18 June 2018 (Monday), 12-7:30

Hours completed: 7.5

Accumulated on-site hours completed: 98.75

I started today in the Children’s Department where I was able to assist with a
Zoo Mobile program by helping with the set up, talking to the children before
the doors to the program opened, and helping clean up. The program brought in
a little over 100 people. I learned more about how the Children’s Department
books performs, although it ended up being the same as Sarah and the teen
department. After the program, I was able to sit at the Children’s Department
desk and help answer questions. It was interesting to experience the difference
in working the reference desk to working the children’s desk. The questions at
the children’s desk pertained to more “in-house” books and there were fewer
computer questions. I also learned about the summer reading program for the
children and was able to assist in signing some kids up for the program. The
librarians also introduced me to different databases for children’s book series
and for the Lexile Reading Range, which I was unfamiliar with. This tool is
determined by testing in the schools, and identifies books that are appropriate
for the child’s reading level.
Back at the reference desk, I worked on adding books to the teen displays
(Pride Month display and Teens’ Top Ten). This gave me practice with using
WorkFlows for displaying purposes and allowed me to test my memory on how
to put things in display status. I also got to work on finding “old” new books
(books in the teen “New” section from April and earlier and removing the new
stickers and shelving them with the other books.

19 June 2018 (Tuesday), 10-5:00

Hours completed: 7
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 105.75
Today began at the reference desk where I continued working on the small
assignments Sarah assigned me. I added more books to the ‘What to Read
Next’ Jar list. This task has challenged me in finding various books that are
diverse and enjoyable for various kinds of readers. I try to make sure that not
all of the books are incredibly long, and that they show different relationships
and people. I helped with the Kids Rock program with the children’s librarians.
Today, the theme was ‘Kids Rock Art’, so music and paint were incorporated
in the different craft stations. I was able to talk to the kids more and work with
them at my station. Once again, being flexible proved to be crucial as one of
the crafts made a bigger mess than anticipated and caused there to be paint on
the floor and the people.
After the program, I was able to work the Children’s Reference Desk. I
assisted with discarding old materials and helped sign children up for the
summer reading program.

20 June 2018 (Wednesday), 10:30-5:30

Hours completed: 7
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 112.75
I spent today with the Children’s Department. We began with an outreach
program to a nearby park where the Park and Play (a summer camp) was. We
brought a variety of books (fiction, nonfiction, JE, JFIC, graphic novels, etc.),
summer reading program
materials, a laptop to check out
books, and applications for a
“3 for Me” card. The “3 for
Me” card allows children under
the age of 18 to apply for a
library card and check out up to
3 books. We then went to two
other parks in different parts of
Barberton to repeat what we
did at the first location. It was a
good experience in outreach,
and a good reminder that it is
important to make the library
and its materials accessible to
all children. It was also a good
opportunity to talk to the kids
and learn about the kinds of
books they like to read as well Outreach 1: Boxes full of books for camp kids to
as get to know the community. checkout
27 June 2018 (Wednesday),
12:30-3
Hours completed: 2.5
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 115.25
Today was my first day back from ALA, so I was able to recap what I
learned at the convention to Sarah and the other librarians. ALA definitely gave
me more to think about in terms of serving young adults and other library
patrons and I’m looking forward to applying what I learned to both Fairlawn-
Bath and Barberton. I also worked the reference desk again, and I can officially
say that I feel very confident using Workflows. It is not as easy for me as
Sierra, but I no longer need to ask questions frequently. Sarah and I also looked
at the projects I already completed and my upcoming ones - including the
inventory list that I will start tomorrow.

28 June 2018 (Thursday), 9:30-3

Hours completed: 3
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 118.25
I started today by doing some of the inventory for teen fiction. I had never
done inventory before, so Sarah took the time to explain it to me. She printed
me out 10 out of the 114 pages of teen fiction and had me look through the
shelves to make sure everything was in order and what was on the list was on
the shelf. If I found a book that was not on the list, I was to pull it and then we
would see if it had been cataloged incorrectly or if it was on a missing list. If I
could not find something on the list, we would mark it as missing in the
catalog. I found this to be relatively easy for fiction, but nonfiction was more
difficult because the titles and call numbers tended to be much more similar so
I had to take extra care in checking the items.
I continued working on the Tough Topics for Teens by looking through the
nonfiction collection and marking down how many books for each topic we had
so we could order more if needed. I also looked further into the list to make
sure the additional resources were up to date, and I combined a few of the
topics that were very similar, such as hygiene and skincare, since the teen
hygiene books also included a great deal of information about skin care.
Finally, I worked on finding some discussion questions for my upcoming teen
bookclub for One of Us is Lying (Karen McManus).

29 June 2018 (Friday), 9:30-5

Hours completed: 7.5
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 125.75
I spent today with the children’s department to gain more experience and
knowledge in working with children, since it is still an interest of mine. One of
the children’s librarians was kind enough to invite me to observe her story time,
which was a great experience. Previously, I had only been able to observe a
storytime with Fairlawn-Bath, so I enjoyed seeing how another librarian
presented stories, songs, and puppets. I also learned more about the “Tween”
section (programs, outreach, and the kinds of books that are placed in that area)
of the children’s department and helped answer reference questions.

2 July 2018 (Monday), 9:30-5

Hours completed: 7.5
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 133.25
Today I was able to put up my “Fandom” display. This gave me practice in
laying out a display as well as using Work Flows to put items in “display”
status. Overall, the display looked really good and a few books were even
checked out. I made sure to include the bookmarks I had requested from the
marketing department, which featured the “Fandom Obsession” on the front
and a list of read-alikes on the back.
Sarah gave me another project, which proved to be the most difficult of any
of the projects I have done. She gave me a book challenge that had been
submitted (and resolved) at the library a few years ago with the patron
information blocked off. She wanted me to practice responding to a book
challenge, which proved to be extremely challenging because I had to separate
my opinion from the challenge. I tried to focus on responding to the concerns
of the patron, as well as the tone of my writing because I was worried that I
sounded condescending. After, Sarah and I looked at what I wrote and she
offered some suggestions, such as being more specific when mentioning that a
series was “award winning”.

3 July 2018 (Tuesday), 12:30-8

Hours completed: 7.5
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 140.75
I was able to finish my inventory in the teen nonfiction today. The end result
was that I found a few books that had been missing, so they were able to be re-
added to the catalog, and I marked a few books that were supposed to be on the
shelf but were not. After this, I went through a took a final count of the number
of “tough topics” books that were available and made a list of subjects that
needed more or updated information.
Today was also Teen Book Club, which meant that I got to lead the book
discussion for the book I selected (One of Us is Lying). I prepared for the book
discussion by coming up with some questions (such as, ‘did you like the
narration style?’, ‘would you rewrite the ending if you could? How?’, etc.) and
I typed up a list of readalikes for the teens. The book discussion was held at
Barberton’s local coffee shop, Kave at 6. In the end, only one teen showed up
plus Sarah and I. The three of us talked about the book for a little over an hour,
and although there was only one person, it was still a positive experience to
plan the book discussion and to actually be apart of one.

9 July 2018 (Monday), 12:30-5

Hours completed: 4.5
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 145.25
I started today in the Children’s Department to help with the “Kids Rock”
program, which was “Kids Rock Music”. The program consisted of a story
being read to the children followed by a variety of craft and sensory tables that
allowed children to experience music in a variety of ways. I helped with one of
the craft stations where the kids used a small, circular piece of cardboard,
string, beads, and a chopstick to make a drum-like instrument. It was a great
experience because I was working closely with the children and I got to see
how another children’s librarian ran her programs. After the program, I went
back to the reference desk and assisted the librarians with reference questions.
By now, I feel just as comfortable answering questions for Barberton and using
WorkFlows as I do answering questions at Fairlawn-Bath and using Sierra.

10 July 2018 (Tuesday), 12:30-8

Hours completed: 7
Accumulated on-site hours completed: 152.25
Last day! Today I helped with the Kids Rock! program. Today it was Kids
Rock Slime, so I helped the children’s librarians teach kids the science behind
making slime and assisted the children in making their own. After this, I was
back in the teen department, looking up the highlighted books from the
previous inventory list. I checked to see if the items were missing because they
were checked out, in-transit, or if they were supposed to be on the shelves,
when their last check out date was to see if it was likely that it was missing for
good. Overall, I had a great experience at the Barberton Public Library! The
staff really went above and beyond to make sure I was able to accomplish my
goals and learn about their wonderful establishment.