A Day In the Life... of a Library Assistant

Today we welcome Holly Freewynn, MLS, as our guest blogger from the Midland Branch of the Multnomah County Library to talk about what she does in a typical day as a Library Assistant. She says: "Library Assistants are responsible for customer service, reference/reader's advisory, collection development, content creation, programming, outreach, and professional development. We get a HUGE variety of questions, and connecting our patrons to their information needs is primary. We have A LOT of resources, in a wide array of media, for our patrons."

"Angel" walks in - she's in 5th grade, and VERY excited to be heading to 6th grade. Her family is from central Africa, and we get to see her often. Her big interest is READING, and lots of it. She is engaged, funny, whip smart, and very motivated. Her questions are always interesting - "How do I find a book about Rosa Parks, but not just a kid book?"; "Do you have anything new that is like the Kane Chronicles?"; "How do I find primary sources for my research project?" etc. I had looked in to being a medical or academic while I was in library school (Emporia MLS '12). Helping "Angel" discern trusted information and be media savvy is one way we make a difference every day.

I am a Librarian Assistant, providing reference services, reader's advisory, and technical assistance to patrons. We have a lot of leeway to offer programming ideas for the branch, highlighting our collections in novel ways. Our leadership is focused on how libraries are growing and changing into the future - it is a great time to be in LIBRARIES.

I LOVE my Midland Branch of Multnomah County Library (MCL). As a transplant from investigating abuse against the elderly, I feel my skill set works very well for our patrons' needs.

I LOVE being able to spend time with our patrons to help them with research, job applications, readers advisory, and navigating government websites.

I LOVE that my branch offers four target languages, along with staff who speak them - Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian and Chinese. We have multiple story times each week that are held in these languages.

I LOVE our attempts to keep our patrons able to use our services - we THINK YES, and have a lot of support to work around barriers for patrons.

Thanks, Holly! Want to hear more about what other library support staff do in their jobs around Oregon?  "A Day In the Life..." is also an annual breakout session topic at our conference each year.  It's taking place on Friday, July 17 in Newport, OR this year and you can register here. More information can also be found at our 2015 Conference page.And if you have our own story to tell, you can comment below, or fill out our survey.