Abby from Abby (the) Librarian posted a day in the life of a children's librarian, so it inspired me to post about my job as a Teen Librarian. My days are all a little different, since some days I have programs and others I don't, so I'll just include what happens on a typical program day. Every day in the teen department is different which is one of the reasons I love my job-I never know what that day will hold!:) This picture is from a tour of the Salt Lake City Public Library Main Branch at the ALSC Conference I attended last year (yep, I got paid to meet authors and tour libaries and learn about cool library stuff!)
10:30AM-Arrive at work, straighten up New Books and check that XBOX is on before heading out to the Reference Desk.10:30AM-1:00PM-Work on adult reference desk. Typical questions asked:
Can you help me find a book about (fill in the blank)?
I want to place a hold on several DVDs?
Can you look up a phone number for me?
I'm doing a research project and I need to find three book sources, and I need them all by tomorrow!
1:00PM-Go on lunch break!
1:30PM-Return from lunch and open Teen Office, Answer various teen questions:
Can you help me find a new book to read?
My son/daughter is new to reading books in this section-can you recommend something they might like?
Can you please hook up Guitar Hero?
Do you have any glue/scissors/tape/markers I can borrow for my project?
Can you help me find a book to use on my school project?
I also spend a lot of my afternoon roaming the YA department and letting adults know it's the teen space!
1:30PM-2:30PM-Look at week ahead and get plans started for any upcoming programs. (I have at least one program a week). Make printouts, list of supplies and activities for program.
2:30PM-3:30PM-Process and check-in New Books, re-shelve former new books into regular collection (new books stay on the new shelf for six months, so it's an ever changing collection) Update Teen Facebook page to include new titles.
3:30PM-4:30PM-Check Amazon, TeensReadToo.com and various YA blogs for upcoming releases, read reviews and check on our library's ordering status. If there's several we haven't ordered, I'll make a suggestion to order them. Update teen booklists with new and upcoming titles. (This is a valuable part of Reader's Advisory, which is my favorite part of being a librarian!)
4:30PM-5:30PM-Check and respond to various e-mails and read up on YALSA and PUBYAC e-mails, make note of program suggestions and book lists I want to use. Check mailbox for any mail or new magazines. If new magazines, change out new issues with old and take back issues to Periodicals for filing
5:30PM-6:00PM-Move TV into StoryHour Room for Anime Club Meeting. Put out paper, pencils, and any craft or snack we have that month.
6:00PM-7:00-Teens arrive for Anime Club. Talk about what we've been reading/watching. Watch this months anime (usually two episodes)
7:00-Clean Up and Head Home
Oh fun stuff. I always thought it would be cool to be a librarian for teens...you have to major in library science though don't you? I'm not sure my college has that...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Lauren
It's always cool to read about what other Teen Librarian's do during their day!
ReplyDeleteMy day looks pretty similar but I do a lot of class visits both in schools and schools coming into the library.
Wow, that's so cool--it sounds like a fun job (but a long day). Thanks for posting--very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWoot! I'm taking a library internship class at school right now, learning about how libraries work. It's all academic, though, so it doesn't sound nearly as fun as your work day.
ReplyDeleteLauren-I think you'd like being a librarian!:) I have an undergad in communications and am getting my masters in library science.
ReplyDeleteMarie-I do a lot of class visits too, especially this time of year with school projects. April/May is my big time for booktalks to schools-I have weeks where that's all I do!
Bookworm-It can be long, but the teens always seem to energize me:)
Steph Su-I hope you're liking your class-sounds interesting!
UM, this is totally freakalishous... I blogged about this exact thing TODAY! and here I thought I was being ingenious.
ReplyDeleteAlthough your blog (and job) is much more extensive and cool...
Cheers!
Sarah: I think so too! So do you have to eventually go for Library Science?
ReplyDelete-Lauren
Can I borrow some glue? Ha ha :)
ReplyDeleteLauren-Eventually, for some positions you need an MLS but for others you don't. It also depends on the library you work at.
ReplyDeleteLenore-I know, I actually get asked for random supplies a lot-teens are very forgetful!:)
Sarah: Gotcha. Yeah, I think it might be something I need to look into more...:)
ReplyDelete-Lauren