The administrative assistant for my office is on vacation this week. So today I did her job and pulled items booked for other branches. We house the youth services materials that are used to programs and story times: big books, puppets, games, theme packs, etc. I got all the booked items, checked them out to the requesters, got them ready for delivery and took it up to the dock. Then, I had a little time before lunch, so I caught up on my blog reading.
After lunch I went to a branch to present the Summer Reading Club puppet show. If you haven't loaded and unloaded a van full of equipment in 105 degree heat with a heat index of 115, you don't know what you're missing! My manager came to the show today, and she said we did a good job, but there were only about 30 people there. The audience wasn't participating much even though we were trying to engage them, which was a bummer, but that's how it goes sometimes.
I got back to my office with about an hour left in my day, so I went up to the dock to get materials that were returned to us. While I was checking everything in, I came across the cutest dog puppet! He's a black lab and he's simply adorable. I went over to a coworker and started panting and licking her. She quoted The Pigeon Wants a Puppy and we laughed way too hard about this dog. Everyone should have this much fun at their job!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday July 27th
I was up at the childrens' desk from 8:30 to 10:30, pulling books for holds. We have story time Wednesdays at 10:00, so there was a bit of a rush just a little before that. Kids want to get their prizes before it ends Saturday. While I was up there, I straightened the picture book area and made sure my teen display of Beach Reads was up to par.
I started reading an ARC titled Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska's WWII Invasion. I love WWII books, so I'm feeling pretty good about it, and it's a non-fiction to break away from the books I've been reading a lot of lately: Queer YA, humorous juvenile,
I was pretty bummed to see my coworker walk into the office this afternoon with more puppets to be hot glued. So the three mouth puppets I didn't fix on Monday got to be repaired today. Our show was in the local paper at the beginning of the summer and it has been very successful, but, good God, is it over yet?! It's a lot of time and stress.
But some very exciting news is that John Green announced that his next book, The Fault in Our Stars, which was set for publication in May, has been moved up to January!! Now I ask you, what more could a girl want? Well, maybe for it to come out right now.
I started reading an ARC titled Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska's WWII Invasion. I love WWII books, so I'm feeling pretty good about it, and it's a non-fiction to break away from the books I've been reading a lot of lately: Queer YA, humorous juvenile,
After lunch, I made these super-cool Judy Moody mood rings for my kids book discussion meeting next week! We'll be talking about Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. They can choose one of the colored jewels to match their mood. I just threaded a pipecleaner through a little piece of craft foam and used Aleen's to affix it. Don't you just love tacky glue?! I don't know what I would do without it. 
I think they turned out pretty well! And just look how pretty they are next to my everyday ring!
I was pretty bummed to see my coworker walk into the office this afternoon with more puppets to be hot glued. So the three mouth puppets I didn't fix on Monday got to be repaired today. Our show was in the local paper at the beginning of the summer and it has been very successful, but, good God, is it over yet?! It's a lot of time and stress.
But some very exciting news is that John Green announced that his next book, The Fault in Our Stars, which was set for publication in May, has been moved up to January!! Now I ask you, what more could a girl want? Well, maybe for it to come out right now.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday July 26th
Tuesdays are my late days, so I came in at 12:45 and went right up to the childrens' desk until 2:00.
Once I was back in my office, the other youth specialists and I went to work on what became a difficult word problem. We need to feature the Building Block Award nominees in story times during the months of October and November. One of these weeks is out because it is our annual Halloween Party. OK, so there are 10 books, 6 story times we need to fit them into and 4 of us and there is a set rotation. One of the ladies will be gone on maternity leave for the last 3, so she will only do one during the first 3 weeks. I made an ass of myself trying to figure this out, but thankfully, we all got through it and I chose 4 books to read at 2 different story times. Whew!
I also had a brief meeting with my boss about doing outreach with preschools for story time and presenting Every Child Ready to Read workshops for teachers and parents. We're going to start sending out letters to schools telling them about the resources and to contact us to set something up. We also discussed outreach with an elementary school in the Normandy District. If the grant goes through, I'll be going to the same school at the same time and day every month doing a story time for Kindergarteners! I love outreach visits; I just feel like a rockstar going into the school and being recognized as the lady who reads books and sings. Then, if those same kids come into my library, they get very excited to see me. One of the things I miss about teaching preschool is the personal connection with the students, so outreach is a good way to get a little of that. I'm meeting with them all the time, so I get to know some of their names and personalities. It's like that at my branch too, when I do story time and visit with the regulars.
I got my materials ready for evening story time; my theme was frogs and toads. The evening story time is much more casual than the mornings. It's just out in the childrens' area and we all sit on the carpet. We read a few frog books, played a frog counting game, sang five green and speckled frogs and made finger puppets of the five frogs to take home. I had a great turnout of 14 children and 9 adults. Woo-hoo!
Then, I was at the childrens' desk until we closed at 9:00. I'm always tired by that time, but somehow, as soon as I get home, I'm wide awake.
Once I was back in my office, the other youth specialists and I went to work on what became a difficult word problem. We need to feature the Building Block Award nominees in story times during the months of October and November. One of these weeks is out because it is our annual Halloween Party. OK, so there are 10 books, 6 story times we need to fit them into and 4 of us and there is a set rotation. One of the ladies will be gone on maternity leave for the last 3, so she will only do one during the first 3 weeks. I made an ass of myself trying to figure this out, but thankfully, we all got through it and I chose 4 books to read at 2 different story times. Whew!
I also had a brief meeting with my boss about doing outreach with preschools for story time and presenting Every Child Ready to Read workshops for teachers and parents. We're going to start sending out letters to schools telling them about the resources and to contact us to set something up. We also discussed outreach with an elementary school in the Normandy District. If the grant goes through, I'll be going to the same school at the same time and day every month doing a story time for Kindergarteners! I love outreach visits; I just feel like a rockstar going into the school and being recognized as the lady who reads books and sings. Then, if those same kids come into my library, they get very excited to see me. One of the things I miss about teaching preschool is the personal connection with the students, so outreach is a good way to get a little of that. I'm meeting with them all the time, so I get to know some of their names and personalities. It's like that at my branch too, when I do story time and visit with the regulars.
I got my materials ready for evening story time; my theme was frogs and toads. The evening story time is much more casual than the mornings. It's just out in the childrens' area and we all sit on the carpet. We read a few frog books, played a frog counting game, sang five green and speckled frogs and made finger puppets of the five frogs to take home. I had a great turnout of 14 children and 9 adults. Woo-hoo!
Then, I was at the childrens' desk until we closed at 9:00. I'm always tired by that time, but somehow, as soon as I get home, I'm wide awake.
Monday July 25th
I came in and chatted with my coworkers about my weekend, which happened to be my birthday. That meant that I brought in my birthday flowers from my girlfriend to brag and adorn my desk and make the workspace a little cheerier!
I was up at the childrens' desk from 8:30-10:30 pulling books for holds, shelving DVDs and helping patrons. We have several great teen volunteers who help with the Summer Reading Club table, but none were in Monday morning, so I gave prizes out to kids also.
The rest of the morning was spent working on a game and a craft for my Tuesday story time.
In the afternoon I had to do some surgery on our puppets for the Summer Reading Club puppet show. Two of our mouth puppets had come completely unglued up the back. The heavy-duty high-temp glue we use on them takes forever to cool and harden.
I also caught up on my favorite blogs. Then I finished out the day reading The World According to Humphrey and coming up with questions for my childrens book discussion group. We aren't talking about the book until next month, but I am giving them all their copies next week and I like to have a bookmark in there with the questions I'll be asking. That way, they can look over them beforehand and be at least somewhat prepared. Otherwise, they just give my blank looks when I ask anything more thought-provoking than "Did you like the book?".
I was up at the childrens' desk from 8:30-10:30 pulling books for holds, shelving DVDs and helping patrons. We have several great teen volunteers who help with the Summer Reading Club table, but none were in Monday morning, so I gave prizes out to kids also.
The rest of the morning was spent working on a game and a craft for my Tuesday story time.
In the afternoon I had to do some surgery on our puppets for the Summer Reading Club puppet show. Two of our mouth puppets had come completely unglued up the back. The heavy-duty high-temp glue we use on them takes forever to cool and harden.
I also caught up on my favorite blogs. Then I finished out the day reading The World According to Humphrey and coming up with questions for my childrens book discussion group. We aren't talking about the book until next month, but I am giving them all their copies next week and I like to have a bookmark in there with the questions I'll be asking. That way, they can look over them beforehand and be at least somewhat prepared. Otherwise, they just give my blank looks when I ask anything more thought-provoking than "Did you like the book?".
Library Day in the Life Project
Greetings all! My name's Angie and I'm a Youth Services Specialist at St. Louis County Library.
This blog is part of a larger concept developed by Bobbi Newman of the blog:
librarian by the day.
Twice a year, he asks librarians to chronicle their week (or even just a day) and share it. The list of others participating can be found here.
I'll be sharing what I do for one week, and possibly longer if it goes well!
Thanks and I appreciate your feedback in advance.
This blog is part of a larger concept developed by Bobbi Newman of the blog:
librarian by the day.
Twice a year, he asks librarians to chronicle their week (or even just a day) and share it. The list of others participating can be found here.
I'll be sharing what I do for one week, and possibly longer if it goes well!
Thanks and I appreciate your feedback in advance.
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