8:30 am: I arrive at the library and relax into my space. I have 15 mins before my teammate arrives, so I just wander aisles, straightening up, and sort of meditating on the day ahead.
9 AM: I start getting ready for baby storytime.
9:30 AM: I get a call from my supervisor, prompting me to take a quick break and fix my stats spreadsheet. I’m not a details person, so making sure everything is perfect takes me about 15 mins.
9:50: I start communing with my baby bouncers and we do storytime.
11 am: I’ve cleaned up after storytime and I rush out the door to pick up supplies for the afternoon’s program: Life-Size Plants vs. Zombies! (I made catapults from yard sticks and ladles. More on this later.)
12 PM: I get back to the library and round up a volunteer to help me set up. Sometimes volunteers are people who signed up to help and sometimes they’re favorite patrons of mine who have the misfortune of being there when I could use a hand. This time it was the former.
12:45ish: I break for lunch. Today I enjoyed a salad and a quick walk around the park next door while listening to The Raven Boys on Hoopla.
2 PM: 50 kids arrive at the library (part of a summer camp), and they’re ready for Plants vs. Zombies. This is a hot mess, but it’s fun and most of the kids love it.
3 PM: I settle in for some collection development while my teammate goes to lunch.
3:30 PM: I get stopped a few times to help people, but it’s mostly quiet. At 3:30, a patron I worry is beginning to experience memory loss comes in for help understanding his ebook loans. It takes me around 30 minutes to get him straightened out and on track again. After he leaves, I decide I need to make a guide for him that I can print and give him.
4 PM: My teammate is back and I comfortably settle into selecting again. We use Baker and Taylor, so it takes me what can only be described as a hellishly long time to get things sorted into their proper carts.
4:45ish: A new patron arrives needing a library card and help setting up an email address. She is totally new to computers, so this takes around an hour.
5:45: It’s time to start closing, so I quickly jot a note listing all the things I will need to take to my second branch the next day. I’m writing it as I’m getting it ready to go, but the act of writing the list actually helps me remember everything. (I think this is another one of those ways I’ve learned to compensate for not being good with details.)
6:00 PM: I load everything into my Jeep while my teammate makes sure the building is empty and secure. We reflect on the joys of the day on our way out.
