Day Nine

Happy Valentine's Day!  

Today was a bit crazy.  I got to my practicum an hour early so that I would be ready to go when we left to drop off books at the nursing home at 10.  I used the extra hour to work on my project a bit more, and finish up the letter that we would send out detailing the services that the Douglass Branch for Specialized Services offers.  I sent that off to my supervisor, Laurie, as she wasn't in today, and then got ready to go for the book delivery.

We were supposed to leave at 10, but the librarian I was supposed to ride with was late getting to the library, and then the assistant manager pulled him into her office.  Something had happened the previous day with regards to the bookmobile, and it seemed like he was getting the blame for it.  I tried not to pay attention to what was going on, as it wasn't my business, and just waited patiently.  In hindsight, I probably should have found something to occupy me until we were ready to go, but I couldn't think of anything at the time.  So we ended up not leaving until closer until 11, which ended up being fine, but the librarian felt really guilty that he had kept me waiting and was worried that the nursing home would think we were unprofessional for being an hour late.  Luckily, the time at which we showed up actually happened to work better for the nursing home, so it all worked out!

First we talked to the activities coordinator at the nursing home about what we plan on doing, and when we'll be dropping off books in the months to come.  Then we delivered books to the patrons who had requested them.  As for the woman I had picked out some books for, she didn't look at the books while I was there, so hopefully I did a decent job!  She seemed happy just to see us and to be getting books from us.  The activities director emphasized that we were really bringing the residents of the nursing home something to look forward to, and that she hadn't seen some of them get so excited.  It was a really nice feeling to think that I was helping to make someone's day.  I think it also brightened up the day of the librarian that was with me, as his morning hadn't started off very well.

When I got back to the Douglass Branch, I touched base with Dori, and worked on some subject headings for her.  Today I worked on Adult Non-Fiction.  That took up the rest of my time until it was time to go!

Tomorrow I will be at the Main Branch in the Children's Library observing storytime and the reference desk.  Next week is when I'm supposed to be running my own storytime, so that's exciting!  I'm nervous, but hopefully all will go well!