The Musing of Spiderman

You know those moments when you think, “I never imagined I’d be doing this at my job”. Well as I was putting away a wall sticker of Spiderman, that had 8 pieces and was the size of an 8 year old child, I thought, “I never imagined I’d be doing this at my job!”

Librarians have very interesting lives. Particularly those of the Teen and Children’s variety. We do a million different tasks that most people don’t even realize need to be done.

You know that book with the sticky cover that you returned? I cleaned that.

You know that torn page that your 2 year old inflicted on that brand new book? I fixed that.

You know that craft that has 5 different pieces for your 6 year old to glue on? I cut all of those out. All 5 pieces. For 25 children. With full knowledge that you will throw it away in a week’s time. You’re welcome.

You know that obscure book that a Teen wanted that no one has ever heard of? I found it through Inter- Library Loan for them. Got myself a copy. Read it so I could discuss it with them and silently thought to myself, “This book is ridiculous but at least the Teen is happy!”.

But amidst all of these tasks we keep one thing in mind. We want people to love libraries. That’s why we do it! That’s why we spend hours reading shelves to make sure that every book you tossed back on the shelf is in the right place so someone else can find it. That’s why we pull 25 books on a subject for a teacher to come look through and choose 2. That’s why we do it. Libraries are important. We want people here. We bring joy and adventure.

So the next time you’re in a library and you love the decorations or your child is adoring the craft they’ve brought home from Storytime thank your Librarians. Don’t just say, “Thank you” but actually stop and realize all the hard work they put into it. All the weird, crazy things they do to delight the patrons and thank them for that specifically. Recognize that they work hard. Being a librarian is not all fun and games, but it’s always worth it to see someone’s eyes light up as they discover how wonderful reading can be.