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.
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