I Survived!

I made it through yesterday and there were no casualties! The morning course downtown was great, and I made it with five minutes to spare despite the fact that the trains were delayed and the traffic was slow due to the snow & ice on the roads. There had been a car vs. train incident (the train won, of course) which closed one track and slowed things down considerably. Thankfully I had given myself an extra 20 minutes of traveling time (OCD to the rescue?) and wasn't late for the class.

The preschool storytime, my very first, went well. A couple of the younger kids spent their time playing, crawling under the display table and running around. They weren't too disruptive, though, and the other kids were very attentive. A few of the little cuties were very good about singing along and doing the hand motions with me, which encouraged the other more reticent children to join in as well. As I told one of our librarians afterwards, "It went well: no one cried, not even me!"

My probation review was a non-event. I was told that I'm doing a good job at the information desk and I'll have my official review in a couple of months. I'm no longer on probation and can put myself on the sub list to work at other branches if I wish. I think I may do that, but I'd like to see if I can just put myself on a list for the branches in my section of the city. Long commutes suck & I'd like to avoid that if possible.

The Hawaiian luau party at my sons' school was a blast. I had a chance to chat (shout over the music) to some friends I hadn't seen in awhile and the boys had fun running around and doing their versions of breakdancing to the music. We're very fortunate to have a professional DJ as a father of some kids in the school and he put on a great show. The music was great, the light show and video projection effects were dazzling and he has a real talent for getting people up and having fun. The limbo contest was hilarious. It was a late night for my boys, considering they had to get up for school in the morning, but they really enjoyed themselves. I did, too.

The Interview and Kevin's Hobbies

Another library course for me today, this one on The Customer Interview. Our public library prides itself in providing dazzling customer service and takes these things very seriously. In a nutshell: we at the information desk need to learn how to ask the right questions to draw out information from the customer in order to locate the right materials.

Here's an example. A customer comes to the desk and asks for books about flying. Taken at face value, one might assume the customer desires information regarding aircraft and take him to this area of the non-fiction section. After asking some open-ended questions to gain more insight, you might find out this customer is actually in need of medical books about jet lag and how to cope with it.

There are many instances where library staff are entrusted with the burden of providing sensitive information in a confidential manner. I'm surprised at how often someone will approach the information desk, look around to make sure no one else is within earshot, then drop their eyes and whisper "I need information about divorce/disease/sexuality/another delicate subject". Sometimes you feel more like a personal counselor than a library employee. Maintaining objectivity is imperative or you may find yourself surreptitiously wiping away tears as you show a customer the array of books about how to cope with a loved one's terminal cancer.

There were some funny (true!) examples in the class about how the customer's initial request can be light years away from their actual desire. "I'd like to know more about how to write cookbooks" was actually a request for Hutterite cookbooks. "What can I find out about castings" might lead you in the direction of medicine (casts for broken bones) or plays (casting calls) but it was really a desire to learn about sand-casted sculptures. "I'm looking for laser marbles" was from someone who wanted to read Les Miserables (that one cracked me up).

During this portion of the class, I had my own example to give. Last night at work, a young boy approached the information desk and asked me if we had anything on Kevin's Hobbies.

"Are you looking for music, a movie or a book?" I questioned the child.

He said it was a number of books. Being relatively new to this job, I initially thought this must be a series of children's books with a main character named Kevin and each book was an adventure based on one of Kevin's many hobbies. As I was turning to the computer to do a keyword search, something made me pause. I turned back to the boy and asked what kind of books Kevin's Hobbies are, and what they were about.

"Cartoons," replied the young lad.

I'm sure a light bulb actually flickered above my head for a moment. "Are these books about a six-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger?" I inquired. The boy nodded. "Hmmm, I think I know what you're looking for." I led the wee fellow to our collection of Calvin and Hobbes books by Bill Watterson and was gratified to see the grin spread across his face.


Weather update: As I was driving across the city to attend class this morning, the temperature was -31 C and with the wind chill felt like -45 C. Brrrrr!