Thursday, December 11, 2014

Ms. Vickie: Walking a mile in a librarian's shoes

Ms.Vickie has been an employee with John I. Burton for fourteen years. Within these fourteen years she has been a substitute in the classroom and in the office. However, this year she was in for a big change.  This year she has worked as Burton's sole librarian.  When offered this job, she had only acted as a substitute librarian; she had never had to run a library on her own.  

Everyone thinks being a librarian is probably the easiest job in the world. Contrary to popular belief, being a librarian is harder than it looks. Remembering where the books go and who checked them out and when they need to be turned back in is a task. She says the hardest part of being a librarian is getting books returned. She said, "I literally have to chase children down room to room to remind them to return their books, sometimes more than once." However, there are perks to this job. She says she enjoys this job a lot because not only does she get to see certain students like she did in a classroom, she get to see all the students. 

When the 2015-2016 school year arrives, Ms. Vickie has plans to work outside of the school system, as the school plans to hire a full time certified librarian to fill this position long term.  It is uncertain at this point who the next librarian will be.

With no official training, Ms.Vickie has caught on very quickly. She is knowledgeable about a lot of books and about reading.  When students need assistant with getting a book, she helps to the best of her ability. Not only is she good with helping students picking out a book, she is great with helping students in general. After this year, I am going to miss going to her for advice and her sense of humor.