Yo, I love my job so much,
Let me tell you about it.
I love that I get paid to answer questions no matter how big or small,
whether it's "is there a February 29th in 2020" or
"what are the services available to me as someone who's disabled and looking for a job?"
I love working in the kids Department
because people have so many questions, no matter how big or how little, and
the curiosity of children cannot be understated.
I love doing story times and I love watching the kids get so excited
about the fact that somebody's reading to them,
and that they all know to expect a stamp on the hand at the end of it.
And I love doing baby story time because the parents
get to get into it as much as the babies do -- if not more! -- because let's be honest, the babies don't really know what's going on
just yet... but they're getting there.
I love working with immigrants because they're brand new to this country and they really deserve to know that there's someone around,
in this new country that is scary and different perhaps from what they're used to,
who's there to root for them, and who's there to help them get along.
That makes my day every single time.
I love teaching computer classes because the folks who usually attend them have never had anyone in their lives before
who have been willing to sit down with them for a couple hours, and just explain how this stuff works,
and to show people that kind of respect and to give them that that opportunity to feel seen and feel listened to
makes me feel so good.
I love facilitating ESL conversation circles because believe you me,
I know what it's like to try and learn another language
and how hard it can be when you don't have anywhere to practice that language.
I love how even when I'm just helping someone scan something it comes out in
conversation that it's actually all part of this larger problem that
I'm equipped to help them with, and it's not just 'oh I need to get this paper scanned'
but 'I need help with employment,' and I can
steer them in the right direction.
I love helping people find a book that they're going to like,
because...
I mean, like, come on. It's a library,
what would you expect?
I love it when someone comes in and they're like 'I want this book' and I tell them 'we don't have
this book, but we can order it for you,
for free!
we'll even hold it for you when it gets here!'
And I love seeing the look in their face when they're like, 'what? you'll do that for me?!'
And I'm just like,
'I'll do that for anyone!'
But I love the feeling that that gives me knowing that I can help them find the thing that they're looking for
I love placing inter-library loans because I get to see patrons be like, 'wait
you mean you can get that book from somewhere else and you'll just bring it here for me for free?!'
And I say, 'yes! I will!'
It's great...
I love putting together displays in the children's section because it means I get to spend a bunch of time going through kids books
and finding books about certain themes, and putting them together in a way that people might not otherwise think about them.
I love helping patrons discover books that they didn't know existed before, but perhaps even more,
I love helping patrons discover books that I've read,
or commiserating with a patron about a book that we've both read already! And
how good it was, and how neither of us can wait for the author to finish book number three because, /come on/!!
I love that there are patrons that recognize me now,
and when they come in and they see me, they're like 'hey!' and even if they don't know my name,
we recognize each other and we have that moment of connection, because they're my patron and I'm their librarian, and
and that relationship goes both ways. And I love that.
I love that there's a tiny patron at one of my branches that knows me by name,
because one time they came in and
I offered to put a book on hold for them and they were like, 'no you don't have to do that,' and I was like,
'why don't you want me to put books on hold for you ever?'
and they explained to me that they never wanted other tiny patrons
to feel like they had to rush through a book
and not enjoy it just because *they* wanted to read it.
It was adorable! It is adorable!
The amount of thoughtfulness that that child has for others just, ugh,
warms my heart.
I love that singular experience of ...
escorting a patron from the kids section
to the adult section, because even though they're a kid they want to be challenged,
and I get to help them find something that will challenge them in a way that makes them feel good about it.
I love that experience I get when I'm helping a patron,
and I can tell that they're having difficulty finding the word in English,
and so I find the word for them in Chinese,
and suddenly they have this moment of like,
'oh wow, this person speaks Chinese,'
but more importantly, they have this feeling of,
'oh wow, this person's willing to speak to me in my own language to help me out!'
Because I think that's important.
I love the people that I work with, and I love knowing that there's an entire team
of people whether they're librarians, or clerks, or pages, or techs,
and we all work for the same goal of making sure that our patrons are taken care of.
I love knowing that I'm not in this on my own.
And you know what?
I love that I can share all of this unadulterated joy with you.
So thanks for being here, and thanks for watching, and until next time don't forget to ask questions.
Okay, bye!
Also, I love you Dog.
[kissy noise]
Yeah.
Okay bye!