Internship, Week One

Wow, what a fascinating week! But first, let's check the countdown to graduation . . . 68 days left! (Wishing my countdown clock gadget had worked, it would be WAY cooler - sigh)

So I worked at the library as an intern for three days this week and it was a real eye-opener. The place is busy from open to close, which is a good thing, but man it keeps the staff on their toes. It made a big difference that the local schools had half-days for teacher conferences much of the week, so a lot of the kids came to the library to hang out. I think that's a double-edged sword: good that the kids like to be at the library, but hard on the staff because some of them get rowdy and aren't really there for library-type activities. The free wi-fi is a big draw from what I saw of the laptop users.

I've been shadowing different aides and learning from them, which proved to show me three different views of what goes on in the library. Next week will be more shadowing, but as I go along I do more and more on my own. The biggest learning curve is their computer system and all the functions as far as how the books are coded in the catalog (as in their status, location, even collection codes).

I've had some patron interaction, which I was amazingly comfortable with. I wasn't nervous about answering the questions I knew the answers to or directing them to the right person to help them. And all the shelving of books I have done really has taught me where everything belongs and where to direct patrons to find it.

In all, the internship is going to be a great way for me to synthesize all I have learned about libraries in theory (putting it together into the complete picture) and gain hands-on experience. The only downside is that the dogs must miss me because they go nuts when I get home. :)