First Day

How wonderful that we have hired our new Evening Supervisor. She begins today. I am excited to have her here at least a couple of weeks before the semester begins. There is SO much to teach her. I try to prioritize by order of what she will need to know on her own the most. First, how to maintain building security and close the building. Second, how to process reserve requests. Third, circulation procedures, then Interlibrary Loan stuff. Fourth, student hiring and supervision protocol. And oh yes, don't forget how to use our phone and email systems and our online resources.

I think back to when I first started here. What was helpful? What proved to be important going forward? Was there something missing that would have been helpful. Good thing I made notes back then. I pull them out and look them over. We have gotten more sophisticated about bringing in new people. We have an orientation checklist of the myriad details to cover - a thousand things we take for granted that a new person will not know unless you show them!

What a complicated world the library is. On the surface and to the rest of the world, we are a simple and smoothly running place with the occasional bump when something electronic doesn't work right. Behind the scenes is a complex matrix of work that takes all our strength to keep humming - not unlike that tangle of cords plugged into the same power strip and going to every imaginable type of appliance.

I love this world. I plan to not overwhelm our new hire. I hope she will love it as much as I do. So far, so good. One down and a bazillion to go.