MONDAY -- It took me a while to post about my final days as the Children's Room intern. I was putting it off because I was in denial, I did not want to end the happy times. By writing about my last days, it seemed like I was putting a closure to what I considered the best time of my life as a graduate student. I realize now that it does not have to be so. In fact, the same week after my last day, I went to lunch with Cecile and Arpine who had a seminar downtown. I even took the train home with them after work. By keeping in touch, I feel like I'm still hanging on to this thread binding me to the public library world while shackled to my job at the firm.
Don't get me wrong, I love what I do at the law firm and I love the people I work with there but there was something about children's librarianship that pulls at me. Maybe someday, years from now, if I win the lottery...
UPDATE: I will be joining the Children's Room crew next month at the Hollywood Bowl to sing along with the Sound of Music. This is the official goodbye get together for Hala as she embarks on her new role as a branch librarian.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Day 37 - LAST DAY - May 2, 2007
WEDNESDAY -- My last day...oh, NO! I have to say that my last night at the Children's Room was a blur. I arrived at 5pm bringing a box of Mrs. Field's cookies to show everyone my gratitude. I was able to say goodbye to Inez, the assistant in the backroom. She and I never really had a chance to talk at length because she leaves around the time I get there but she had really nice things to say to me when I said goodbye.
After a short absence from the library because she was sick, Theresa was there today. I spoke with her at length about my internship and thanked her for everything...for the opportunity, for the things I learned and the great time I had. I told her that I was ever so sad to leave because I feel that I am just getting used to being a children's librarian and getting used to the system and I feel a great disconnect as the night was ending. I composed my email to her, sending her my California Indian Tribes Pathfinder and the book review. I don't know if they can use what I created but I worked hard on these things.
As the hands on the clock were ticking by, I sat there thinking of the last two months I spent at the Children's Room with the librarian, the library assistants, the library pages and the children and the parents that used the library. I realized that I gained so much from the internship.
Important Things I Learned:
After a short absence from the library because she was sick, Theresa was there today. I spoke with her at length about my internship and thanked her for everything...for the opportunity, for the things I learned and the great time I had. I told her that I was ever so sad to leave because I feel that I am just getting used to being a children's librarian and getting used to the system and I feel a great disconnect as the night was ending. I composed my email to her, sending her my California Indian Tribes Pathfinder and the book review. I don't know if they can use what I created but I worked hard on these things.
As the hands on the clock were ticking by, I sat there thinking of the last two months I spent at the Children's Room with the librarian, the library assistants, the library pages and the children and the parents that used the library. I realized that I gained so much from the internship.
Important Things I Learned:
- I learned to use Horizon, searching for titles, deleting titles, etc.
- I learned to fine-tune the reference interview
- I learned to make arts and crafts
- I learned to process children's books
- I learned to make pathfinders
- I learned to recommend titles for appropriate age groups and reading levels
Other less important things, but changed my outlook about librarianship:
- I learned to love working with the public, especially children
- I learned that I have to be stern but not too strict in order to gain the children's respect
- I learned that I cannot be "icky" when working with the public
- I learned that I cannot be "icky" about cleaning dirty books with unidentified blobs and petrified goo.
- I learned that 2 months is not enough to learn everything
- I learned to love children's books more than I already do
What I gained:
- I gained invaluable experience in children's librarianship
- I gained new friends
- I gained a healthy respect for books
What I wish I could have further learned:
- I wish I could further learn using Horizon
- I wish I could further familiarize myself with the titles available in the collection
- I wish I was able to do at least one storytelling session and got over my shyness about singing and dancing in front of the children.
Overall, I want to think that I learned enough to make me effective if ever I gained part-time employment as a children's librarian. I was shy in the beginning because I was not sure about the field especially since I have always worked for law libraries. In the end, I learned to love working with children and with the librarians. I may not leave the law library field because of finacial reasons but I know in my heart of hearts that I would love to be a children's librarian even if it means doing it part time. When I applied to library school, I always felt that it was just something that I fell into because I had so much experience working in libraries. It was not until I did this internship that I began to love the idea of being a librarian. I'm not sure if I could totally flip sides and leave the special library field, but I hope to be back someday in the future as a part-time children's librarian...that much I know.
Day 36 - May 1, 2007
TUESDAY -- I walked up to the Children's Room with a heavy heart. It was second to my last day as the intern. I was almost in tears while I was cutting more of Shant's images to paste on his homework. I kept thinking, who will cut paper for Shant? I was really feeling depressed.
To distract me from my sappy thoughts, I wrote another book review, this time on the book Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers And Eaters. I like this book so much so that I bought several copies already and gave them to my friend's children. It has become a book associated with me. I figured it represents me in the sense that I love to read and I love to cook, two hobbies that I want children to learn to love. I felt that this book could do the trick.
After writing the book review, I processed more of the boardbooks. Luckily it was also busy with children looking for biographies so I did not have much time to dwell on my internship coming to an end. Most of the kids were looking for books on Renaissance painters, my favorite subject when I was in college. I am quite familiar now with the reference questions and the lay-out of the library that for the most part, I did not have to consult the catalog and even if I had to, I was already used to Horizon that it did not take me long to find what I needed to find.
Before the night was over, I finished my pathfinder. I was pretty proud of it and I can only wish that it is something they can use. I wish though that there were newer resources than what I had since this is a topic that California grade-schoolers are required to write about.
I left the library with my heart heavier than it was when I came trudging in. Tomorrow is my last day...I don't want to think about it!
To distract me from my sappy thoughts, I wrote another book review, this time on the book Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers And Eaters. I like this book so much so that I bought several copies already and gave them to my friend's children. It has become a book associated with me. I figured it represents me in the sense that I love to read and I love to cook, two hobbies that I want children to learn to love. I felt that this book could do the trick.
After writing the book review, I processed more of the boardbooks. Luckily it was also busy with children looking for biographies so I did not have much time to dwell on my internship coming to an end. Most of the kids were looking for books on Renaissance painters, my favorite subject when I was in college. I am quite familiar now with the reference questions and the lay-out of the library that for the most part, I did not have to consult the catalog and even if I had to, I was already used to Horizon that it did not take me long to find what I needed to find.
Before the night was over, I finished my pathfinder. I was pretty proud of it and I can only wish that it is something they can use. I wish though that there were newer resources than what I had since this is a topic that California grade-schoolers are required to write about.
I left the library with my heart heavier than it was when I came trudging in. Tomorrow is my last day...I don't want to think about it!
Day 35 - April 30, 2007
MONDAY -- Like the grains of sand in an hourglass, it felt like my time at the Children's Room was trickling away slowly. I was sad when I got in because I did not want it to end. I want time to stop so I can continue with my internship and learn more. I feel that there is so much more to learn and so much more for me to get used to.
Monday nights are always busy but I was able to work on my pathfinder while helping children with their reference questions. As usual, I helped Shant with cutting paper and pasting it on his homework. I told him that my last day is coming up soon. He asked why do I have to leave. He could have ended his question with that...period...but Shant just had to go on with "Are you done with community service, Ms. Dora?" My cutting hands froze for a second and I looked at Shant and said "Shant, do I look like I did something to be sentenced to do community service?" It's funny how I was joking around with the girls last Saturday about community service and this kid suddenly blurts it out.
Hala bought some ice cream as a goodbye present for me. I took a short break to get ice cream and chatted a little with Hala about my plans for the future. She was encouraging me to apply for the part time librarian position and I told her that I have to complete some of my incomplete classes in order to be eligible to apply.
When I walked back to the refernce desk, I was stopped by Argo, yes Argo the troublemaker Argo who got thrown out of the Children's Room a few times during my stint as the intern. He gave me a hug and said "I missed you teacher!" Another emotional moment today of all days, just when I am getting sappy about my last few days. In retrospect, it was quite funny to think that Argo hugs library staff members whenever he gets back from a short absence. One of his previous hugging victims was Cecile, the enforcer...LOL!
I spent the rest of the night writing a book review and then chatting with Miss Daisy and Miss Evelyn. At the end of the night, I had to say goodbye to them since they are not working again with me in the next two days. The goodbyes are piling up and I'm really getting sad. I know that with the summer semester coming up and trying to complete my G-grades (incompletes), I will not be able to put in my application until the end of the summer :o(
Monday nights are always busy but I was able to work on my pathfinder while helping children with their reference questions. As usual, I helped Shant with cutting paper and pasting it on his homework. I told him that my last day is coming up soon. He asked why do I have to leave. He could have ended his question with that...period...but Shant just had to go on with "Are you done with community service, Ms. Dora?" My cutting hands froze for a second and I looked at Shant and said "Shant, do I look like I did something to be sentenced to do community service?" It's funny how I was joking around with the girls last Saturday about community service and this kid suddenly blurts it out.
Hala bought some ice cream as a goodbye present for me. I took a short break to get ice cream and chatted a little with Hala about my plans for the future. She was encouraging me to apply for the part time librarian position and I told her that I have to complete some of my incomplete classes in order to be eligible to apply.
When I walked back to the refernce desk, I was stopped by Argo, yes Argo the troublemaker Argo who got thrown out of the Children's Room a few times during my stint as the intern. He gave me a hug and said "I missed you teacher!" Another emotional moment today of all days, just when I am getting sappy about my last few days. In retrospect, it was quite funny to think that Argo hugs library staff members whenever he gets back from a short absence. One of his previous hugging victims was Cecile, the enforcer...LOL!
I spent the rest of the night writing a book review and then chatting with Miss Daisy and Miss Evelyn. At the end of the night, I had to say goodbye to them since they are not working again with me in the next two days. The goodbyes are piling up and I'm really getting sad. I know that with the summer semester coming up and trying to complete my G-grades (incompletes), I will not be able to put in my application until the end of the summer :o(
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Day 34 - April 28, 2007
SATURDAY -- This day, I worked from 12:30pm until closing time at 6pm. The girls and I are going out to dinner at Koreatown, as my send-off party. It's sad to think that it is my last Saturday working as an intern at the Children's Room, but I all good things come to an end.
I worked on finding more resources for my pathfinder most of the afternoon, finally giving it a rest around 2:30pm since I figured I have a few more days to finish it. I then helped out with setting up the tables for storytelling and the crafts the children will make after. Around 3:0opm, I decided to also make the windsock that the children made. I enjoyed doing the craft. The windsock is made out of brown paperbags, yarn, ribbons and die-cut figures. I chose buterflies, flowers and ribbons to make mine. See below:
I worked on finding more resources for my pathfinder most of the afternoon, finally giving it a rest around 2:30pm since I figured I have a few more days to finish it. I then helped out with setting up the tables for storytelling and the crafts the children will make after. Around 3:0opm, I decided to also make the windsock that the children made. I enjoyed doing the craft. The windsock is made out of brown paperbags, yarn, ribbons and die-cut figures. I chose buterflies, flowers and ribbons to make mine. See below:
After painstakingly designing my windsock, I processed more of the new boardbooks I processed last week. I spent the rest of the day stamping and barcoding them. During downtime, I chatted with Miss Daisy, Lyda, and Arpine. It turns out, not everyone can come to dinner with us. Of the girls on duty, only Arpine, Lynn and her boyfriend Mike can come. Cecile and her husband Andrew are meeting us after the library closes. Brandy and her boyfriend, Carlo, will meet us at Mu Dung San. We all ate very little for lunch so that at 6pm we were starving and ready to chow.
We got to the restaurant at 7pm and we had a great time barbequeing and eating endless plates of meat. While eating, I told them that since the internship is almost over, I wanted to come clean and let them know that it was not an internship I was actually doing, but a court sentence to do community service. It was precious to see the disbelief in their faces, especially Brandy's. Then I laughed and said...just kidding! After dinner, we decided to get some Pink Berry frozen yoghurt, the taste that launched a thousand parking tickets. We sat there for a time chatting some more and then left for home.
I did not get home until 11:30pm. I had a wonderful time with the library crew and their partners. Already I am thinking that I will most definitely miss working with these lovely people but like I told them over dinner, it's not like I am moving to another plannet. I live in the same city and I have to borrow and return books to the library every so often so I'm sure to see them again. Who knows, I might get hired soon as a part-time librarian.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Day 33 - April 25, 2007
WEDNESDAY -- I'm still very busy at the firm with end of the month tasks that I had to call the Children's Room to say I'm running late. I did not get there until 6:30pm quite tired but looking forward to another fun night. My internship is becoming more and more of a refuge after a long day working on library accounts at the firm. I love walking in an seeing the friendly faces of the librarians, the pages and the patrons. Tonight I was so looking forward to joining the book discussion of the Snacktime Readers. The book of the month was Victory Garden by Lee Kochenderfer and I enjoyed the story very much. It was one of those books that take you away to a different time, a different place.
When I arrived, I found out that Theresa was sick so she had to go home early and the Snacktime Readers session was cancelled. I was a bit disappointed but I was more worried about how Theresa was feeling. She was so congested. I spent the rest of the night helping with reference, learning how to delete books out of Horizon and later when it quieted down, I chatted with Miss Daisy about her work as a librarian when she was still in the Philippines. I told her that one of my dreams as a librarian is to build a children's library in the Philippines. Nothing big but start with a small collection and build on it. Perhaps someday in the future, I can do this. For now, I still need to learn a lot when it come to children's librarianship.
In between chats and helping out patrons, I was thinking of the book Victory Garden. The story is set in Kansas during WWII, a time when men were called to serve in the war and families left behind planted vegetable gardens, called vistory gardens to help bring the boys home soon and to help with the war efforts. The story revolved around a girl, Teresa who took care of her sick neighbor's garden with the help of a few classmates. The story is not just about the war it was about family and friendships as well. The story has a poignant feel to it because although Teresa's brother who is a pilot in the war was always able to write and assure his family back home of his safety, the true horrors of the war was hitting the other families in Teresa's town. This is a must read for children ages 8 and older. It will give the reader an idea of what life was for families during wartime.
One thing that really struck me as I was reading the book was how everything was rationed, from gasoline to meat, sugar and other food items. We are so blessed these days that if we want to eat something, it almost always is available somehow, somewhere. There was a part of the book that talked about how people could eat all the chicken they want as long as they were chickens they raised. As a result, there was a description of picnics and eating golden crispy fried chicken. Being Dora, I of course got fixated on the fried chicken part...okay you know where this is getting right? No? Okay...as soon as I drove off the library, I went to KFC, but it was closed...I was desperate to bite into a crispy drumstick so I bought the next best thing...the last pre-packaged fried chicken at my local grocery store. I had a great dinner...yum yum!Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Day 32 - April 24, 2007
TUESDAY -- Although Cecile is still on Jury Duty, I was not able to get to the Children's Room until 6pm. I had too many things to do at the firm what with the month coming to an end. I got to the desk and started working away on my pathfinder. My California Indians pathfinder was shaping up well. I was able to include most of the books we had in the library available for check-out and also the books at the reference desk. Tomorrow, I will work on finding useful websites that users can link to.
I got to do the usual tasks of clearing up the computer room every half hour and in doing so, I had to help an 8th grader save her work on disk. Actually we had to call the computer guy to bring us a flash drive because her project was too big to save on disk. I told her that she can then email her project to herself since she cannot take the flash drive home with her. I was grateful the nothing went awry with the saving of the work because she did a great job with the slides she had to present for her Spanish class.
Once again, I had to help Shant with cutting paper while he was in front of me asking the weirdest questions and sharing the funniest information about people he knew. He asked me if I had been mean to anyone in the library yet and I told him that I have not had the chance to do so...yet. He then went on to tell me how he is an actor and wants to be famous someday. He jumps from one topic to the next. While glueing the cut paper on his homework, he proceeded telling me that his teacher's name is JLo. For all that Shant is all over the place, we love having him around. He may be talkative but he is smart and is very polite. His mother came to pick him up and we told her what a joy it is to have Shant come to the library almost everyday.
After Shant left, I helped a girl look for books about housetraining a puppy. I had fun doing this because I realized how I seem to have just easily slipped into the role of reference librarian as I was helping this girl. Whereas over a month ago, I get so nervous talking to patrons, now it seemed so natural that while I am looking for books in the catalog, I was conversing with the patron, asking the girl what kind of dog she had and how old it was. I found her a couple of books she could check out and she was very happy about the great information we found.
Happy as I was with the realization, I started feeling sad again about the internship coming to an end. It seems that just as I am getting comfortable about my role as a librarian, I have to accept that my 150 hours are almost up and I will have to go back to writing my term papers and reading school books. Not too happy about this :o( but there's always light at the end of the tunnel since I am to graduate soon. I have to get more of my G grades completed so I could put in my application to work as a part-time librarian. Eyes on the prize as my adviser always tells me when I feel down about my plight...eyes on the prize!
I got to do the usual tasks of clearing up the computer room every half hour and in doing so, I had to help an 8th grader save her work on disk. Actually we had to call the computer guy to bring us a flash drive because her project was too big to save on disk. I told her that she can then email her project to herself since she cannot take the flash drive home with her. I was grateful the nothing went awry with the saving of the work because she did a great job with the slides she had to present for her Spanish class.
Once again, I had to help Shant with cutting paper while he was in front of me asking the weirdest questions and sharing the funniest information about people he knew. He asked me if I had been mean to anyone in the library yet and I told him that I have not had the chance to do so...yet. He then went on to tell me how he is an actor and wants to be famous someday. He jumps from one topic to the next. While glueing the cut paper on his homework, he proceeded telling me that his teacher's name is JLo. For all that Shant is all over the place, we love having him around. He may be talkative but he is smart and is very polite. His mother came to pick him up and we told her what a joy it is to have Shant come to the library almost everyday.
After Shant left, I helped a girl look for books about housetraining a puppy. I had fun doing this because I realized how I seem to have just easily slipped into the role of reference librarian as I was helping this girl. Whereas over a month ago, I get so nervous talking to patrons, now it seemed so natural that while I am looking for books in the catalog, I was conversing with the patron, asking the girl what kind of dog she had and how old it was. I found her a couple of books she could check out and she was very happy about the great information we found.
Happy as I was with the realization, I started feeling sad again about the internship coming to an end. It seems that just as I am getting comfortable about my role as a librarian, I have to accept that my 150 hours are almost up and I will have to go back to writing my term papers and reading school books. Not too happy about this :o( but there's always light at the end of the tunnel since I am to graduate soon. I have to get more of my G grades completed so I could put in my application to work as a part-time librarian. Eyes on the prize as my adviser always tells me when I feel down about my plight...eyes on the prize!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Day 31 - April 23, 2007
MONDAY -- I got to the library today and saw Halla working away at the reference desk. It seems she's filling in today because Cecile is on jury duty. Halla spent a few minutes chatting with me about the internship. She asked me about my plans after I completed my hours. I told her that other than trying to figure out what to do about the extra time I will have in my hands, I will have to prepare for my last semester at Pitt. She said I should consider applying for a part time position at the library because they are always in need of librarians willing to work on-call, part-time on weekends or at nights. I was happy to hear that because I do not want to miss the people I worked with during my internship and I do not want to lose the skills I learned as children's librarian.
After our chat, I happily worked away on my pathfinder. I am almost finished with the resources I needed to list down. I am trying to find good websites that can be added but so far I only have one that contains links to pages that have either been set up by the nations themselves, or are pages devoted to a particular nation.
When I got frustrated about not having any luck with finding other online resources, I finished reading the book Crispin: at the Edge of the World. I was happy to finally finish it and now I look forward to the third book of the series.
Shant, one of my favorite regulars, came to the desk and asked for my help. When Shant needs my help, it is usually to proofread what he wrote and when he finishes with the typing and printing, I would cut the paper and then paste it on his homework sheets. He claims he is not a good "paper-cutter" :o)
For most of the night, I did the clearing of the computer room. It was a very busy night because it's the first day after springbreak so the kids are scrambling about trying to get their homeworks and projects done. I had to help a kid with computer problems. She claims that she has 13 pages of work when the computer froze on her as she was saving it. Arpine was wondering about that because the kid was only at the computer for 30 minutes so it seemed unlikely that she would be able to type 13 pages of work. Anyway, long story short, she lost her 13 pages. I tried my best to help her, but to no avail.
One of my greatest satisfactions with this internship is being able to help patrons, when I fail to do so, I feel a bit disappointed. With this one I just had to accept the fact that you can't help them all...something I need to understand well, if I am to work in this field.
After our chat, I happily worked away on my pathfinder. I am almost finished with the resources I needed to list down. I am trying to find good websites that can be added but so far I only have one that contains links to pages that have either been set up by the nations themselves, or are pages devoted to a particular nation.
When I got frustrated about not having any luck with finding other online resources, I finished reading the book Crispin: at the Edge of the World. I was happy to finally finish it and now I look forward to the third book of the series.
Shant, one of my favorite regulars, came to the desk and asked for my help. When Shant needs my help, it is usually to proofread what he wrote and when he finishes with the typing and printing, I would cut the paper and then paste it on his homework sheets. He claims he is not a good "paper-cutter" :o)
For most of the night, I did the clearing of the computer room. It was a very busy night because it's the first day after springbreak so the kids are scrambling about trying to get their homeworks and projects done. I had to help a kid with computer problems. She claims that she has 13 pages of work when the computer froze on her as she was saving it. Arpine was wondering about that because the kid was only at the computer for 30 minutes so it seemed unlikely that she would be able to type 13 pages of work. Anyway, long story short, she lost her 13 pages. I tried my best to help her, but to no avail.
One of my greatest satisfactions with this internship is being able to help patrons, when I fail to do so, I feel a bit disappointed. With this one I just had to accept the fact that you can't help them all...something I need to understand well, if I am to work in this field.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
