The Inside View:
The Truth about Librarians
| Preface:
This spring we welcomed Esther Peirce as an intern at the Beverly Library under the auspices of NMRLS and particularly, Susan Babb. Esther worked in the Childrens Room two mornings a week, and spent time in adult circulation and tech services, to get a feel for how a library works. We also made field trips to NMRLS, attended a NOBS children's librarians meeting, and went to the annual Power Breakfast at the Peabody Institute Library in Danvers. Esther left the program before her time was completed due to the pressure of being a college senior and all it entails. While she was here she proved to be a valuable addition to the children's room staff, and we miss her!
By Nancy Bonne, Children's Librarian, Beverly Public Library |
My Internship Experience
By Esther Peirce
When it first started to get around that I was thinking about becoming a children's librarian, people had some interesting reactions. My dad and brother-in-law would randomly burst into renditions of "Marion the Librarian" and other well-meaning friends asked me if I would have to take classes like "Shushing 101" or "How to Stare Intimidatingly Over Your Glasses." It was also hinted at that I would most likely end up as an old maid with 17 cats and a tight bun in my hair who swooned over heroes in books. But despite all that, I still liked the idea of being someone who got to inspire kids to do something that has always been such a joy to me- reading! And little did I know how soon I was going to find out how wrong all these people were.
My senior year of college, one of the counselors in my college's career services office gave me Susan Babb's phone number, and I called her, just hoping to have a few of my questions answered about what it's like to be a children's librarian. Somehow, I ended up with an internship! I was placed at the Beverly Public Library, since it's very close to my school and has an excellent children's room. I got to work with Nancy Bonne, the Head Children's Librarian, along with Pat, Margie, and Dorothea, who all work down in the children's room at various times overlapping with my two mornings a week.
I hadn't realized how technological libraries are these days and it was interesting getting acclimated to all the ways in which computers are at work in libraries. For a while, I got to observe everything that goes on in the library. On my first day, I sat in on two story hours with Margie, "Books and Babies" and a "Mother Goose Story Time." I had never heard of a story time for babies before, but then I learned about how it's a type of modeling for the parents, and helps them to know how important it is to read to their kids and help them to love reading from an early age.
I also got to observe some other parts of the library apart from the children's room. I spent some time upstairs in Circulation with Janice, learning about the different parts of library services for adults, and about some of the new developments they've been going through to keep the library a safe place where all are welcome. I also spent some time with Laurie in Tech Services. She taught me all about the process of ordering new books and them putting them into the system.
Pretty soon I also got to work on some special projects of my own. I helped Nancy and Margie prepare for the upcoming summer reading program, something that I always held in awe as a kid. They told me all about programs of the past and what their vision was for this year. I helped Margie brainstorm about what fun crafts to make this summer, all on the theme of "wild reads" and took a trip with Nancy and Margie to some local craft stores for supplies. One morning, Nancy and I created a giant wombat out of furry brown felt for the bulletin board with the theme of Diary of a Wombat. I didn't know librarians got to do stuff like this!
I also spent a good deal of time doing a weeding project to make room for new books, looking through all the books in a section and deciding which ones to take out, based on their condition and how many copies there were. I worked on the PZ section, the section that holds all the "belles letters" of children's literature, all the old bedtime classics. I didn't realize how many versions there are of Cinderella, for example, or the little-known fairy tales that I couldn't help reading before I passed over them. I was surprised to find this work somewhat mesmerizing.
I also enjoyed some fun field trips during my internship. I went to NMRLS to attend a NOBS children's librarian meeting where everyone shared their ideas for story hours. I also went to the Third Annual Power Breakfast at the Peabody Institute Library and got to hear a lot of fun presentation on various library programs from summer reading to Scrabble to making amazing displays. It was fun to see how much energy and enthusiasm everyone had for their work and the way in which they collaborate and help each other.
One of my favorite parts of doing this internship was getting to talk to the librarians I worked with and to hear their stories about how they came into library work. They are not anything at all like what all my friends assumed. They love books, working with kids, and they love their jobs. I think librarians are awesome and I have a lot of respect for who they are and what they do. I appreciated the time that I had at the library and everything I learned about how libraries work, who they work with, and what they are working to do- to get kids to love reading and the stories that have the power to teach them about themselves and the world.
(Editorial Note: Esther's internship marks the 10th since the inception of this program. Esther is a Senior at Gordon College. She shares this slot with Jaclyn Herald who worked at Nevins Memorial in Methuen. Jaclyn is a Senior at UMass in Lowell. Jaclyn's article will be featured in the June Newsletter. To view all the articles, please visit: http://www.nmrls.org/youth/intern.shtml)
