Day 29 -- April 18, 2007

WEDNESDAY -- I have been trying to stretch the time of my internship by cutting back on the hours. I was not supposed to come to the Children's Room today not just to cut the hours but also because I had to do some chores for my dad. However, Cecile was on jury duty so I was asked if I could come to work.

When I got to the library, the first thing I did was check my handiwork with the book I repaired last night. Spirited Away was as tightly bound with rubberbands as it was when I left it last night on the shelves behind the reference desk. When I took off the bands around it, I opened the book with care, hoping that the glue held. Voila! I was successful in my attempts, I saved the book, yipeee!

Since it is still Spring Break Week, there were not that many reference questions. I whiled away the time by clearing the computer room every half hour and by reading the Snacktime Reader's book of the month, Victory Garden by Lee Kochenderfer. So far, I'm liking the story and I'm eager to meet with the Snacktime Group with Teresa next Wednesday.

I was also left most of the time to answer the phone. I am more eager now to answer the phone when it rings. Tonight I picked up to answer a reference question about the color wheel...which two primary colors when combined makes green? I had to tell the woman that green is primary color and it's a bit complicated to explain how green is made. When I was taking a bit of time looking for information to simplify my answer, she changed her mind and said "forget about green, what about yellow?" well, that was easier. After I put the phone down, I was thinking about the reference interview. I realized that had she omitted the word "primary" and asked "what two colors would make green" it would have been easier for me to reply blue and yellow. The word primary threw me off. I know now the difference between in person and phone reference. With phone reference, you're strapped with time you almost have to have the answer instantly. As for in person interviews, you can buy time while processing the query in your mind. There's so much more pressure to know the right questions to ask in a phone reference interviews to tighten your search and that's one thing I need to develop.