Busy, busy

Yesterday was good, even despite facing it on only 5 hours of sleep. For the curious, I don't recommend spending the weekend doing an 18-hour round trip for a friends wedding, especially not when all the driving takes place between 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. Especially not if you then have to slide back into a routine that requires you to be up at 5 a.m. on Monday. But I didn't snap and kill any kids, nor did I drive off the road from sleep deprivation, so I guess it's all good.

And yeah, yesterday was good. Busy, in the way that makes me feel that I am a useful and productive member of the school. I know a lot of librarians have it rough, but the teachers here are almost pathetically grateful to have someone help them.

The high point was when I explained (to some notable troublemakers) how only half the globe is illuminated so as to demonstrate roughly which half of the world is in daylight at the present time, and how it rotates on its own to keep that illusion. Demonstrating how the axial tilt changes throughout the year, leaving the North and South poles in the dark or light, enthralled them.

It made me feel good. I mean, I'm a nerd, so of course I think the illuminated globe is cool. If these kids, who hate school, can get excited about seeing it too, maybe they have a chance.

Now, armed with sufficient sleep, I'm going to weed like my life depends on it. I've got less than two weeks before I have to start the year-end inventory. God help us all.

I am a softie

There is a particular special ed student who is often a problem. He has to be told several times to do things; he will deliberately act up or break rules in order to get sent to "boot camp" where his favorite teacher works.

He came in to the library today to give me a hug, then he went to his class with no complaints. My heart just melted.

Sometimes I forget how starved these kids are for any kind of positive attention.

Things that make me smile

Today, one of the hall monitors asked if he could bring a middle school class into the library until the the person who was covering that class could come get them. She never did come get them (I was pretty sure that would happen; I wish they'd just ask me if I'll cover the class, because I really don't mind), but I had the joy of seeing the students poring over some of the new books I bought. Not just reading, but almost fighting over who got to read them, reading them out loud, trading them back and forth.

There were a couple of problems (they tried to con me into letting them go to the bathroom, when they knew they weren't allowed) but still, they've been remarkably well behaved for a 6th hour class. Really, nothing compares to seeing these kids, who patently hate school and can't wait to be gone, reading, and talking to each other about what they read.

I know I'm in the right job when...

As previously mentioned, I work at an alternative school. This is where all the students from the district (and it's a large urban district) who are suspended or expelled come. Presumably because of this, the previous librarian was afraid that books would not be returned, so they were not checked out. Can you imagine anything more useless than a big room full of books that no one can check out?

From day one I've been upset by this. The principal said that I could check them out as long as they were kept in a teacher's classroom, i.e., not brought home. I suspect (but don't know) that the teachers have let some of the more responsible students take the books home, but since they always came back, I haven't bothered to check into it. Finally, this month, I sat down and drafted what I thought was a reasonable checkout policy, and the principal approved it.

Today, a middle school class was in the library doing research for a project. One of the students who was finished asked me if we had any "scary books." I showed her a few titles and explained the plots; when I got to Sorcerers of the Nightwing by Geoffrey Huntington, and explained that in the beginning, the main character has demons come out of his closet, she practically grabbed it out of my hand and ran off to one of the tables to start reading. When I told her that she could check it out and take it home, her whole face lit up.

Yeah, some things about my job drive me crazy, but, at the risk of sounding sappy, it's all worth it.