Slowing down?

Well, today was a bit of a different day than my first two. And I apologize ahead of time for any typos I don't catch, but I've been having troubles all day.

Anyway, the first thing different about today was that Suzanne was not around for the majority of it. Instead, I worked mostly with Jaymi and things moved at a bit of a less frenetic pace than they did my first two days. First thing in the morning, I worked more on Town Crier. Then I spent an hour with the women in circulation, getting the basics of things up there. I don't know if I'll ever be working behind the circ desk (I know the Youth Services staff covers the desk during breaks on Saturdays) but it's still useful to see how they do things there. My only circ experience has been at an elementary school library so it's a bit different. Also, their library uses RFID and that is something I've never seen in practice before. After that, I spent some time with Bill. He's in charge of the Indiana Room in the library, which is the source for local history and genealogy information. He seems to be a man set in his ways - his talk with me was peppered with "I prefer if no one but me touches THIS." But he also seems very knowledgable and I'm sure he himself is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in local history.

The afternoon was a bit without direction. I worked a bit more on Town Crier but sort of floundered when I had a question only Suzanne could answer. I researched movie licensing information for Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and I think I came across the answer, but I suppose we'll see for certain when Suzanne follows up on the information I gave her. After that, I tried to get started on programming for Little Tykes but I feel I'm lacking information. I emailed my contact in the program and asked if they had expectations or ideas of what they wanted us to be doing each week and have yet to receive a response. So, I'm not sure I can really plan a program until I get a little bit more information. Additionally, Little Tykes runs Monday through Friday for two hours and I will only be doing 45 minutes on Tuesdays. I would ideally like to know what they are doing each week so I don't do anything redundant and bore the kids (incredibly important as this program is for preschoolers, already notorious for short attention spans). I don't know if I'm going to get the sort of information I want before it's time to just jump into this programming (my first day there is June 8th). I will have to try to talk to Suzanne a little bit more about it and see if she has any ideas.

When Suzanne arrived, I asked her my questions and finished up on Town Crier and then it was time for me to leave.

Today was a little less frenetic and structured than my first couple days were and I don't know that I liked it better than the fast-paced days. I felt sometimes that there wasn't really much I could do for lack of information about what exactly I should be doing. I don't necessarily need rigid definitions, but at least a more general idea would be helpful. I also panicked when Jaymi went to lunch and left me alone in the department. I prayed no one would ask me any questions because I still haven't really gotten any training on the desk.

I'm looking forward to Friday - our Summer Reading Kick-Off Carnival. It's going to be crazy and fun and different. I hope it all goes smoothly!