Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Between the Stacks: 6/23/2021

I love preschoolers, they get right to the point! Last week we had PBS here for a special program and their media person came along to do an on-camera interview about the library and its partnership with PBSKids. One of my favorite tiny humans asked me why they were here and when I told him, he asked me what I did all day to rate such an interview. After thinking about it, I decided to share the answer with everyone.

Libraries have changed so much in the last ten years. As a librarian, I spend much of my day helping patrons with technology, answering reference questions, doing different programs, training staff and volunteers, going to meetings with partnership organizations such as the school, Chamber, JVCF, and more. Those are all very public things that almost everyone knows about.

The other side of my job involves writing grants, developing training workshops for my staff, developing the budget, paying the bills and other financial duties, finishing 60 hours of classes every four years to keep my certification, attending county meetings and trainings, and researching new and innovative programs to help people with needs in the community (such as our entrepreneurship center which opens this fall). The Montana State Library and Humanities Montana offer some fantastic opportunities for libraries, but they often involve class requirements.

We have recently been chosen as one of four libraries in the state as Humanities Montana site for a Teen Project Democracy event. This will allow the teens in the Holocaust Discussion group to share their knowledge and develop events, field trips, and displays educating the area about the Holocaust. The project is teen-led and they will have a complete say in what they want to do. It also involves a fair amount of time on my part supervising the different aspects of this rare opportunity.

My favorite part of the job is exposing patrons to ideas, experiences, and learning events they may never have heard of. Watching a young reader's eyes light up when they discover we have books they can read alone, leading teens in discovering a part of history they never want to happen again, chatting with seniors who come in for a little conversation and learning about their family history, staying long after a speaker should have finished because the adults just have a few more questions, and having children reach their goals for reading contests are also just part of the job.

So, my tiny friend, I hope this answers your question about what I do all day. This is not everything, but it is a pretty typical day in my life. Do not forget we are having Paw Making on Wednesday, June 30 at 10:30 p.m. for Summer Reading.

If you have a teen ages 13-17 who would like to be involved in the Holocaust project, please contact me at 287-3763. You may check out all the other events on the calendar.

 

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