Miss Laura, Children’s Librarian (aka teacher, singer, theatre “expert”, princess)
I must be in a reflective mood this week, but here goes another post about how much I love what I do! Graduate school does not prepare you for the crazy things that you might be doing (especially as a children’s librarian). Thankfully, I started volunteering/working in libraries when I was 14 and so I learned very quickly in my small hometown library that librarians do a lot of things, not necessarily in their job description. I helped with the summer reading program, answered reference questions, helped with crafts and filled-in for story time. And I think that’s what solidified my desire to be a librarian – you are rarely bored and if you are, there’s always another project that can be started, redesigned, or in need of a little TLC. In my current position, I never thought I’d be a:
- costume designer – making outfits like a porcupine, peacock, and other crazy characters out of recycled material!
- set designer – it’s amazing what can be done with a cardboard box
- director of theatre – this is all trial and error as I would never, ever, get on stage as an actor myself
- princess – it’s amazing how many times a princess dress has come in handy
- singer – it’s in story time, but my voice is nothing to write home about
- yoga instructor – again, for little ones, but I never thought it would be something I was doing
- teacher – after watching my parents (work very hard), it’s not something I would want to do in a classroom, but I still consider myself a teacher of kids and parents
- lesson planner – all of my programs begin with a lesson plan, something I never thought I’d be doing (goes along with being a teacher!)
- IT “guru” – I use the term “guru” lightly, but I’m automatically the first person coworkers come to when the IT person is out
- blogger – who would ever want to read about what I’m doing?
And I love doing all of these things! Waking up and coming into work is so much easier when you truly have a passion for what you do.