A week in the life of a librarian, day 2
Another cold day, and we’re supposed to get snow tonight. Probably not anywhere near enough for the university to close, though.
5:45 am. The alarm goes off. I get up, make coffee, and take my time reading the newspaper and eating breakfast. The Sixers lost so I’m glad I didn’t stay up to watch the end of the game. I take the dog for a short walk, shower, and I’m on my way.
8 am. I arrive at my office, put my lunch in the fridge, and open my email. No meetings today and no new requests, which is good because I have a lot to do. First, I’m making a sign advertising my two workshops for grad students this semester: poster design, and searching for funding opportunities.
10 am. The sign is done. Before I start work on the search, my library assistant asks about a document requested by a faculty member that she is having trouble finding. I do some searching, without any luck, so I email my APLIC colleagues and also try an interlibrary loan (ILL) request.
11 am. I help my data archive assistant prioritize her work. Then I realize that if I am going to get the APLIC newsletter published by the end of the week, I need to get in touch with the rest of the communications committee and start setting up the web pages.
Noon. Track workout on campus. Having a locker room, track, and lots of runners close by is one of the advantages of working on a large university campus.
1:30 pm. At my desk with a hot chocolate and lunch, plus a cookie leftover from a meeting in the building. Check my email, respond to a few things, and get back to work on the APLIC newsletter. I am hoping to finish that and at least get started on the requested search by the end of the day. Everyone is talking about the big storm we are supposed to get tonight.
4:00 pm. Got the APLIC blog set up (almost forgot we are hoping to announce the blog in the newsletter!) and started work on the newsletter. The newsletter pages were designed without CSS in some kind of authoring software. Everything is in tables and the HTML is a mess. I may need to start from scratch. Followed up on a couple leads on the document we are trying to locate. Got a call from someone in a state representative’s office looking for one of our working papers, and directed him to the published version available from the state data center. Answered a question from a student about one of my upcoming workshops.
5:30 pm. Spent the last 90 minutes trying to clean up the newsletter pages and catching up on Facebook, Twitter, and email. Ate some carrots and a piece of cheese to tide me over. Heading to the grocery store, then to a meeting for a race I’m helping out with.
9 pm. Finally arrive home. There is a bit of snow on the ground already, and the dog is very happy to see me. I take the dog out, feed her and myself, put on some music, and catch up with a few things online (including my husband). Trying to mentally prepare myself for shoveling snow tomorrow morning.
