Today, I spent an hour and a half shelving children's books. I did one shelf in all that time! For every book I put in place, I found three more that were out of place. Once a book is out of place on the shelf, we might just as well not have it, because we'll NEVER EVER find it again. Plus if we're not careful, pretty soon we'll have two alphabets going, as the next shelver puts books after the misplaced one.

At 10:00, I had the first classroom of Head Start kids, about 8 of them, come into the library. They were great fun! I smiled for the whole half hour. I started reading board books about mommies and daddies and they kind of wandered off in search of something interesting. They were like corn popping in a frypan without a lid. Then I started reading "The Big Green Monster" and they crowded so close to me that I couldn't turn pages! Then they asked for it again, so we did it again! Then they asked for it yet again! By that time, they were practically chanting the words with me. After they left there was clean up to do. More books to put away. One of the books I was reading to them disappeared. We don't think it walked out with the kids, so someone probably stuck it somewhere. That will be one of the ones we will never find again!

Back in my office after that, I worked on a bookmark we give to students and others who inquire. It is ready for publication. Wrote an e-mail to the staff asking for volunteers to print it out. Because it contains passwords to our databases, I cannot show it here, but it has our logo, hours, holidays, and a list of the subscription databases we have through the courtesy of the Nebraska Library Commission.

An instructor brought me produce from her garden, told me a story about the suit she was wearing, and we talked about what I am going to do for her students on Friday.

Checking my e-mail, I found that the Institute of Museum and Library Services had published the list of grantees. Since we had submitted a proposal last May, I checked their web site, and found our name on the list! We got our grant! $129,000 for a children's librarian, some equipment to store, display and view maps and microforms, and a TV and game system for the youth area. Well, not wanting to keep the good news to myself, I quick-like-a-bunny e-mailed the library staff and administration of the college to give them the good news.

Lunch, then another, larger (15) group of kids from Head Start. These kids were a little older--4-year-olds--and they were used to listening to stories, so I had their attention for a little bit with the mommy-daddy thing. When I started to read "The Big Green Monster," I had the same result as before. We read it three times and after each page they chorused "EWwwwwwwwwwwwww!", then we shouted the last page together. (AND DON'T COME BACK!!!!!) They had a good time, and I'm sure we'll see them again.

Telephone call from a person who wanted to reserve our downstairs for dance practice. Many Moccasins is a Native American dance troupe made up of youth in junior high and high school. They have practiced in our downstairs open area many times. It is always fun to have them.

I called a colleague to invite her to help us with collection evaluation. She was tickled to accept. She has not seen our new library and has wanted an excuse to do that. After the phone call, I found mileage for her from her town to ours, and mileage for the other consultant, calculated their mileage and fees and sent it to them so they can invoice me for the evaluations. Wrote an e-mail to the two of them explaining the situation and asking them to talk to each other about setting a date. No need for them both to come on one day, but it would be more fun!

More e-mails to take care of. Trying to get 6 people together for a meeting tomorrow, Friday or .... ????

The main floor public access catalog computer is on the blink. Needs a new motherboard. Phone calls to tech support, communicate with staff about it.

Kids start coming in. We have 6 public access computers that go to the Internet. There is heavy competition for them. Often we have 4-5 kids clustered around one computer. It's a good problem to have. I am alone on the main floor. There is another staff member here but her office is on the lower level in the lab. She has customers, so can't come up to help out. Another staff member is coming in at 6:00. There are 14 children ages 8-14 in the library right now, and a few assorted adolescents and adults. I step out of my office 4 times in a half hour to remind kids that we don't have food or drink near the computers.

I am doing the "computer shuffle" as Alvin likes to call it. Due to the high demand, we can give kids only 1/2 hr. of computer time. There are people signed up on a waiting list. We have to monitor kids' computer time, ask kids to finish up, notify kids that a computer is open, and keep the dance going. Remind everyone to sign out when they leave.

There are children wandering around upstairs. That's an area reserved for adults. Kids under 12 need an adult or staff escort to be up there. Otherwise, since there are no staff assigned to that area, they play hide and seek, chase, push the books off the shelf, pull security targets out of books, and other destructive games. I go up one staircase, they run down the other.

A child tells me that she put her returns in the outdoor drop box over the weekend and wants me to check to see if they have been checked in. Smile. They haven't. Smile. I ask Alvin if anyone checked the drop box today, he doesn't know. I get the keys to the drop box from a locked draw at the circulation desk. I check. Yup, her books are there. I take them inside, and check them in. Smile and tell the child her books are checked in.

I sit back down to get to work on a report I'm trying to finish for the Board of Trustees. Another child comes and wants to pay for printing. Smile. I get up, put her dime in our cash box in the same locked drawer, make the proper notation on the income ledger, and lock the drawer again. Back at my desk, I type one sentence, and another kid comes in and asks to use a computer. She has already had her half hour, so I apologize, but can't give her more time. She's a timid soul. Smile. Back to the report, I have to check one of the drives on the network for the reports of the two other staffers.

A child has gotten one of the puppets down and is harassing another kid with it. I ask him to please put it back. He does. I smile. My face aches from smiling. I am tired of being nice. I am no extrovert!!! It's 5:30, and a few of the kernels of popcorn have left the library and things are settling down a bit. Sigh! A child wants to know if she has any overdue books. I check. She does. I smile. I explain that there are three ways for her to pay her fine. She can read it off, work it off, or pay it off. Smile. I check the computer list while I'm up. There are two kids with fine balances. I go tell them they cannot use a computer till their balances are paid. Smile! Sorry, I say. And I am. Really! While I'm up I tidy up the children's area from the Head Start story time. More books to put away. Smile.

A kid falls off one of the computer chairs on wheels. I go to see if he is hurt. Not. Smile. Natalie will be here soon. I try to work on the report. Closing is only 2 1/2 hours away! Whew!!! (Wipes perspiration from forehead.) Although I hosed off this morning, I smell like 6-week-old gym socks.

It is Natalie's turn to do library displays this month. She is doing something with harvests--human, bird and animal. She is studying ethnobotany, so she is including plants in her display. It should be very nice.

I try to finish my report. And that is a day in the life of the library lady.