Saturday, June 11, 2016

Long Time No See

Hello again, my friends. Has it really been eleven months since we last met? Nearly a whole year. So much has happened I feel like I should re-introduce myself.

My name is Lydia, obviously, I am twenty years old and someday I want to be a library technician. This dream came to me nearly a year ago when I began volunteering at the Madeline Helling Library in Nevada City. I began as a shelver in the children's section of the library and quickly became adept at putting each picture book and novel exactly where it needed to be, sorting the series so they were in the correct order, and even giving book recommendations to some of the young readers.

Over last Christmas break, I moved to a new department of the library: the book processing. In processing my job is to take the new books, the ones still unread by library patrons, and stamp them with the date and name "Nevada County Library." I also place stickers on the binding if they belong in a certain category. For example, the biographies get a sticker on the binding that says "Biography" in bold, red letters.

And that is where I've been ever since. It must have been about five months ago when I decided that I wanted to work in a library. So I asked my library mentor, Cindy, what qualifications are required to work in a public library, and she helped me find Cuesta College which teaches the library information technology program that I need to pursue my dream career. In a mere two days time Cuesta's summer semester shall commence and I will be attending it online. I am hoping to have my certificate in library information technology within one year, and then it's on to the library!

Care to see the place that started it all, aside from my own book-filled home that is?