Gearing up to get away

The last two weeks have gone by in a blur.  I’ve been trying to get my 15 minute presentation for the PNLA preconference ready.  The session is called “The Young and the Restless: a new breed of library customer” and the presenter/facilitator is Aaron Schmidt.  He’s one of the presenters that got me going on the right track to serving digital natives at a conference long ago.  I’m on a panel within his session.  The panel will make short presentations about what their library has done/is doing that addresses the ICFL Perceptions of Digital Natives on Public Libraries focus group report — and more specifically, what the DNs have to say on the DVD that came out of the study.  Since the name of the session borrows a soap opera title, I went a little further.  My little session is called… Days of Our (library) Lives: the Young and the Restless as our Guiding Light.  Over the top, I know, but hey!  It fits the theme AND the content.

What does all of this have to do with the interns?  This week is the last that I’ll work with most of them.  After PNLA, I’m going on a two week vacation.  I’ll come home in time to go to the appreciation BBQ Laura is hosting for them, and then they will be leaving us to get ready to go back to school.

While I’m gone, they will be executing their group project, which is to unshelve, box, label, store ALL of non-fic.  Then dismantle, move, and rebuild the shelves.  Finally, they’ll measure CAREFULLY (interns, please read this!) and when the rows are perfectly spaced and super straight, they’ll restock the shelves, knock down the boxes, and eat pizza.  I think they might have to eat pizza a few times before the job is done.

Ross will round up the posse and assign duties — and generally oversee the whole project.  And like I said, I’ll be       On.  Vacation.

Done with TSR, getting serious about projects

It’s such a pleasure to see our library’s interns develop an interest in different aspects of the library.  Ross is a weeding maniac.  He affixed a Jolly Roger sign to his weeding bookcart, with the heading “Condemnation Cart”.  So, he is attracted to researching material histories and making decisions that weigh usefulness and shelf space.

Shelby is doing some weeding of another kind — Our library automated early in this decade.  All patron cards were transferred into our system, without regard to card activity.  Since then, unused cards have never been purged from the system.  I’ve given her a report of THOUSANDS of patron cards that expired in 2005 or before.  She’s looking for fines, fees and messages, then deleting those that are clean.  Shelby also likes to help at the circulation desk.  She’s a people person.

Sara is heading up the group project, which is to honor Evelyn Crowder, the retired teacher who bequeathed nearly a million dollars to our library.  The plan is to dedicate a wall to expressing appreciation for the gift.  Sara is one busy girl.  After committing to the internship, she got a job.  I don’t think she’s lounging at the pool much this summer!

Aaron was incredibly helpful at the last teen summer reading event.  It was Survivor in a Day.  Aaron showed up at 8:00 A.M. and stayed for the duration.  The program didn’t end until nearly 6:00 P.M.  He took on many duties; Jeff Probst at tribal councils and challenges, event photographer, judge of tribe camps, etc.  I’ll never go back to doing the whole thing myself!  Ross spent the afternoon helping too, giving Aaron time to play with the challenges and survivors a bit.

Jenna is mostly here when I am not.  I hear from staff members how very helpful and competent she is.  Note to self: make a point to work with Jenna and find out what she’s up to @ the library!

A Program Hit — Thanks to Ross & Aaron

Today is a good day.  Last night’s TSRP event was a great success, AND I’ve discovered that the staff has conspired to celebrate my upcoming birthday later today. 

The program was a cell phone texting game at the mall.  Earlier this year, the YAC chose to have a scavenger hunt at the mall, and I’d been wracking my brains to dream up a way to use cell phones in a program.  It was a beautiful fit.  A description of the game is posted at the C3Library blog.

Ross and Aaron were key to the success of the program.  I wouldn’t have been able to keep track of the five teams’ text responses by myself, and honestly, I don’t know how I’ve ever put on a TSR event without interns.  I depend on them now and refuse to do it all by myself ever again!

Another thing… I think that teens like other teens to be in charge of things.  I’m there if needed, but dang, I’m old!  If I ever leave this job, I hope the library replaces me with a very young… guy.  A guy because the rest of us are women, and I thing middle and high school guys need role models that read and are proud of it.  Young because of the energy and endurance that comes with youth.

Wouldn’t it be cool if one of our male interns was inspired to become a librarian?  Of course it would be just as cool if one of the girls was too. 

The Human Side

*Note: I found this post in drafts — see how distracted I was?

I’m late for blogging.  The interns and I are supposed to be blogging at least once per week, and though technically, I did blog last week, that one was late too.  I’ll just keep trying to do my best.  Work is very important to me, but … the sun is shining!

We had a really good week.  The interns are learning how to expedite things at the circ desk.  They’re also learning our procedures for weeding.  And of course, they’re doing all of the other things that keep materials moving through the library’s work space.  At least three interns have chosen their display projects.

To be truthful, I’m not in work mode as I write, and won’t be much of this week.  I’m leaving after CSI night (TSRP) for Boise to see my little girl compete in the Origin Records/Gene Harris talent search with her band, Take 2.  That, after the Jazz in the Canyon weekend, with just one work day sandwiched in between, makes it really hard to get into anything but jazz and this terrific weather.

Cruisin’ along

The interns are all pretty much on autopilot these days.  They know what needs doing, most of them are working on their display projects, they’re working together on the group project…

The group project they chose is to really honor the memory of Evelyn Crowder.  She’s the lady that left nearly one million dollars to our library.  I won’t go into details — that’s for the interns to blog about.

I’ve been off since the middle of last week.  It was supposed to be a great deal of fun for me, but I got some gawd-awful flu.  We even re-scheduled Survivor-in-a-Day for July 11th.  We’re hoping to improve on the not-stellar TSR turn-out this year by having this popular event on a week-end.  I’ll be asking the interns to help me plan and execute some guerilla marketing with me.  I’m thinking the teen groups that meet during the summer — cheerleaders, band, football… and places like the city pool (swim team?).  Experience has shown us that newspaper and T.V. aren’t the way to reach our audience, and we’ve had good results catching them where they are during the school year.

None of the interns took advantage of the college credit available through CSI for their internships.  We did get is set up at the last moment.  So maybe next summer, with more time to enroll, our new crop of interns will finish the summer with credits.

These five young people have made a great deal of difference in our library already — and it’s still June!

Work

Ross, Aaron, Sara, Shelby, and Jenna have contributed so much already.  They have, between them, translated our general brochure into Spanish, created signs (no “NO!” signs), taken the ABLE weeding course and in-house training for weeding, and begun actual stage one of weeding.  They’ve cut untold numbers of summer reading fliers and time sheets, checked book donations against the catalog, placed new books on our website, learned opening and closing procedures, covered books, and begun helping staff out on the floor.

We’ve scheduled a weekly intern meeting so we can address upcoming activities, the status of projects, and whatever comes up.  The first was yesterday, and only three out of five were present.  One forgot, and one left just before meeting time.  The one who forgot won’t do it again — it isn’t in his nature.  I’m not sure what happened with the other one.  Perhaps it was my fault for not communicating effectively (or more likely, I didn’t give enough notice.)

Fondue night is next Tuesday night.  The interns who were at the meeting had their choice of jobs for this TSRP event, and naturally, they chose prep and manning the event, leaving the clean-up detail to the two who were not present.  Isn’t that what happens when you skip a meeting?

Ross has chosen his display project and is working on his proposal.  It looks terrific so far.

I’m collecting individual project ideas from staff for the interns to choose from.  They can dream up their own, of course — but I’m hoping that some of them will choose from a list of projects that we as a staff consider important but not urgent.  The kind of thing that sits at the bottom of a stack at your desk for way too long.

 

Week One Down

What a week!  Interns everywhere — you turn around, take a step and knock another one over.  Just kidding.  They do more than double the usual population in our work area, though.  And since my computer near the Flight Deck isn’t working right, I find I’m competing with the interns for any free staff computer.   Well, not really competing.  They have work to do too, so I just find that I’m getting less of my own computer based work done, while much more general library work is getting done.  Small sacrifice, terrific returns.

Ross is terrific to work with.  He’s not a kid at all — he’s intelligent, quick witted, a fast learner, and kind of nice.  Don’t tell him I said that last thing, I’ll deny it.  Mary tells me that she’s so thrilled with the interns that she’s already anticipating missing them after summer is over.  She emailed me a page of things they’ve done to help her this week.  I think the rest of the staff is happy too, though we’ve been crazy busy and haven’t had much of a chance to talk about anything.

ROSS IS A KING AMONG MEN

There.  That’s my intern typing while I’m away from this borrowed staff computer.  See what I mean?  Do you think he’s a little full of himself?

LIP: up and running!

What if a small rural library in Idaho decided to recruit high school interns for the summer?  What if five talented and enthusiastic students responded and joined the team?  This blog will be my record of the project.  Starting out, I really don’t know how it will all end up.  Oooooo — reality internet!

Location

Jerome Public Library, Jerome, Idaho.  A city library, serving a population of about 8,000.  The library was remodeled and had an addition built a couple of years ago.  It’s a busy library with a staff of five and a half.

The Cast

Me: Tina Cherry, Digital Native Services Coordinator.  That’s teen services to the uninitiated.
Laura:Library Director.  Younger than me, yet she calls me “our teen.”  Progressive and open minded leader.
Mary: Assistant Director.  She “remembers when,” yet is an ace at learning new digital methods.
Linda: Children’s Services.  Has a huge and loyal volunteer force.  Loves children — and it shows.
Edie: Cataloger, display artist, technical services, account minder.  Most organized person in the library.
Vicki: Part time, and we all wish she was full time.  Sweet tempered and smart.

The Beginning

My performance goal, a direct quote, that’s been hanging on Laura’s office wall in large, bold type since last September: “Apprenticeship program for high school students; 4 students working 4-10 hours per week.”

So, with that goal, I started learning about having a high school student working @ the library by partnering with Jerome High School’s School to Work program.  We had her for one class period per day for a trimester.  I learned through the experience that we needed to create a job description, what needed to be spelled out in the job description, and what I could expect in working with teens as a supervisor.  (I work with teens every day, but not as a supervisor.)

While developing the plan, the apprentices came to be called interns, 4-10 hours became 10-16 hours (and then 20, but I’m ahead of myself.)  Jerome High School had a mock interview day for juniors in May.  We gave our summer intern application and job description to the school councilors and let the mock interview coordinators know that we were seriously looking for unpaid interns.  The two things we offered were an opportunity for community service that would help round out college and work applications, and letters of recommendation for the same.

The Action

Before the closing date for applications, a former library Youth Advisory Committee member — a founding member actually, came home from college looking to volunteer for the summer.  While he was helping me clear-coat the wood trim on a bank of computer stations, I told him all about my goal and the program I had laid out to make it useful and interesting for the interns, and useful to the library.  Long story short, he is now our lead intern.  The high school interns are Sara, Aaron, and Shelby, all seniors next school year, and Jenna, who will be a freshman, but who has the added advantage of having been a library aide at Jerome Middle School.

They will all be blogging about their experience and their blogs will be linked to the library’s summer interns page

Board member Lynn Correll suggested that we might be able to get college credit for the interns.  We contacted Steve Poppino at the College of Southern Idaho and, sure enough, he set it up!

Week One

The interns are getting oriented, getting to know their mentors (each has been assigned to a staff member to work with and learn from.)  Tonight, most of them will be helping with the first teen summer reading program event — an official MONOPOLY® tournament.  One will be playing — he is a teen, after all.