Until a few weeks ago, it was my job to help anyone who walked up to this desk.
“Enduring Prairie” (Dale Merrill)
It was my job to put new books on top of this shelf if someone checked out one of the display books and left an empty space…
…to put together these puzzles every Tuesday night during my closing shift…
…to keep a close eye on tweens who thought this was for parkour when really it’s for preschoolers…
…to lead them to this room when they wanted materials we didn’t keep in the children’s room…
…and to run to these stacks to find books that were still checked out to patrons even though they’d returned them. (Check-in staff, get with the program!)
It was my job to be in this gorgeous building early in the day, before the throng of students, authors, genealogists, job hunters, researchers, and leisure readers burst through the door the second it automatically unlocked.
It was my job to contribute to the causes of early literacy, lifelong learning, and equal access to information for all our patrons. It was not my job to love it, but I did anyway. This was the only job I’ve ever had that I never dreaded. They paid me to do this…
water pump with brick well & water drops for “Make a Splash–READ” 2011
…and this…
“night” scene (we had blue but not black) for “Dream Big–READ” 2012
…and this. The scene will be “filled in” over the course of the summer; see notes below.
garden scene for “Dig Into Reading” 2013
For now it’s populated only with a bunny, a garden gnome, and some critters sleeping in burrows in honor of this year’s theme: Dig Into Reading.
Those days are over for me now. Even though I sometimes felt like this I know I will miss even my most mundane duties in the library.
NOTES:
*The parkour video gives you a sort-of tour of where we’ve been living the past few years. All of the shots are on and around the University of Iowa campus.
*For the last three summers, I’ve created a paper mural for each Summer Reading Program. When kids in grades K-6 complete half of their reading activities for the summer, they get to put their name on a theme-appropriate shape (e.g. bricks & water drops for Make a Splash), then tape it into the scene anywhere they want. It was our way of reinforcing their work by rewarding them with “their name in lights” halfway through, and also a chance to check in, ask what they’re reading, and possibly get them excited about something new if they’re losing steam. SRP completion has been an issue in recent years.
*Librarian Problems is a website to which I’m sure all library staff can relate, but its sense of humor is hostile sometimes so I chose a safe one to show you. If you really want to know how be a good patron, though, explore some more to learn how to annoy librarians–so you can avoid annoying them, obviously.
Here’s the only thing you’re not seeing in the photo above: a section of counter space hiding to the left of the fridge.
And for fun, here’s another shot of the sink. I am spending a lot of time here because, after a blissful almost-two-years with a dishwasher in our last place, I am back to doing all dishes by hand. Two good things about this set-up, though: the sinks are deeper than any we’ve had before, and there is a window! This is the first place I’ve lived where I’ve had a window over the sink. It faces the neighbor’s house, so it’s not that the view is great, but there’s just something mood-lifting about staring out at a sunny scene instead of staring at a wall.
Here’s a peek past the pantry into the dining room, which is coming up next!
wellcrafted 