The Book Charmer

The past few days have been filled with runny noses and tissues, but I haven't been this happy since I went to Maui. Volunteering really does make you feel good.

I started at Edison Elementary last Friday. The day wasn't off to a great start. I was still pretty sick, missed my first class, failed my Econ quiz, and had to haul my ass over in 15 minutes after missing the bus.

Patti had me start shelf reading the most popular section of non-fiction: animals. It was calming and involving - until the kids came in. I tried not to make eye contact with the group of kids attacking the origami section nearby. As a college student, I stand out like a sore thumb, and I didn't want to frighten anyone. (I'm pretty sure all of the other volunteers are parents/moms.) (Kids actually frighten me.)

But before the class left, their teacher came over and gave Patti and I a project. She wanted 28 fiction books that featured animals for all reading levels.

I thought this was a dog when I picked it out...

We were thrilled! Selecting books is one of a librarian's most important jobs. And this way, I can learn what works and what doesn't without the pressure of helping a kid face-to-face.

I also volunteered today and met a very enthusiastic mother. Edison is in this interesting situation where their librarian also works in classrooms, so she's actually barely ever there. That's where the parents come in. They have made it their project to make the environment more user-friendly. As far as I know, none of them have previous library experience, which...makes for a very interesting experiment indeed. They have tons of great ideas, don't get me wrong, but this setup makes me a tad concerned about their changes and perhaps how the children view the role of a librarian. Does too much parental involvement make the librarian's job less professional in others' eyes? "If a mom can do it, why do we need to pay a librarian?" Obviously, that's a little extremist, but some governments do seem to think volunteers can run a library.

(Thoughts for a future post brewing...)

Anyway, the mother suggested another fun project: booklists, or creating lists of books by genre for children and teachers alike. It may sound like tedious work, but I love the idea of doing stuff like this. Not only will I become familiar with the library through these projects, but I'll also learn about children's books themselves. I haven't read the majority of classics, and if I have, I don't remember why they're classics.

So while I'm bullshitting communications papers, I'll really be thinking about my side education in Charlotte's Web and Ramona.

(Patti actually side-hugged me when I told her I'd finished Charlotte over the weekend and loved it. Hilarious!)