Volunteering leads to working
I had started my MLIS degree without ever
having worked in a library. My graduate advisor strongly recommended that I
begin volunteering in my local library system in order to gain experience. I
contacted the director of our system and asked him if he would be willing to
take on a student volunteer.
He readily agreed and invited me to attend
a system-wide staff development day on February 20, 2006, in order to get
acquainted with the staff. That day, I learned about the library system's
strategic plans, their outreach program, the Polaris automation system, and the
library's web site.
After that day, I talked with the branch
manager of the largest branch in the system. She agreed to let me come in to the
branch for a few hours each week to begin learning the basics of library
service. She emphasized that if I were going to manage a library some day, I
should learn the responsibilities of all levels of staff--beginning with the page
position.
Page
She taught me how to cart and shelve books,
talking books, DVDs, and videos. As I shelved, I learned to check for shelving
errors 10 items to the left and right of the item I had just replaced. Of
course, bookshelves get dusty, so I learned to clean the shelves and to keep
track of where I had left off for the next page.
After volunteering at the main branch I
asked if it would be okay for me to volunteer at the local branch nearest to
where I live. The local branch manager was enthusiastic about my coming in to
shelve and to pull hold requests from the shelves for processing. I helped in
this way until May.
After that, a substitute public service
assistant position opened, and I applied. I was delighted to be hired for the
position; my first day was May 26, 2006.
Substitute Public Service Assistant
In my capacity as a substitute I must be
available to fill virtually any staff position. If someone calls in sick or is
on vacation, I might be asked to work. I can work shelving or checking in media,
or assisting the public.
I began learning the responsibilities of a
page--from retrieving the items in the book drops to shelving. Next, the
assistant branch manager began teaching me the intricacies of checking in
materials. I studied Polaris, the library's automated system, to learn to check
in books, place patron hold requests, and send materials to other branches in
the library system.
When I became comfortable with check-in, the manager
and assistant manager instructed me in how to use Polaris to assist the public. I learned to check media out and how to issue Internet
visitor passes and library cards.
Directed Fieldwork
Next, I begin a directed fieldwork
opportunity at the Port Angeles branch of the North Olympic Library System. My
mentor has arranged for me to learn a variety of things in different areas of
the library. I begin March 29, 2007.
Additional
Service
The manager in Sequim had a large box
of papers relating to the research they were doing about the possibility of
building a new library. These papers included feasibility studies, floor plans
of other libraries in Washington state and elsewhere, budget figures, memos,
meeting agendas, potential sites for the new library, and more. She asked me if
I would be willing to organize these papers so that she could easily access the
information she needed when she would attend various planning meetings.
I was happy to do this organizing. I
took the box home and worked on it for several weeks. I first sorted the papers
by type and then by date and organized them into file folders. Just from the act
of organizing these papers I learned a lot about the process of trying to gain
the support to fund and build a new library. There were architectural drawings,
cost estimates, lists of the number of staff that would be needed in a new
building, and other documents.
In addition, I attended two public
meetings that were held in Sequim to inform the public of the ideas for a new
library and to solicit ideas from Sequim's citizens. The first meeting detailed
what is involved in forming a taxing district that would pay for the levy to
build the new building. The second meeting involved describing what has been
decided up to this point. Some time this summer a vote will be held first to
approve a taxing district and then also to approve a levy to pay for the new
library.
After doing years of research on
whether to build a new library on a new site, thus requiring the purchase of new
property, or to use the existing site to remodel and expand, the library system
decided to stay on the present site. They intend to use the existing building as
a youth and children's library and build a new building behind it that will
house the adult collection.
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