I hope that, by now, we have largely dispensed with the myth that librarians spend all day reading in buildings that are temples of quiet. There’s not much quiet, there’s not much sitting, and there’s barely any reading, unless you count reading aloud at storytimes, or reading professional review journals to decide what books to add to the collection. So what DOES a children’s librarian do all day? Here’s a sample of one day this week, during which I…

• Updated the whiteboard in the lobby with the day’s programs
• E-mailed the statewide listserv of youth librarians with a readers’ advisory question for a patron
• Read the Library Link of the Day and Betsy Bird’s blog, Fuse8
• Withdrew some old books from the science section
• Posted to the library Facebook and Instagram accounts
• Created a new flannel board to go with Bear in A Square by Stella Blackstone
• Vacuumed the storytime rug
• Storytime (four books, several songs, one game of “Little Mouse” on the flannel board) and craft project (decorating paper popsicle shapes with crayons, markers, and stickers, and gluing them to popsicle sticks)
• Took down the first half of summer scavenger hunt and put up the second half of summer scavenger hunt (these are laminated literary characters, e.g. Pete the Cat, Fancy Nancy, Dog Man, that I tape up around the children’s area)
• Helped a kid find picture book versions of “City Mouse, Country Mouse”
• Added a kid’s photo to the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten wall of fame
• Stamped kids’ hands when they found Shelly the Turtle
• Handed out temporary tattoos to kids who completed the scavenger hunt
• Got a hug from a shy regular
• Finished reading Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley while eating lunch
• Helped a local bookseller’s kid request some books from another library, and chatted with the bookseller about upcoming titles
• Added books to a list to purchase from our vendor
• Put Lego and board games in the story/craft room
• Withdrew old fiction books
• Received replies from librarian listserv and compiled book recommendations for the patron who asked
• Performed surgery on Zoe the Snake (i.e. sewing up a busted seam on a beloved stuffed animal)
• Made an example yarn animal (a tiny turtle) for a craft program (idea from the ALSC blog)
• Cleaned up Lego and board games
  
• Helped a kid find a book about Neil Armstrong and the moon landing
• Went home! (At home we are reading The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) by Rick Riordan.)