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Interview with a Librarian- Librarian J

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Librarian #2- Librarian J

My second interview was with Librarian J, a youth service library in a public library. Librarian J is a brand-new librarian. She graduated last December from a graduate program. She was interning at this library and was hired into the same role she was interning in. She had really enjoyed the intern position, and this was exactly the role she wanted, so it worked out perfectly for her with the timing. It was great having a new librarian’s input since that is what I will be once I find a position.

The library Librarian J works at agreed to have her come on as an intern as there was only a children’s librarian, but not a teen/youth librarian and thought she could help enhance their services for that population. She was supervised by the library director and assisted by the children’s services librarian. Therefore, she felt like she had a lot of freedom to not be restricted in her duties. She decided to complete her first major weeding project this spring, before the library’s biannual book sale. Librarian J planned it that way, so she could immediately place the books she removed right into the sale pile, without cluttering up her work area. She utilized a similar process as Librarian C in that she referred to usage from the library system for data, but also spent a lot of time on the floor to have a better sense of what things looked like on the shelves.

Librarian J spent a lot of time during the first part of her internship getting to know the collection and the kids using it. She chose to work hours when her age group was most likely to be in the library, so she could talk with them about what they’d like to see and what kind of programs they would like to attend. She spent time in the stacks reviewing the books on the shelves and AV material available. Librarian J found a lot of items in rough shape and that the collection overall could be better developed. She read a lot of reviews and began to order materials to build up the collection and planned replace worn out items.

Librarian J said that she was surprised to encounter a lot of pushback from the children’s librarian about the amount she planned to pull from the shelves. She felt like the librarian was “old school”, had a deep attachment to the collection, and didn’t like to remove items from the shelves to get rid of. Librarian J showed the librarian the damaged items, noted that she had limited shelf space for her population, reviewed her new items, and politely asked the librarian if she had a better idea of how to fit everything. That librarian conceded that Jess needed to overhaul her area. Librarian J said that she thinks it is necessary for librarians to be pragmatic about their collections in order to serve patron needs. Librarian J says she plans to keep a strong presence with her teens and looks forward to keeping her collection updated, in good condition, and will weed with regularity.

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