They're part of where I grew up. They're where I get a good amount of books. They're where I do projects. They're where I've made friends. They're where I work.They are a huge part of my life.
I work as a page in my local library; I got the job after months of begging my best friend (who as the head page) to put in a good word for me if a job ever became available.
For those of you who don't know, a page is basically the bottom chain of the library system. You may never see us, but without us, the library wouldn't function properly. We're the ones who put the books back on the shelves once they're returned. We're the ones who sit for hours in one room, going over every shelf that way the books are in proper order. We pull holds from the shelves so that they can be held for you or shipped to other libraries. We rearrange the library when they run out of room. We do a whole bunch of other things.
Without us, the library would fall into disarray.
So here's the thing. A lot of you are respectful library users. (You have to be; you love books!) Next time you head over to the library, be nice to the clerks. When you pull a book out, don't leave it on the table - put it back where it belongs. (It's a page's nightmare to see things on the shelves out of place.)
And most of all - ask if you can volunteer or help out somehow. I know my library can always use volunteers; just because there are five pages doesn't mean we can keep the entire library organized, especially when the entire E Room (little kids under five; see picture) have to be kept in perfect alphabetical order, or when adults are constantly shoving things in the wrong place, or when the DVD section is in disarray every day because it's the most popular section. It doesn't have to be a long volutneer period. One or two hours is enough to organize a big section - and it's rewarding to look back and see all of the shelves nice and organized.And it'll make the pages really happy to come upstairs (or into that room) and see something organized that they don't have to worry about.
And as a page, trust me - it's the little things.
Don't forget, fellow book lovers, that the library is an amazing thing! You don't have to buy every book you want to read. The library supplies you with amazing things. And don't forget, you can request books to be ordered!
Shout out to all pages! Hey, I'm a teen librarian and I absolutely hear you about people putting stuff back in the wrong place. My library actually decided to instruct all people to leave stuff on the tables so they didn't make a mess of the shelves. I know it gives the pages more shelving to do - but less shelf reading, I guess. But I totally agree that Libraries would fall apart without our pages. Thanks for being awesome!
ReplyDeleteps Not to scare you or anything, but I started out as a page when I was in high school. Best job i've ever had. Except for being a librarian, of course. :)
Actually... we ask our patrons to put books on carts clearly labeled "put books here" or on the table. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER back on the shelf! NEVER! Because even if you put it exactly where you got it from (and the chances of that happening are low) there's a decent chance it wasn't in the right place to begin with. (Especially because I work in the kids section. 3 year olds *love* to reshelve books. While I appreciate the effort, the alphabet isn't their strong point.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, if they're on a cart or the table, we clean them up and can mark them as being used in the library. Helps our statistics and let us know that a book is popular even if it doesn't get checked out a lot.
I go to the local library almost every week. It is so fun!
ReplyDeleteI asked about being a volunteer, but they said you have to be at least 14. Since they recognize me though, they said they just may make an exception for me this Summer once school is out. I hope so!
Melina
At my library, we DON'T want people to put items they took off the shelves back on because invariably they get it wrong and the book thus becomes lost for a long time in most cases.
ReplyDeleteI started as a shelver at my library (page, same thing) when I was fourteen. Worked my way to the bottom up but after being a shelver I was convinced I would never work in a library again because frankly, it drove me nuts the way people treated books. But yet, here I am years later, a librarian. Twist of fate.