Day Twenty

This day started off pretty crazy. A school group of about 30 special needs children showed up unexpectedly for storytime. Apparently they were scheduled to come visit the library last month, but had to cancel due to weather, and as far as Janet, the head librarian in the children's department, was aware, they never rescheduled -- they just decided to show up yesterday. I don't know if that's really true, but it made for an exciting storytime! Plus, Mr. Ming, the man who plays the guitar and sings songs was back for storytime, so all in all everyone seemed to have a good time, we just weren't expecting that many children! One of the girls came up and gave me a hug at the end, so that was really sweet. I always love it when that happens!

After storytime, I sat at the reference desk. While Tonya, the librarian at the desk, was away helping another patron, I got to help the father of one of the kids who regularly shows up for storytime find a book he was searching for. I looked up the book in the catalog, and found it. It was tricky, though, because it was formatted like a picture book, but because it was 130 pages long, it was shelved with the J Fiction rather than the picture books. If I would have just looked at the book, and not at its call number, I would have been looking in the wrong spot! The father seemed very appreciative, and understood that I was learning, so he was very patient with me, as well.

After I took my lunch, I got to go upstairs and observe the TIPS service that is offered through the Main Branch of DPL. TIPS is a service that receives reference calls from patrons. It was interesting to see how busy it was! Most of the calls were about the tax service the library offers to help you get your tax forms together, as it is tax season. It was also interesting to note, because the librarian had to record the statistics for each call, that all of the callers in the hour that I was there were female.

After I got back to the Children's Library it was relatively quiet, and not much happened for the rest of the day. It was still an exciting day, overall, however.

Day Nineteen

Today I got to weed for the first time ever!  It was exciting.  Janet was so happy that I agreed to help weed the HYPE Center for teens, because they really need to create space to add new books.  Janet told me to start off by just weeding books where that had duplicates.  The only exceptions to this were if they were classics, if they were new books, or if I knew that the book was popular.  For example, there were duplicates of a book by Maureen Johnson, but because I knew she was a popular writer for teens, I did not weed those.  I also did not weed classics like Catcher in the Rye or A Tale of Two Cities. Everything else that was a duplicate was fair game, though, and by the time I was finished, I had almost two carts full of books (and I didn't even get through the entire collection today)!  Janet is going to go through the books I weeded and see if they've circulated recently.  If they have, then they'll go back into the collection, and if not then they'll be removed from the collection.

After I had filled the two carts, Janet and I had decided that that was enough weeding for the day, and I'll weed the rest of the collection the next time I come into HYPE.  Then, I was invited to sit in on a teen advisory board meeting.  Unfortunately, HYPE does not have a set board, they invite any teen who happens to come to the HYPE center to be on the board for each meeting.  That being said, only one teen attended the meeting, although there were probably 30+ teens in the center.  This teen was interested in the Makerspace Robotics program, though, so I got to see some of the robots they have created in the past as part of the program, which was pretty cool.  I also got to see a 3D printing machine at work -- they created an iPod dock from it.  I can't even begin to explain how it works, but it's a printer that molds plastic into 3D objects, which is really impressive.  We also asked the teen who attended the meeting, plus some of the other teens who happened to be around, if they read books on eReaders, because Janet and the other HYPE librarians are trying to figure out if more books should be available for teens to read via their eReaders.  

Janet let me know that HYPE is getting a new librarian on the 19th, so that's great!  I'm looking forward to meeting her.  Tomorrow I will be in the Children's Library at the Main Library, so that should be fun.

Day Eighteen

(This was originally written on Tuesday 3/5)

I'm 90 hours in!  Wow!  I can't believe how quickly this practicum has flown by!  Today was a very exciting day.  Laurie, Dori, Ryan and I all went on a trip to visit two other libraries.  Laurie wanted me to experience what other libraries in the DPL system were like, as the Douglass Branch is atypical, being a branch for specialized services.

The first library we went to was the Parkman Branch Library of DPL.  It was an absolutely gorgeous building.  It was built in the 20s, but they recently renovated it to add on a technology center.  What is great is that they were able to renovate it, but still keep most of the original architecture.  I would love to work in such a library -- just the atmosphere alone made it worth visiting.  The staff was very friendly, as well, and the director, Stacy, talked proudly about how the career services they offer at the library has helped at least ten people get employed.  

The next branch we visited was the Campbell Branch Library in Detroit's Mexican Village.  What is interesting about this branch is that most of the staff is bilingual, so that they are able to help patrons in the community who do not speak English.  They also had a significant section of Spanish language books and movies.  It is a smaller branch, but they work with what they have, and a whole side of the building is dedicated to the Children's Library, so that's really cool.

After that we got to go out to lunch while in Mexican Village, so that was fun!  I can't say I ever thought I'd do that while at my practicum.

After I got back to the Douglass Branch, I helped work the reference desk.  Laurie suggested that I go out amongst the patrons who were on the computers and ask if anyone needed help.  I felt a little awkward at first, announcing to everyone that I was there to help them if they needed it, but it worked!  A patron called me over right away and  I was able to help him set up an online banking account.  He seemed quite pleased with my help, so that made me feel really good.  After that, Laurie showed me how she goes about getting the circulation statistics, etc, for each month.  Today she was working on the statistics for the month of February.

On Thursday I will be working back in the HYPE Center at Main Branch.  I have asked Janet if I could take on the project of weeding while I'm there.  At first I thought it may be too big of a project since I'm not there that often, but I figured if I am able to at least make a dent in the collection, it will still be helping Janet out.  So, I'm really excited about that!

Day Seventeen

Today was a pretty slow day at the Children's Library at Main Branch.  Storytime was fun, today our stories were pancake-themed, but we didn't have a craft, so it seemed to be over quicker than usual.  After that, I sat at the reference desk for the rest of the time I was there.  Carol, the librarian on desk said I could answer the phone if there were any calls.  Unfortunately, the whole time I was there, there was not one call. There might have been one while I was at lunch, but not while I was sitting at the desk.  However, a mother of three young children came in looking for books on "water transportation" that she could use to teach her children about different kinds of boats and what boats were used for other than carrying people over waterways.  Carol allowed me to do the catalog search for these books.  There wasn't much of a selection honestly.  I tried to think of different terms to search, such as "boats, juvenile literature" and Carol gave me some other search terms to try.  She seemed kind of grumpy about it, and I don't know if it was me, or something else.  We were finally able to come up with a small collection and the patron seemed pleased, but I felt like I was a deer in headlights when it came to trying to search.  Sometimes I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, and this practicum is helping with that, a lot, as I've never had actual library experience before this, but I just feel like the librarians I'm working with are judging me for my lack of knowledge sometimes.

The day ended nicely, though.  One of the other librarians was talking to a patron about the online tutoring system that DPL offers for free called tutor.com.  After the patron left, the librarian and I decided to test it out and pretend like we were students with an algebra problem.  It was really fun, and the tutor was able to help us solve the problem.  The tutor was really nice about it too.  I wish I would have known about a website like this when I was in elementary/jr. high/high school.  I don't think my library offered such a service.  I also checked out a couple of books before I left the library, as I'm trying to become more well-versed in Juvenile and YA literature.  I'm excited about the books that I chose, now if only I can find the time to read them!

Day Sixteen

Today was busy and exciting!  I got to the library early today, so to kill some time before I was supposed to head out on a book drop-off run with Dori and Ryan, I started working on some subject headings.  After about an hour, it was time for us to go out on the run.  The run was really interesting.  I find it fascinating just how many things a librarian can do.  It's not just sitting behind a desk.  Dori actually gets to go out and deliver books to people who aren't able to get out very much, and to see how much these people value the social interaction they get with the librarian, and the driver (and me on this trip!) is so wonderful!

After the run, I worked on a few more subject headings, and then I went to talk with Laurie about my project.  She and I agree that we are going in the right direction, but she still wants me to find addresses for more optometrists and opthamologists to add to the list of addresses that we're going to send the letter and flyer out to.  We also talked about me possibly observing at TIPS (Detroit Public Library's Telephone Reference Service) to get more reference experience, as well as possibly spending some time with the head of the Children's Services Department at DPL.  Our conversation was interrupted when Laurie received a call from one of the staff members leaving for lunch saying that Laurie's van was being broken into.  Laurie rushed out of the room.  Apparently it was all a misunderstanding, and the man was there to fix a windshield on someone else's car that happened to be in a different parking lot (he was just confused), but Laurie said that on her first day at the Douglass Branch some car parts were stolen from her van, so she's had it happen before!  After she got back, Laurie also talked about possibly taking me to visit some of the other branches of DPL just to get an idea of how the other branches, that aren't specialized libraries like Douglass, work.  

While Laurie was gone taking care of her van, I was left at the reference desk by myself, and a gentleman came up asking for cookbooks and books on nutrition.  I haven't been taught how to search the system for a book, so I went back in the back where the books for the Library on Wheels are housed to take a look at what sort of cookbooks we had.  I saw Dori and asked her if we had any cookbooks, and she asked me what TYPE of cookbooks he wanted. I felt silly for not thinking to ask that before, as it is a question that should've been asked in a basic reference interview. By the time I got back, Laurie was back at the desk and she was able to take care of it for him, but I felt stupid for not thinking to ask him some reference interview questions before going off to search for a book for him.

Later Dori came in and discussed reference interviews with me, and how it's the first thing you should do when a patron asks a question.  I knew this, but somehow today it slipped my mind completely, and my first instinct was NOT to do a reference interview.  Dori was really nice about it, though, and it made me feel better.

I spent the rest of my time working on the rest of the subject headings that I needed to get through.  I found some books that sounded interesting while I was reading through the synopses, so I may have to check some of them out!  Right before I was getting ready to leave, I talked with Dori again, this time about job prospects.  She was saying that if I wanted to go into services like the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, I'd probably have to move out of state, as there aren't many jobs opening in Michigan.  I wouldn't be opposed to moving out of state, but it's something to think about.  She also said she'd send along any job openings she sees, whether they be for Children's Services or something like the LBPH.  It's incredibly nice of her to do that.  Overall it was very good day.

Day Fifteen

Today I changed my hours and went in from 1-6pm, so that I could attend the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped's monthly book club meeting at 4:00.  The book club was great.  Not everyone read the two books that they were supposed to have read, but people still contributed, and it seemed as though they just enjoyed being able to get out and be around each other.  Dori and I were both surprised at how many people showed up, because we were worried that the weather would deter them from coming.  We still had about 10-15 people though, so it was a pretty good sized group.

Going back to before the book club, I started off my day by going over some subject headings with Dori.  I had made a few mistakes in the last batch, so we went over how I could correct them.  Then, after that, I worked on some more subject headings.  This time I worked on Adult and Teen fiction subject headings, so the synopses of the books were a bit more interesting for me to read than the non-fiction selections.

After I was done with the subject headings, I worked on my project for Laurie by creating address labels with the addresses that I compiled last Tuesday on them.  These labels are going to go on the envelopes we send out the flyers and the letters about LBPH and LOW (Library on Wheels) in.

I also got to observe Jesse give another typing lesson.  This student was much better at typing than some of the other students I observed.  He also showed her how to open and close programs using keys on the keyboard rather than a mouse, as it would be difficult for her to use a mouse with limited vision.  So that was very interesting to watch.

Day Fourteen

Today was an exciting day!  First off, I did storytime!!  It was really fun.  I only had one child for the actual storytime (I was honestly surprised there were any children with the weather this morning) but more children came in just in time to do the craft!  They all seemed to really enjoy themselves, and they really liked the craft, so I was pleased.  The one little girl that was there when I read the stories came up and hugged me before she left, which totally made my day.  I think I'm going into the right profession!

After I cleaned up from the craft and put my books away, I started my time at the reference desk.  It was really quiet throughout the early afternoon, so I spent part of my time looking at an American Girl catalog, because after talking to Janet yesterday about the American Girl tea party, I came to realize that there are new American Girls that I didn't even know existed!  And some of the American Girls I grew up with are "retired" now.  So I brushed up on my knowledge of the American Girl books.

Later in the afternoon, Carol, one of the librarians in the Children's library, was away from the desk and the phone rang, so I answered the call.  It was my first reference question!  The patron wanted to know when James Brown died ... it seemed a weird question to call the Children's Department for, but I searched it and found the answer for her. (He died on December 25th, 2006, in case anyone was wondering).  Toward the end of my shift a mother and her daughter came up and asked for books about Jupiter and Journalism.  The librarian was talking with another patron, so I went to help them find the books they were looking for.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find any books on Jupiter or Journalism (I found some books on planets and space, but that was it) so once the librarian was free, I asked her if she could help us.  She said I could go ahead and leave, and she'd take care of it, since it was past time for me to leave.  So I don't know if the patrons found books on Jupiter and Journalism or not, but I hope they did!