Today At The Desk....

Today was a little less harried at the desk than it has been lately, and I was very glad of that because it allowed me to devote my time and attention to a sensitive reference question that came up.

A patron approached the desk, and asked if I could help her find books for young children about death and grieving. When I gently asked if she could give anymore information about the situation they were dealing with, I found out that their had unfortunately been a pregnancy in the family that ended in miscarriage, and the kids were having a hard time understanding what had happened and that there was no baby anymore, even though a significant amount of time had passed.

I cautioned her that we probably would not have anything on that specific situation, but that I would pull together what I could find and bring them to her to look over. Unfortunately, as I suspected, most of the children's books we had on death and grief dealt with the loss of a pet or a grandparent, and tended to focus on the idea that they had lived a good life and to take comfort in memories, which wouldn't be helpful in this situation. I did find a couple of general books on explaining death, which I gave to her. I also told her that if they googled "how to talk to kids about miscarriage" there were several web articles that might be helpful.

As I continue to search online to try to find a book title or a particularly helpful web article to recommend, I luckily came across one that mentioned two titles of books for children about miscarriage. I was thrilled to actually find that a book existed on such a specific topic. They were both out of print, but one looked like it could be purchased used for a reasonable price. I also said ILL would be an option as well, and I wrote down the titles for her and told her just to let us know if she wanted to try to get them through ILL.

As I continued to look on Amazon, I found three other books listed under "What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item" that looked even more promising as they were either more recent, or had customer review, and one is still available through Baker & Taylor, so we are going to order a copy for the collection.  Here are the titles I found, starting with the one available through B&T:

• Molly's Rosebush by Janich Cohn, 1994
• We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel Instead by Pat Schwiebert, 2003
• Something Happened: A Book for Children and Parents Who Have Experienced Pregnancy Loss  by Cathy Blanford, 2012
• Goodbye Baby: Cameron's Story by Gillian Griffiths & Lindsay MacLeod, 1999

I felt very bad for this family having to deal with such a loss, and I can imagine how hard it would be for young children to understand. I was so glad I was able to find some titles that might be helpful, even if they weren't in our collection, and glad for the atypically slower day that allowed us to talk quietly and privately, and the time to devote to keep digging and digging, until I found something.

Today At The Desk....

Today it was unusually busy at the desk.  Lots of families in and out and lots of questions, plus 3 different middle school classes.  The school groups were each in and out in 15 minutes, but it was a flurry of activity while they were here!  Hustling to select a book, then rushing to check out, and of course several of them didn't have their cards so I had to look them up.  Invariable, at least half of those also had accounts that had expired so I then had to renew them before they could check out.  But, I still managed to get them all checked-out in the few minutes they had.  Fortunately, the school groups all came through and were gone before things got really busy with other patrons.

After the school kids left, families started coming in and I ended up having a few reference questions.  One young girl was interested in learning American Sign Language, so I helped find some beginner books on ASL, and told that we also had DVD's, and that you can find videos online that show you how.  Then her sister decided she wanted to learn some Spanish, so I helped her find some Spanish vocabulary and conversation books. 

Later a kindergarten teacher came in looking for books about photosynthesis, and surprisingly, we didn't have any.  I really thought we would have at least one, but no.  So I looked through all the general plant books and found a couple that had some information about photosynthesis that would work for what she needed.  Then I had a daycare worker who wanted to find some traditional folk tales and nursery rhymes, and I helped him locate them and select the versions that were most appropriate for preschool-aged children.

I also had some patrons who needed reader's advisory, one looking for something similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and another looking for a new series for a child who enjoyed Junie B. Jones.  I suggested Big Nate for the first, and Clementine or Judy Moody for the latter.  One of the students also needed some help selecting a fantasy for her required school reading, and I showed her a few different ones, and she ended up choosing one of Tamora Pierce's books.

Along with all of this, I had several patrons with simple directional or informational questions, a card renewal, several checkouts, pulled all the materials for holds or transfer, straightened up the shelves after the school groups blew through, and still managed to find time in between to cut out some things for storytime! 

I much prefer busy days like this!  For one, the time passes faster, but I really do enjoy interacting with patrons and helping people find the information and books they need.  I find it not only gratifying to be able to help so many people, but energizing as well. 

Today At The Desk....

I actually got to use my degree today!  Of course I use my education degree when doing storytime and programs, but I got to make use of my biology/chemistry degree today.  A patron approached the desk looking rather desperate.  When I asked how I could help her, she explained her 12-year old niece had called her in tears because of a school project.  As a parent who has been through many school projects, I could immediately empathize.  Then she went on to explain that her niece had to make some kind of model of a neon atom and had no clue where to begin, the school library had no resources, and the child's family did not have internet access at home.  She didn't realize it, but she had definitely come to the right person!  With a major in biology/education and a minor in chemistry, this was right up my ally!

I had some ideas of my own, but first we looked through the science books in our collection to see if any showed ideas for building molecular models and/or information about Neon's structure in particular.  Lo and behold, I found a book specifically on the Noble gasses (the elemental group Neon belongs to) which showed a simple Bohr model of a Neon atom and gave some additional information on neon, and Noble gasses in general, then I found a second book which showed 2 or 3 different ways of constructing molecular models.

Next, I did an internet search for "how to build a molecular model" to show her several different ideas for putting one together, the most common being colored styrofoam balls to represent the protons and neutrons in the nucleus, and smaller balls on wires to represent the electron shells.  There were also models using pompoms, beads, skewers, and cardboard rings.  We discussed the methods and I told her all the supplies we had seen used could be found at Michael's Crafts in the floral and/or jewelry sections (possibly at Wal-Mart as well) and that I had even seen a molecular modeling craft kit there at Christmas time.  Then I searched specifically for models of neon so she could get a better idea of what it would look like, and since the aunt did have internet access, I explained all she had to do was Google "how to build a molecular model of neon" if she needed to refresh her memory or print out pictures.  She was very relieved and was glad to have information and a plan for her niece to work with!

I also got to issue a little boy his first library card, which is always a privilege, and helped him find some picture books with Frankenstein-type monsters.  Then his mother explained he was going to have a baby sister soon, and asked for a book about being a big brother, and we found the perfect one.  I think he was more excited about Frankenstein, though ;)

I did have to call the big guns in to help one patron.  A mom came to the desk explaining that her 3rd grade daughter was auditioning for the local performing arts school, and had to prepare and deliver a monologue.  However, she did not like any of the books specifically about monologues, and felt they were a little dull and predictable, and geared more for older kids.  She wanted help selecting a picture book or middle-grade chapter book that she could use instead, something with a spunky character, and lots of expression.  I have to confess I was at a bit of a loss on this one.  I can recommend books to read for that age or reference, but knowing what would be good as performance art, I really didn't feel I could judge as the performing arts are not in my realm of expertise at all.  So I had to ask the librarian to come out and field this one, and she was able to pull several good suggestions and the patron left very pleased, which is what's important.

And of course there was the usual cleaning and straightening, filling displays, pulling and processing holds and transfers, answering routine questions, and check-out assistance.  I also had a chance during a slow spell to cut out some decorations and props I had printed and laminated to use with a new "Feelings/Emotions" storytime kit I'm developing for the "Storytime-To-Go" program I do the other 3 days of the week, and look up the ISBN numbers for books I'd like to order for the same program.  All in all, a very productive day, with both a chance to use my science background, and to help with something totally out of my comfort zone.