#weekend librarian

[teenslib]

Right now, my favorite people in the world are the couple in their late teens/early 20s who've come to the children's section to reminisce about books they loved as kids. They started by browsing the chapter books, and now they're sitting next to each other, reading a picture book.

[libtastic]

The little boy who was here the last weekend I worked is here again, and he’s still obsessed with Home Alone. 

This might be my favorite kid.

[libmichelle]

Weekend librarian

Last weekend I started my new role as Weekend Customer Services Assistant at the university library where I recently completed my traineeship.

As a trainee, I never had to work on the weekend, and spending so much time there during the week I never felt the need to visit on my days off! It was also my first time working at the start of the academic year, as my traineeship didn’t start until the end of October last year.

These things combined made want to write a blog post about the differences between weekend and weekday work. But to be honest, there’s not a huge amount of difference – we do the same duties, just with less staff and less students in the building. As classes hadn’t yet started, the library was very quiet. I did enjoy the wide range of questions I was asked though, and thought I’d share some of those.

What does “on the hold shelf” mean?

Where is Level 12? (we were on Level 9)

Do you have toilets here?

Can you show me how to use the check-out machine?

Where’s the nearest post box?

I’ve lost my Mastercard, do you have it?

I’ve got an audition and I don’t know where it is. Do you know who I’d call to find out?

What’s my library card?

Where’s a good place to study?

And the most asked question – “I’ve forgotten my library card, can I still get in?”

The majority of questions came from new students, and they definitely made me think about how much I’ve learned about the library over the past year as well as how much I take my knowledge for granted. Of course there are toilets in the library! Of course your student card is also your library card! Of course you can still access the library without your card!

The enquiries also made me think about the way we ask questions. I’m sure the student who asked if we had toilets in the building actually meant to ask where they are. But because of the pressure of having to say something when you’re asking for help, she asked the wrong question. This happens to me a lot – I’ll have an idea in my head of what I want, but a lot of the time this is formulated in the wrong way when the words come out of my mouth. I definitely keep this in mind when working on the enquiries desk, as the difference between what someone wants and what they ask for can be huge sometimes!