Today began the same as yesterday... the guidance counselor and her assistants came in with the students whose last names end with the letters K through Z to help them through their AP preadministration session. Everyone left shortly after 8 am, and the library was dead silent. When I asked Ann Marie about lesson plans, she and a Math teacher who was visiting her both chimed in about there not being a curriculum in the library--no real lesson plans, no papers to grades. Resources, mainly online, are gathered in anticipation and collaboration with a particular teacher who is bringing in his/her class to work on a research project.
Therefore, today was the lightest day this week. Though seniors came in throughout the day--only 10 students at a time--the Business Math class was the only one to come. They arrived at 6th period which made for a very long, very quite observation.
Neither Ann Marie nor Ellen is a tenth as animated as I am. They would rather sit quietly and chat on rare occasions than interact with each other or library patrons. I do find the stillness refreshing as my library operates in overdrive because my level of energy matches that of the 500 students of all ages that I see each week.
So, all of this means that I have had to secure information through careful observation and perfect timing. When the librarian and her assistant engage each other or visitors in conversations, I make myself readily available to join in and learn what I need to know while both women are in the mood to talk. I learned today that Ann Marie will start weeding books soon. She actually found one that had not been circulated since 1998! Getting rid of unused books will not be that easy because even among the newest/award-winning/popular titles, very few books get circulated. I have to commend Ann Marie for not giving up on making sure that her library is full of the "best of the best" magazines and books even though they are rarely read.
The Math teacher that came to the library wanted Ann Marie to order the book that the entire school plans to use for their summer reading challenge. I am excited that We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the school's choice. I learned about the Nigerian-born author in a professional development at my school. Equally as important is that she is an outspoken, articulate and powerful black woman. There are no black female teachers at the school (as far as I have seen in person and online), and there are hardly any black students. This book will teach the readers a lot about the topic and author at hand; I hope that it makes them learn a great deal about themselves as gendered, racialized and sexualized beings as well.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the intermittent highlights throughout the day. I was happy to be welcomed into a discussion with the two library volunteers and their friend. We talked about 1980s American political conservatism because they were working on an AP History assignment on Ronald Reagan. Toward the end of the day, I gave a little bit of advice to a girl who was working on her Business Math assignment. After she told me she was a senior, I suggested she look at my alma mater, Knox College. We continued to talk which led her to reveal her two top college choices, so I shared with her information about a friend's daughter who had won tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships. Then, we began to read more about those offers.
After a few minutes, I recalled the limited personal way that the library staff interacts with students and the fact that the student was there to work, not socialize. I told her, "I'm going to be quiet now, so I won't get you in trouble. I can talk forever! You've got work to do." She chuckled. My heart smiled. What a nice way to end the day!
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