~Service Learning Journal #3~

Well, as I predicted, this week's volunteering was at least slightly more productive than last week. I spent three hours this morning in the Children's section at the library. I got there at 9, pretty early for a Saturday, but you know, we do what we gotta do. Anyway, I spent the time doing various tasks, mostly pulling and reshelving books. At first I was reshelving all of the Black History Month books, and then pulling St. Patrick's Day ones for the new display. When I first arrived the building was deserted, besides the few people behind the desks. After about 45 minutes, though, things began to pick up. Storytime began at 10:30, and by then the Children's section was full of eager kids and their parents. It's funny... I've always thought I was fairly comfortable with kids, but being around so many at once made me really nervous. It would be just like me to do something totally wrong. I didn't have too much contact with them though, so I was okay. Pretty much all I did was try not to run over them with the book cart, pass out some crayons, and stamp their hands as they left storytime.
After Storytime, I again set out to pull books, only this time they were Easter-oriented. While pulling them I noticed that we were getting a little abstract when it came to topics, but I just did what I was told and pulled all of the ones on the list. The history of the Cold War and the Iran and Iraq atlases made me wonder, but then again, what do I know? Once I had finished, I took the cart to the desk and they asked me to put the yellow tape on the spines that indicates that the books are part of the seasonal display. My doubts just couldn't let me do it without asking though. As it turns out, Gina, the Children's section director, had printed out a list including not only Easter books, but also "Eastern" books. I had to reshelve at least half of what I had pulled, but at least we all had a good laugh.
All of that pretty much took up my 3 hours for this week. Next week I have 7, so it should be interesting. I walked in this morning expecting to meet a few new people, but instead found all new faces. I guess it keeps things interesting at least. I don't mind meeting new people, but explaining that you're not the "new girl" and that you're not volunteering because you're a criminal can get annoying. I have some new ones left to meet in Circulation, but I think I've met everyone in Children's now. They've all been incredibly nice to me. I'm afraid I'm almost more of a burden than a help because they have to work so hard to find things for me to do, but I just have to remember that they could have told me no in the beginning. Overall, it's a good atmosphere to work in. I'm not sure I'd want to work there all the time, but it's interesting to volunteer there.