Yesterday when I headed down to work the children's desk I expected it would be a fairly slow day since school was back in session after the winter break. I was a little worried I might have a little trouble finding enough work to keep my busy, but as it turns out, that wasn't an issue!
While the first hour was a little slow, the rest of the shift turned out to be incredibly busy! Very uncharacteristic for a Thursday afternoon, and even busier than when the kids were out of school on winter break. In fact, the only time I have seen it that busy is in the summer when we have groups visiting or a very popular program, or on weekends. Not a problem, just a little surprising.
There was a steady stream of patrons in and out, and most stayed for a while, and everyone seemed to need help! Several needed help locating materials, placing holds, some needed reader's advisory, one person had major account issues with both her and her child's cards due to several overdue and lost books, a school group came in to check-out biographies, and the usual general questions, tidying up, and pulling requests.
One issue came up with a patron who really needed to print out her confirmation for her FAFSA, but didn't have any money. With a child in college, I can certainly sympathize with the stress and urgency of submitting the FAFSA and felt this was a case that justified us giving her a little help. However, I had never dealt with a situation like this so I had no idea HOW to over-ride the system and get it to print out without her having to pay for it first. Luckily, one of the assistant managers was working at the adult service desk nearby, so she was able to take care of it. Unfortunately, because it was so busy and so many people needed help, I was not able to observe what she did as I had to assist other patrons. But I will be sure the next time we have slow period to have someone go over that with me so I know how to do it the next time the situation arises.
One thing I didn't need to do today was shelve or sort carts because the new page started this week, and everything was all caught up! I got to meet her at the end of my shift, and as it turns out she has a good bit of experience working in libraries, so I thinks she will be a great addition to the team! Hopefully now with two pages we can stay on top of keeping the shelves straight and in order and keeping displays filled, in addition to getting things shelved in a timely manner. A good start to the new year!
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