The second week of my Job swap concentrated on exposing me to new things. Most valuable to me, I have gotten the chance to work in a Homework Help Center. My home branch does not have a HHC yet so this was an entirely new world to me. The kids were really appreciative of our help. For the most part, the older kids are pretty self-sufficient and do most of their work on the computers. The younger mostly work on handouts. You have to sit on the younger kids a little to keep them on task and to keep them from distracting each other.
I have also gotten the chance to work in the Job Help Center. My home branch has a JHC but its a much more ad hoc affair. This is my first chance to work with a more settled situation and I have to say that I’m jealous. By using their Homework Help Center for the JHC during the school day, you can offer more hours and more computers, making the whole service more useful for customers.
I haven’t yet had any security incidents worth mentioning. When I arrived thursday the remements of a “fight circle” were breaking up across the street from the building. While it makes for a tense situation, basically all one need to do is make sure that the confrontation stays outside the building and call the police. I don’t want to minimize the danger, as it was a dangerous situation. Nevertheless, it was manageable and the folks at the branch are pros, so all was well.
Overall, I’m learning a lot. I might not be learning exactly the way I expected, but I’m learning nonetheless. I can’t help but think that what I’m learning is all the more valuable because of that fact.
Well, I’ve started week 2 of my job swap and I have to say, its not what I expected. It was decided that I should work at “East Side” to toughen me up and give me some more experience with the “rough and tumble” of an urban branch. Well, there hasn’t been any “rough” or “tumble”. Indeed, everyone who visits the branch seems to be quite capable of behaving themselves.
Certainly I’ve had a few situations that were outside my prior experience. I had a gentleman last night, apparently on the way to the hospital for his grandchild’s birth. He was low on gas and had no money and would appreciate whatever help I could give him. I honestly didn’t know what to tell him other than “sir, do you see a gas pump?” Of course I couldn’t say this, so I just looked up the mileage and tried to give him an idea of how far he had to go. He really didn’t make things easy as I had no idea what he expected me to do. I imagine its possible he was trying to snow me… I really couldn’t tell. He seemed to be okay with my efforts and left quietly.
That was the most out of the ordinary situation I had to deal with in a little over a week, so I’m not exactly stretching my customer service muscles in the way that I expected. I’m still learning a lot. I’ve learned how a smaller branch works and I’ve noted the differences, and remarkable similarities. When it comes down to it, all the branches seem to have remarkable similarities. All of us are overworked. Few of us seem to mind overmuch.
Not that far east but, east nonetheless. I’m participating in job swap during the month of May, to begin May 4th. I have only worked at large, suburban branches on the West side of town in my library system, so I’m swapping with an employee from a smailler, urban branch on the east side. This should broaden my world view, well, a lot and (more self-servingly) make me a more attractive job candidate.
I’m very excited by this opportunity. I’m going to learn a lot and meet some new folks, all without the anxiety of a new job in a new place, (as I have something comfortable and familiar to return to) I am going to try to blog about my experiences as frequently as possible for my benefit as much as yours. Those interested will want to follow my tweets as I’m likely to at least keep that feed somewhat updated. FYI, to protect the privacy of the innocent I will be refering to this branch as “East Side” and will be refering to people by initials (one initial if possible, two if necessary for differentiation). I would substitute full names, but I imagine I’d quickly start forgetting who went with what fictional name, so I will save myself the drama and use initials.
In other me news, I have a job interview Monday (woohoo) I’m really psyched (yes I just wrote out “psyched”) as this is for a great management position. I think I have a decent chance. I don’t actually have any management experience, but there are countervailing considerations that will help me out. I am so ready for full-time work and new challenges. Working part-time when you want to be full-time really is almost as bad as having no job at all (I said almost, I don’t want any letters!).
I’ll close with a programming announcement. On Friday, May 8 multi-award winning author/blogger/critic John Scalzi, will be appearing at the Dublin Branch (75 N. High Street in Dublin)of the Columbus Metropolitan Library from 2:00-3:00 p.m.. It’s sure to be a treat. Check out his blog, and might I suggest…
