On My Own at the Service Desk

 Thursday, June 16, 2022, 4pm-9pm    

    I worked with Jane Dance, the  Teen Librarian, for the first part of my shift. After she was scheduled to leave for the day, she felt comfortable with my confidence in helping patrons and suggested to Teressa, the Children's Service Manager, that I could be left at the desk on my own. Teresa was available in her office if I needed her, but for the rest of the evening, I was able to help patrons with all of their Reader's Advisory needs. I work at a library during the school year, so advising kids and knowing the collection for this age group is a familiar task. This practicum is giving me experience in discussing books not just with kids but with adults since it is the parents who also need help finding books for their children. Not only is the Children's area of the library busier, but they also ask for a lot more advisory assistance. There isn't as much Reader's Advisory in the Adult Services area. I enjoyed helping the kids and their families find books that might interest them. The library has a monthly scavenger hunt, and assistance with this task was another question I received several times throughout the evening. The patron flow was pretty steady, with many chatty children happily showing me books and talking about their lives with me. 

    In between helping patrons, I worked on my project evaluating titles for purchase from VOX Books. I am considering a book that should be purchased in an audio format by looking to see if it is a book that the library has already, how well it circulates, and looking at professional reviews. Teressa mentioned that if it is included in the Wilson Book Reviews, it has been deemed an essential book for public libraries of RRPL's size. This is a good tip to know when looking at all reviews and evaluating a book's purchase. We developed a code and a two-tier system to let her know which books she should consider purchasing through VOX.   

VOX Book Catalog and an open screen of the vendor software.

Sara Gandaría-Escamilla Geeta Halley, Site Supervisor Practicum Schedule