While I was working the desk on Sunday afternoon, I watched a high school aged couple off & on during the couple of hours they were there. They sat quietly at one of the study tables, working on their homework/studying. Every once in a while, one of them would quietly touch the others hand and give them a little smile. It wasn't a "wink wink nudge nudge" kind of smile, it was an encouraging/I love you kind of smile. It was nice. When they left, he helped her with her coat and held the doors for her and held her elbow since the walk and steps were a little slippery. It's nice to see that chivalry isn't dead and I hope our son will be the same way.
After watching this couple, I realized I have learned a few things in the 2+ years that I have worked at our library.
1. The library attracts MANY different kinds of people! The scholary and the eager to learn; the avid reader; the beginning reader; the movie watcher; the music listener; the rich and the not so rich. The one who wants to read the paper in quiet for 30 minutes; the one who wants to check their e-mail. The student who wants to do their homework surrounded with resource materials. The one who wants to enjoy some quiet, a cup of coffee and a good book.
2. I get the privilege of working in 3 different departments - adult services, youth services and tech serve. I enjoy each of them for different reasons. I can carry on conversations about books and life with many adult patrons; I love helping kids find what they are looking for because most of the time they are eager to have it; I enjoy the "solitude" of my night of repairing, cleaning and processing the library materials.
3. Nothing makes my husband smile more often than seeing one of our patrons when we are out somewhere other than the library and being referred to as "the lady from the library'.
4. I love the excitement on a patron's face when they find the item(s) they were looking for or when they discover a "treasure" from their childhood. It always makes me smile!
So please, patronize your local library - there's lots to see there. : )
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you know what? I totally agree with you. I love my library and can't believe it had been so long since I had been there last. There are always such a different grouping of people, and I love seeing how excited kids get when they find a cool book to read. I hope they carry that with them. I am totally loving how our library is connected with a ton of others so I can borrow from other places- so fun and convenient. I would totally love to work at our library but they are NEVER hiring.
ReplyDeleteI don't take advantage of my local library enough. I have such fond memories of going there with my mom as a kid. The fish fountain outside, the stairs leading to the "grown-up" part of the libary from the kid's department, the distinctive scent of the library...it really was something I took in with all my senses and LOVED going! Thanks for the reminder "library lady!" LOL It's so funny how we come to be described by our work places sometimes!
ReplyDeleteLove our library. We go there at least once a week. Our "library ladies" are always super willing to help us locate any obscure material we need, really understanding about long checkouts for our long summer vacation, and very encouraging of C's reading. I would too like to work at the local library, but it seems they aren't hiring too often either.
ReplyDeleteI love the feel of libraries. I spent some of my best childhood years in one library or another & have great memories of all of them. I admit, though, that we do not patronize our local library, due to a technicality of being outside city limits. It's a shame, but I refuse to cough up a couple hundred dollars to belong for a year. Maybe I'll feel different when we have kids!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the best 'ads' for a library I've ever read!
ReplyDeleteMom