Four weeks and a bit.

That’s how long I’ve been here. At times it’s seemed like it’s flown by. But it’s been hard at times. JJ came to see me last weekend, which was amazing. We did typical tourist-y London things – Highgate Cemetery, Chelsea Physic garden and Camden. I had the best weekend in a long time. As I write this I’m on my way to see him, the weekend after. It will be rare we get to see each other two weekends in a row, but it’s short leave at the school – students have to go home for the weekend, so I’m taking full advantage of my time off to get away from the boarding school ‘bubble’. Hopefully I’ll be a lot healthier for it…I’ve been experiencing one of the perks of working in a school environment – illness. So far I’ve had a mild version of a stomach bug that was going around and been hit with a mega cold that subsided into a dry cough and hoarse throat. All that’s left of my week of misery is a scabby nose and a serious need for a full night sleep. Lie-in’s do not exist anymore. Welcome to the real world.

I still love the job. Which is a good sign, as I’ve made the executive decision to do my Post-Grad next year. I’d rather get it over and done with whilst I can still afford to! It will mean I can hopefully graduate and go into a professional Librarian role, getting settled as soon as possible in one area for more than a year. I’m very tired of moving around the country every twelve months! It has its perks, but I’ve got a craving to be boring and get settled and have a secure job.

Things I’ve been learning/doing in the library of these past few weeks:

·         Adding non-fiction books to the system – it requires more thought then adding fiction books, as you need to classify the book a) in a manner that fits the classification system you use and b) in a manner that you think is relevant for the library you work in. Sometimes these don’t match. Keywords need to be thought of, so people can find the book they want. If you don’t know the subject very well, you need to scan the book briefly, or look up some keywords that other libraries have used. We use Buckinghamshire Libraries and the British Library often, to cross-reference. It takes a bit of extra time, but is worth it when you know people will be able to find what they’re looking for in the end.

·         Jacketing. I could probably jacket with my eyes closed! Paper backs can usually be fitted with a pre-measured plastic book jacket. Bigger books and hardbacks need to either be tacky-backed, or fitted with this awkward, paper/plastic stuff that takes forever to get the hang of.

·         Answering peoples questions. A Librarian’s job is to provide people with information. People have begun, slowly, to ask me, rather than wander around the library vaguely if CC, the main librarian, isn’t there. I have helped some people – all by myself! Given them the books they need, and suggested websites they could use. The school is really good for helping student’s find and use external resources. For example, we know that in history they will be studying American Civil Rights this term. So we compile what we call a ‘Topic Box’. We put all of the books we have on American Civil Rights into the box, chase anyone who has loaned any remaining books, and put it at the back of the library. There’s a big sign on the box (made by yours truly) asking the students not to take the books out of the library. They become, in effect, reference books. So that everyone can use them if they need to. We’ve also trawled the internet for copies of a London based newspaper printed during the American Civil Rights years for relevant articles. We’ve printed them, numbered them in date order and placed them near the box for more reference material. We’re going to do exactly the same for ‘History Today’ and the ‘Times Online’. Both of these can be found by the students online – but if it’s at the back, in the Topic box, ready to use, we’ve done our job – providing them with relevant information from various sources so they can get on with their studying. It feels very satisfying!

·         Display work. I did my first (very tiny) display! A portrait of the last Head has gone up in one of the libraries – she’s painted with two books, ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Trash’. I’ve put the books on stands near the portrait and done a small poster explaining why she picked these books to be painted with, what the books are about, and why the students should read them. I’m looking forward to doing more, bigger displays when the new notice boards go up in the library, as it’s what I love about the job…suggesting material and encouraging students to read for pleasure. I’m hoping to see if I can do a ‘Book of the Month’ type display, as well as a large sign reminding the students not to eat in the library (something they seem incapable of managing).

·         I can also laminate now. Oh the excitement!

 

I’ve also learnt a little bit more about ISBNs…but I’ll leave that for another blog post. I’ve also booked myself onto a talk at the CILIP headquarters – something else I’ll do another post on. It’s on the 9^th October, about a work a book based charity is doing in Africa.