Library Day in the Life Part 2: Electric Boogaloo
Sorry, couldn't resist the goofy title!
Tuesdays I work from 1-9pm. Looks like today will be 1:20-9pm, since I ran into some very bad construction traffic on the way in. Eesh.
1:20pm - I finally clock in and relieve the staff member at the desk for lunch. Check my email, the blog, etc. for anything new going on.
1:40pm - Patrons looking for novels. One asked for Loving Frank, which we own many many copies of. We did it for our "Palos Reads" program last year. They've stayed in high circulation ever since, but finally we have a copy available on the shelf! Another person looking for our book for THIS year-- Luncheon of the Boating Party. I knew we had one, I had actually pulled it for our display of art-related books for the summer reading program.
2:00pm - Register for OPALescence online conference in mid-August. Not all of the programs are set up yet, but from what I've seen so far I should be able to pick up some interesting information. I'll only be able to check out programs on the first day during the afternoon, since I'm off the public desk on Thursdays from 1-5pm. The next day is an in-service for the library.
2:10pm - Decide to work on the automatic holds and the list of new bestsellers for September and October. Doing the automatic holds involves checking the list for the authors we offer, updating our lists in Excel for each author, then going through the lists to place holds for everyone. Depending on the author, it can be very time consuming... Patterson has a 2 page list, whereas LaHaye just has a few people. Since I haven't done it for a while, I'll err on the side of "I'll be placing holds for hours".
3:00pm - In the midst of my work we have a patron approach the desk who's trying to use our new downloadable audiobook service through Overdrive. She's having trouble getting the audiobooks to download through the media console, but I think she needs to have the console program up and running before she tries to download. We'll see if that helps her!
3:45pm - My department head tells us that starting Monday, we'll have a scanner by the Reservation Computer for the internet stations-- no more typing in card numbers! I think a lot of people will appreciate this, I've had many comments that people wished they didn't have to type the whole barcode out. Plus, this will help people get in the habit of carrying their card with them. They are supposed to according to our internet agreement, but of course not everyone does. I'm off to make a sign to alert patrons to the change...
4:30pm - My dinner break!
5:00pm - Back from my break for the rest of the night. Had to call another local library to set aside an item for a patron, now I'll be settling back into the automatic orders list.
6:40pm - Things have been pretty quiet tonight, they typically are. I'm working on my project, here and there helping someone find a book or sign them up for internet use. Tonight we do have a program, it's on Michigan Beach towns and the speaker just showed up. I took her into our meeting room and we hooked her laptop up to our projector. We only have about 10 or so people signed up, I'm sure we'll get a few more that haven't-- but I don't think it will be a huge group tonight.
7:05pm - Just checked on the program, we've got 20 people! Not bad! Sent my department head our list of new fiction for September and October, now she can finally insert that information into to our newsletter.
8:15pm - Program is over. From what the speaker said, it sounds like it went really well! Nothing else new to report.
8:45pm - About now I start making my rounds. Straightening chairs, picking up books left on tables, cleaning up any garbage left. I found a little girl in the adult computer room and had to tell her she has to go upstairs to use the computer. Makes me wonder how I missed her going in? I would guess a parent probably logged on, and then just let her go on the computer. Sigh...
8:55pm - One patron left, she apparently hadn't heard the two announcements! Yikes! In a couple minutes I'll go lock the doors and after 9:00pm put the money from the cash register into our safe.
9:05pm - As we were leaving, a patron pulled up and caught us JUST in time for someone (me) to run back in and get his flash drive from a computer. I was just about to set the alarm too!
A slow night, but that's about average. Good turnout for the program, and time for me to get some stuff done! On to Wednesday!
Tuesdays I work from 1-9pm. Looks like today will be 1:20-9pm, since I ran into some very bad construction traffic on the way in. Eesh.
1:20pm - I finally clock in and relieve the staff member at the desk for lunch. Check my email, the blog, etc. for anything new going on.
1:40pm - Patrons looking for novels. One asked for Loving Frank, which we own many many copies of. We did it for our "Palos Reads" program last year. They've stayed in high circulation ever since, but finally we have a copy available on the shelf! Another person looking for our book for THIS year-- Luncheon of the Boating Party. I knew we had one, I had actually pulled it for our display of art-related books for the summer reading program.
2:00pm - Register for OPALescence online conference in mid-August. Not all of the programs are set up yet, but from what I've seen so far I should be able to pick up some interesting information. I'll only be able to check out programs on the first day during the afternoon, since I'm off the public desk on Thursdays from 1-5pm. The next day is an in-service for the library.
2:10pm - Decide to work on the automatic holds and the list of new bestsellers for September and October. Doing the automatic holds involves checking the list for the authors we offer, updating our lists in Excel for each author, then going through the lists to place holds for everyone. Depending on the author, it can be very time consuming... Patterson has a 2 page list, whereas LaHaye just has a few people. Since I haven't done it for a while, I'll err on the side of "I'll be placing holds for hours".
3:00pm - In the midst of my work we have a patron approach the desk who's trying to use our new downloadable audiobook service through Overdrive. She's having trouble getting the audiobooks to download through the media console, but I think she needs to have the console program up and running before she tries to download. We'll see if that helps her!
3:45pm - My department head tells us that starting Monday, we'll have a scanner by the Reservation Computer for the internet stations-- no more typing in card numbers! I think a lot of people will appreciate this, I've had many comments that people wished they didn't have to type the whole barcode out. Plus, this will help people get in the habit of carrying their card with them. They are supposed to according to our internet agreement, but of course not everyone does. I'm off to make a sign to alert patrons to the change...
4:30pm - My dinner break!
5:00pm - Back from my break for the rest of the night. Had to call another local library to set aside an item for a patron, now I'll be settling back into the automatic orders list.
6:40pm - Things have been pretty quiet tonight, they typically are. I'm working on my project, here and there helping someone find a book or sign them up for internet use. Tonight we do have a program, it's on Michigan Beach towns and the speaker just showed up. I took her into our meeting room and we hooked her laptop up to our projector. We only have about 10 or so people signed up, I'm sure we'll get a few more that haven't-- but I don't think it will be a huge group tonight.
7:05pm - Just checked on the program, we've got 20 people! Not bad! Sent my department head our list of new fiction for September and October, now she can finally insert that information into to our newsletter.
8:15pm - Program is over. From what the speaker said, it sounds like it went really well! Nothing else new to report.
8:45pm - About now I start making my rounds. Straightening chairs, picking up books left on tables, cleaning up any garbage left. I found a little girl in the adult computer room and had to tell her she has to go upstairs to use the computer. Makes me wonder how I missed her going in? I would guess a parent probably logged on, and then just let her go on the computer. Sigh...
8:55pm - One patron left, she apparently hadn't heard the two announcements! Yikes! In a couple minutes I'll go lock the doors and after 9:00pm put the money from the cash register into our safe.
9:05pm - As we were leaving, a patron pulled up and caught us JUST in time for someone (me) to run back in and get his flash drive from a computer. I was just about to set the alarm too!
A slow night, but that's about average. Good turnout for the program, and time for me to get some stuff done! On to Wednesday!
Labels: librarydayinthelife
posted by Rachel Storm at
11:25 PM
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