People say oh, I bet you get to sit and read at work all day, to which I laugh hysterically at them. Being a Librarian does not mean I get to sit and read all day. I have to wear many, many different hats while at work. Which explains the hat in this post. Now, I don’t own this, but goodness I wish I did because I really like how unique that hat is…no, I can thank Google Images for that one. Thanks Google! No, no, no. Here is a list of the things I get to do at work (and I enjoy almost all of them!)
1. I check books in and out all day. I can say literally hundreds of books pass through my hands.
2. I re-shelve books. They have to be kept in order or how would you ever find them?
3. I back-shift the books. What does that mean? I move thousands of books every few months to ensure the shelves are neat and organized.
4. I baby sit…no really. Today there will three (lovely and friendly) loud children in the library. Their mom was about at her wit’s end. So I stepped in, read a few kids book to them, let them play with blocks, and watched a puppet show. This is not a habitual thing, but I figured sacrificing 20 minutes of making sure three little tornadoes didn’t tear the building down was worth it.
5. Nurse. People always seem to get hurt a few times a month. I’ve given out band aids, called ambulances, given paper towels to a girl who lost her tooth, etc.
6. Security. I’ve watched been on the look out for thieves at the library, because yeah, a library is a great place to steal. Good job.
7. Hall/Safety monitor. Kids/teens think it is fun to run up and down the stairs, or through the Library. There have been several, and by several I mean a high number, times that I have said (maybe a little loudly) don’t run! Yeah instead of Shhh! (which I have also done) I yell at kids not to run.
8. I make really awesome flyers…not to sound full of myself, but I’m getting really good at using Microsoft Office.
9. I help fix computer related problems. Now I don’t hold the fort down in that department at all, that’s a different tech wiz, but I’m holding my own in the ever advancing technology department.
10. I have changed ceiling tiles…yeah, I know this last one is really weird, but there was a water stain on one of the tiles near the entry, and it was super visible and annoying. So my boss and I changed it out for a clean one from the back.
There are probably a few more hats I could mention, but 10 seems like a good number to stop at. There are other things that are job related items, like this is what I was hired to do. I really love my job, and I think I’m pretty good at it.
Free to Keep Breathing 