Warming Up - Day 2 at the Reference Desk – Wednesday, 9 to 11 a.m.

More students seem to be finding their way to the Library these days. Actually I’m surprised to find the stations at the Reference Desk are almost all taken at such an early hour. On this day I meet Irina, the third Librarian at the desk and a relatively recent graduate of our program.

As I imagined I’m picking up a lot from watching the other librarians as much as from doing the work myself. Carol is a formidable example. When I can, I listen in on her reference interviews. She is thorough and efficient, yet has a way of putting students who approach her at ease. She doesn’t purport to have immediate answers to questions. Rather she delucidates what patrons really need and talks them through her search, ‘consulting’ with them as she starts coming up with corresponding resources. I learn about serviceability; no one walks away from the Desk without her making sure they are satisfied with the information received or an invitation to come back should they need further help.

I’m also taken by students’ gratefulness when they get the help they need. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I did not imagine them to be either as gushingly thankful or helpless as a couple of them were. One student returned to the desk after successfully locating a resource to thanks us profusely for our directions. Another was absolutely bewildered by everything technological – software, the printer – and looked feint as I helped him paginate and print his Power Point document. Queries were pretty simple and I was also able to walk a caller through the steps to extend a loan online. During free moments I was able to finish the slides for the Writer’s Institute.

Action! (or Madness!) – Monday 1 to 3 p.m. at the Reference Desk

Obviously, assignments are due this week on more than a few syllabi. There are three of us at the Desk and we’re pretty much continually busy. I’ve been assigned some slides for President’s Day but there’s not a free minute to work on them.

After a testy start dealing with the Call Hold and Transfer on the phone I get into the reference inquiries of the day. Carol’s both handling patrons and fielding my occasional questions. I especially enjoy helping a graduate student looking for dissertations. She’s Asian and apologizes for her limited English as soon as she approaches (she actually expresses herself quite clearly and precisely.) We use an online database to find dissertations on her topic, which she’s thinking of narrowing. Looking through some of the results and the subject headings begins to give her ideas of possible new routes. I find it difficult to switch off, and when she leaves I’ve become interested in the topic and continue searching but not for long, as it’s a busy day.

It’s funny how I empathize with most of these students – I returned to school after some time in the workplace and know exactly what it feels like to be overwhelmed and disoriented by the myriad resources in the Library and on the website. It feels good to be able to navigate them myself pretty adeptly now and to help others find their way.