Saturday, December 15, 2007

Job Appreciation

There are little things that float around in my mind after I leave work at the end of the day. Later when its quiet I'll think about them and this silly smile will appear my face. Its little things that happen that make me appreciate this room and mostly what it does for people.

  • A little 3 yr old girl who I've known for almost 2 years but just started speaking with me 2 months ago came up to my desk with her mother and simply said "como estas?" when i replied "muy bien, y tu?" she was a bit taken back. She was so happy I understood her. Later I showed her mom the new spanish puzzle cards, maybe it will help.
  • A classroom came in for the first time last week. The children impatiently sat in front of my desk as I attempted to explain the rules. One little boy stood and showed me the toys in his pocket while his other class mates sat there murmuring to themselves "I have toys at home..." I love it. They made the connection.
  • I have large sets of legos in tupperware containers. These sets don't get counted, they just float in and out. One boy will check out the sets and return both the set and then on top of the set in a seperate bag is what he built. He likes it when i put it on display.

Once in a while these things happen all in a week and I know that this room makes a difference, I'm just helping it along.

What Librarians Need to Know

http://www.brandtobedetermined.com/brandtobedetermined/2007/10/gn-what-should-.html
I thought this post was pretty awesome, as a soon to be librarian it’s nice to hear what we will need to know in the future.

One week in a Toy Library

“Toy libraries must drive librarians crazy…all thetypes and parts with no real way to organize thecollection. Maybe that is what we should use to testnew DLIS people coming into the program. If they canwork one week in a toy library they will be allowed inthe program. Hum? ;-)”
-John Ellison
I recieved this remark today from a professor on an assignment. I had to take pictures and make atleast 10 reccomendations for a non-book service as part of a library. It was hard considering i made recomendations for the place i worked-I was judging the rooom at the same time i was judging myself as someone who is in charge of the room. It’s hard to be objective.
I believe what he wrote though, this room is chaos personified. Everyone should have training in an non-book environment, all LIS students should have to see the oppisite of a library before they work in one. This room is everything a typical library isn’t.
Perhaps I’ll post the assignment later on.

Monday, October 15, 2007

non-book unbelievers

I attempted to find smart articles to put in here, i went through one database and came up with basically nothing. I was disheartened.

I read one article about how great this children's room was at some unnamed library. It was great now only because it had gotten rid of their toy collection in the library. They had done this by choice, you know because toys had too many pieces, there was a constant mess and the librarians had become over paid babysitters. I have these thoughts every day i walk into this room, but its part of the library, now its part of me. That sounds corny, but I care.

The perspective the article was in was a printist perspective. She was happy to get rid of the toys because they weren't books. It's a library, people should read. Thats what she thought. But what about 1 year olds? They can't read, they can listen, but the words have no meaning, they would much rather be shaking a rattle.

There is an attitude towards non-book materials. You can see it in how the collection is handled. Unless they are movies and cds, they are hidden in corners or in filing cabinets. Look around the library, my room is the corner of the library, no one knows its here until either their children run back here, or there is a sign by the hallway leading to the door. Maps and pamphlets are hidden in drawers, art work put into a corner, the list could go on. There is little or no budget, the collection depends on donations and volunteers. The only way to prove themselves is with use, videos have done it, toys are next.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Back into the groove of things

It is Fall.

It feels like Fall, the numbers look like it. Low number of people coming in, low circulation, people getting back into the swing of life with the new school year and season.

I clean up for my Fall project. I am halfway through. I start behind my desk where messes of bags and toys pile up from July-August. Sort those out which is an exhausting process of counting, recounting, replacing, changing labels and not caring how many animals are in a farm set (for example). And now I am venturing onto the floor, cleaning the sections. Then all of a sudden finding those little loose pieces that I worked so hard to re-label and replace. And then it comes full circle, everything is found and I smile, maybe laugh a little.

The world doesn't feel so chaotic then.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

before the kids

When i walk into the room i can tell immediately if someone (groups of kids) were in here while i was gone, from Monday to today it usually isn't bad, there is only one day inbetween. Its the Wednesday to Monday that is a little more worrying. But surprisingly, even though the tell tale sings are there, the room is clean. Straightened at best, as it has been for the last 2 months almost. School begins again in 3 weeks, summer programs are coming to a close so it will be quiet here again... well our version of quiet.
After last summer i thought i was going to get a quiet time of year, I figured out it doesn't really happen. There were a few weeks in the Spring where it was dead, it was inbetween the moms and the day camps. And it was nice... I got other things done. But it will be interesting to see how long it will take me to recover from this summer. I have bins and bins of messes, shelves that are crammed with toys, because even though we are so busy, circulation is waaay down.

And now i sit here, I'm sure only moments before kids arrive and i breathe it in like candy sweetness. I take a look at the guestbook, make sure it is up to date, haven't yet began to look at the pile of toys next to me that need to be counted up and i know that i could do anything today, i make somewhat of a plan for what i need accomplished, take a quick glance at the bins of mess behind me and then turn around, knowing i am not ready...yet. 3 more weeks til i can clean up.

Here are numbers from last month. it was an amazingly busy month. I gage it in how many children played in here, while others look at how many adults checked out toys. We reached a new high: 692 kids. Last summer's high was something like 498. And that is mostly summer camp kids, so the only time they take up is after they leave, when we clean. The other part of my job is dealing with returns and charges and since that is mostly parents and home care providers, that part is a little slow.
Here comes the kids....

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

first day back

I was gone for a week in the hotness of florida summer. I expected to come back and find the place in complete disarray. But even though it was chaotic by the look of the guestbook there is a new volunteer and he did a fantastic job cleaning up the place...I am sure there are messes hiding.

Last Wednesday at the height strung-outness i was checking someone out and heard 3 girls yell 1-2-3-4... by the time i looked up there was monopoly money flying through the air and the girls stood there giggling. i said "seriously?!" then joined in with their laughter, because what else could you do? a second later i collapsed on the floor in hystericallness. I couldn't yell at them, they picked it all up... though i am still finding money scattered about. I found a large quanity today stuffed in a purse with the dress up clothes. When i went to put it back into the game i found it was checked out. Of course.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I am the Toybrarian

I work in a toy library. The collection is about 5,000 items that can all be checked out. It is also a play room. Childcare, day camp and home providers can all bring there children here to just play and explore.
We are open 2-3 days a week and I work 15 hours a week and I am in school to become a librarian. I will be the first one to say that I have the coolest job in the world, While it is part of the public library system here, it is in a world (room) of its own. The same rules that apply to books don't seem to apply here. There is no shushing preschoolers as they come screaming in, the bags of toys do no fit neatly on the shelves and there are random stacks as you wander through. The chaos is on the brink of unbearable, 50 yelling kids, my OCD going through hell cause i can't clean up until their gone... but then there are the days where you have that moment with a kid- the moment of discovery, where they find something new, learn something new and that is why i come back everyday.
There are things you care about at work. Things that you only worry about there, that affect you there. Like I'm sure Dentists worry about teeth products, Grocery managers worry about shipments and truck drivers running late. At work today the things that has driven me up the wall is that kids have dumped out bags of food toys, then put them back in bags but not the ones they came out of. In no other world would i or anyone else be concerned about that. Part of me wants to give in to them, let them have chaos. But knowing that its a mess makes me cringe, makes me feel lazy for instead sitting here and blogging. Instead I sit on the floor during quiet moments and methodically put the right pear with the right fruit bag, because there are many versions of plastic fruits ya know, and certain ones have to go together. Not that the kids care. I care. Because it is the librarian in me-to archive the toys. To collect and keep them in their original form. Because I hope one day someone will care as much as I.