Work Experience
Have you ever felt the sheer joy of opening a book and entering a new world?
I have...
Monday 9 February 2015
My name is Alice but my first name is actually Lucy. But I have been called by my middle name Alice, ever since I was born so it’s stuck. The school I attend is Hawarden High School, Sixth form in Year 12. I study Psychology, English Literature and Art and Design. I have always enjoyed reading and books have always been a great support for me during difficult times in my life. That's why I decided to come to Gladstone Library for work experience so I could gain more knowledge on English Literature and be around the things I love so much: books!
My first day at Gladstone Library: I was introduced to everyone and learnt how they do things here. I was given a quick tour around the historical library and they showed me how they do things differently here. They are a residential library which is different from a public library because they get funds from the government whereas residential libraries don't which is something new I learned. They classmark their books in letters and numbers, so there all in different locations which makes it hard to find a book sometimes.
The staff we're all very patient and kind; they showed me what they do in the library. I gained new knowledge about how the library works and I also found new books I had never seen before. The food in the canteen is delicious and the people here all seemed very unique and loved to read. This was my first time in Gladstone Library and it was like entering an unknown world filled with new knowledge to be learned through the guidance of the staff and the people who come here.
I have learned to find and return books here. I never knew that libraries kept other things like journals or reference books before coming to this library. A first day at a new place is always scary but I felt like I fit right in and was happy about that. The first day was good I believe. I felt nervous to begin with but that slowly eased away during the day as I got used to the place and everyone around me. I hope the rest of my week here at Gladstone Library will be eventful and a great learning experience, so I can go back to school with new knowledge and a new place to come to find exciting books to read. I like this library and hope that other people will come to like it too.
Tuesday 10 February 2015
My second day at Gladstone: We went on the ‘glimpse tour’ and learnt about the history of Gladstone and the library. Another thing we did was the set up the display of books at the entrance so people would be interested in buying them. We also edited photos for the library’s social media, and we set up the display of romantic books for the class, that came for the afternoon. Once they had left we tidied up the books. We helped out with an intern in the annex writing down accession numbers in the journals. I liked the book we saw in the display which had marbling inside, I found it unique and beautiful to look at. Work is a lot harder than school is what I now know. But I was still enjoying gaining experience here at the library and hope to continue to learn new things.
Wednesday 11 February 2015
The middle of the week: We continued writing accession codes into the journals. We were also taught how to use the catalogue when you had to change a certain detail about a book. For a part of the morning and most of the afternoon we were told to come up with some ideas for Valentine's Day. They were going to make a display of it and we were in charge of it. So after brainstorming and coming up with ideas we had to narrow them down to which ones we would choose. We chose Gladstone's letter to Catherine Glynne, iconic romantic authors etc. After that we went to find to books related to our topics and see if we could find anything romantic in them. We found pictures and paragraphs within some books which were romantic.
Thursday 12 Febraury 2015
On Thursday: We learnt about enquiries and how to reply to them. We played the cataloguing game where you try to decide what class mark you would give to a book from a catalogue. During the afternoon, we continued with making our display for Valentine's Day. We wrote down some paragraphs containing information on what was in the display. After that, we set up everything in the display case and I believe it looked good for my first time.
My week here at Gladstone Library has been a great experience. I have gained new knowledge and have enjoyed spending time with the people here. I will come back in the future to use the library facilities. I hope other people will come to like this place just as much as I have. I am grateful for all the help and support I received when I was stuck in a situation. The staff and people were all very genial and easy to get along with. I'm glad I chose to come to Gladstone Library for work experience because it was a place where I felt like I belonged and that made me very grateful.