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First Weeks at the Library

It's official, I absolutely love my new job at the library! I've been there for three weeks now, and feel like I'm really getting the hang of things. Every morning I wake up and it's almost a surprise that I get to go back again. I've always wanted to work in a library. When I was in eighth grade I volunteered in one all summer and felt like that would be the perfect place to stay while I keep working on my novels. Whenever I told people that I was an English major, they'd ask if I was going to go into teaching. When I said no, they'd ask where I'd get a job then. I always said hopefully a library, knowing that that was a long shot. Yet, here I am! 

This is my first big girl job, and it really shows. I keep getting excited about the littlest things that my older co-workers are used to. On my first day I was ecstatic to learn that I could have a water bottle with me. Yes, a water bottle. Then when I was told that I could go on a morning and afternoon break, along with my lunch, I was shocked. And, here's the big one, I even get to sit in a chair sometimes! Then there's the fact that I can just schedule in my dentist and doctor appointments, and still get paid, along with getting paid to go to trainings and other locations. It's been so exciting! 

My co-workers are fantastic. I'm like all of them in some way or another and we've all connected. They all love books, which is amazing. Along with other nerdy things like Star Trek and X-Men. Whatever I like, there's someone there to talk about it with. They've all been so welcoming, and everyday is so much fun with them. 
Performing surgery on a damaged book. 

My boss is awesome. She's funny, but also very direct. If she has a problem, she'll tell you, she won't leave you guessing. She's always willing to come out and help, and can deal with the worst of customers. She asked me if I knew anything about YA, which is pretty much all I read, and said that I impressed the hell out of her, and one day she sees me going to school to get my masters in library science. That's not how I see my life going, but it was great to hear that. Sadly she's retiring at the end of the month, which stinks. I'm a little nervous about getting a new boss, so we'll see how that goes.

Once she was telling me a story about how she graduated with her Master's in 1970, and asked if that was before I was born. When I said yes, she said thanks for making me feel old. I bit my tongue from saying that that was before my mom was born too.

Then there's the books. I'm surrounded by them all day, and spend so much time looking at things I want to read. I've found so many books in so many genres that I wouldn't have seen before. It's crazy to have time to read, not have an assignment coming up soon and so on. Working behind the scenes, I know how to get ahold of all the books that I want which is awesome:) 

The location I work at is in the poorest neighborhood of the city. There are a lot of strange people I interact with, and some crazy stories. I'm going to make a blog series for all the crazy things that happen there. Sammy worries about me a lot, but I haven't felt unsafe at work. I know that my co workers have my back, along with our security guard. 

I've had some really fun experiences as well, helping kids and adults find the right book. It's such a great feeling when you're helping this person search and search the library for what they're looking for, then you make a suggestion of something you think they might like, and they check that out. 

I've been so exhausted the last few weeks and it's been an adjustment going from school to full time work, but I'm really loving life. This job has been such a blessing and I'm so grateful for it:) 

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