading nonfiction. I gave him How to Survive Being Lost at Sea (and others in that series), You Wouldn't Want to Be on the Hindenburg (and let him know there are many others in that series if he liked that one), Aliens and UFOs... And his sister grabbed Life-Size Zoo and Exploding Ants from the pile I had pulled.
- Help with getting on a computer to type homework
- A question about our preschool storytimes and request for information about local moms' groups and homeschooling groups
8:15pm - Time to start closing up. I turn off computer monitors, shut down our print kiosk and computer admin program. I straighten everything, pick up stray books, and refill displays.
8:30pm - We shut down the library, lock everything up, and head home!