Library (Student) Day in the Life, Part 2

A brief reminder: you can go to the Library Day in the Life wiki to read more blog posts from people sharing their work days! I am a MLIS Candidate at the University of Alabama, and not taking summer classes. Instead, I am working 3 summer jobs: a student assistant position in Information Services, Summer Project Manager of the Computer Training for People with Intellectual Disabilities Project, and Editorial Assistant for the 2010 ALISE Statistical Report. To read Part 1 of my week, you can go here.

Here are the highlights of the rest of my work week.

Thursday, July 29th:

• Our 9 am poster session meeting was canceled and we’re rescheduling for next week.
• I worked at the reference desk from 11-2. Had a couple of phone calls, including one from a distance patron having a frustrating time with our new Aquabrowser interface for the catalog. I managed to answer her question by pointing her to the “classic catalog.” I like the new interface most of the time, especially since it’s easier for patrons, but it doesn’t have quite the functionality of the classic catalog for someone well-trained to use it, like me.
• Worked on loose ends for the CTPD project – imported files into Google Docs, created a spreadsheet for assessment data, and gave more feedback on the modules and Captivate tutorials the other student assistants have created.
• Spent a while reading Twitter and blog posts – still enjoying Library Day in the Life!

Friday, July 30th:

• I didn’t have to work at the reference desk, but I went to the library to say goodbye to one of my good SLIS friends, who just graduated and is moving to Memphis for a school media librarian job. Hearing about several SLIS grads getting jobs all at once is definitely giving me hope!
• While at the library, I put in a couple more hours of work on the ALISE Statistical Report.
• Had dinner with more SLISers, one of which is moving home and taking distance classes for her last semester.

Saturday, July 31st:

• I worked at the reference desk for 8 hours (the library is only open 8 hours on Saturdays). Whenever I work at the reference desk on the weekends, I am alone on the first floor of the library. There are no reference librarians on call. I find it to be really good experience, even though Saturdays tend to be slow. While this Saturday had its slow moments, I had lots to do.  One patron asked me a question every 10-30 minutes for my entire shift. Her questions ranged from locating articles to helping with Microsoft Word and the APA citation style. I also encountered printer issues and an angry phone patron 15 minutes before closing (she wasn’t a student and didn’t live in our state, but wanted me to look up something for her in a book we didn’t even have).
• Whenever I wasn’t helping patrons, I worked on the ALISE report. So close to being done!

I’m looking forward to Library Day 6, and hoping that I’ll either get to share more of the typical student experience, or that I’ll have a professional job to report about (fingers crossed!). I have so enjoyed reading all of the Library Day 5 blogs and tweets — thank you all for taking the time to share your days. As I said in this post, I really believe that Library Day in the Life is an amazing resource for library school students. I am looking forward to being part of this profession more than ever!

Do you have anything else you’d like to share about Library Day in the Life? Will you be participating next year?