Sophomore observes day in life of school librarian

I had always pictured being a librarian as a generally relaxed and stress-free job — one that consisted mainly of helping students check out books and maintaining quietness in the library.

Of course, as I soon learned, this is an incredibly inaccurate assumption.  After I spent two periods observing the tasks of Kevin Heyman, who has worked as a librarian for 12 years, I developed a much more appreciative perspective of the job. 

Now I know that not only does Heyman and the other library staff maintain the 27,000 books in the library, but he often uses his expertise on information resources to help teachers.

On Oct. 31, I joined Heyman as he taught English teacher Erika Cobain’s third-period English 9 MAP class how to find and use appropriate information online for their in-class History Day projects. 

With specialized knowledge on selecting and arranging information resources in all formats, Heyman spent the period showing students how to find and present the information for their assigned History Day topics, which ranged from the Salem witch trials to the Opium Wars. 

As someone who has never been particularly skilled at researching complex topics, I was highly impressed by Heyman’s advice and guidelines, which helped not only the freshmen, but me as well.  I was in awe of his extensive knowledge on the topic: He knew both where to find the best information and how to present these findings in a creative manner.

Heyman also showed the students examples of past History Day projects, which ranged from lengthy papers to creative skits and 6-foot-tall exhibits.

Near the end of the period, I learned yet another skill that was required of the school librarian: creativity.  Heyman assisted the students individually, answering any questions they had about their own History Day projects and sharing his ideas to help them create artistic and well-informed presentations.

I was impressed, to say the least, with how school librarians like Heyman can, in a way, sometimes take on the roles of teachers. But as I soon learned, the work a librarian does is much more complicated than I ever imagined.

When Heyman isn’t teaching, he spends his time maintaining the books in the library.  This means not only keeping track of which books have been checked out but also keeping online records and organizing new shipments. He also creates online resources for students to find library books and information for projects or homework assignments.

The Monday after my first shadowing experience, I began another period of shadowing Heyman by helping him unpack and organize the 89 new books that had recently come in to the library.  After assisting him in completing this task (which, in contrast to my slowness, Heyman completed extremely quickly), he showed me how he also organizes the online side of the library.

The library uses a site called Destiny to organize the books.  Students have access to a site called “Destiny Quest,” which they can use to search for books in the library.  The site also contains eBooks, which students can access at any time.

Heyman organizes the books according to subject, teacher and general topic. But his job also requires keeping track of who has the books, when they’ve been checked out and when they are (or aren’t) returned.

It was clear to me that Heyman was well-accustomed to the way everything worked (he was able to answer my constant questions with ease and in great detail), and by the time I had left, my appreciation of Heyman’s job had increased significantly. 

With so much to do, the job of a school librarian requires great patience, organizational skills, experience and creativity.  The meaning of the word “librarian” has changed for me because of my shadowing experience: I know now that librarians are anything but the people sitting behind the desks, shushing students and checking out books.