I work at an Elementary Library as the Library Assistant or Clerical. Basically I do everything the regular Librarian does except teach. I work three days a week and my Librarian works 2 1/2 days.
Our school is made up of Kindergarten through 4th grade students. Something unique with our school is that we have a large number of English as a second language students (ESL). We have 71 ESL students from 13 countries. This can make things a bit challenging at times when helping children choose books.
Today I started my morning with a short meeting. Susan my librarian and I meet for about 30 min every Wednesday to discuss things that have gone on the week before and to plan for the rest of the week. We discuss any issues that have come up with lost books, teacher requests, over due books, projects and lesson plans. Then we plot our tasks out on a chart. To do, Future endeavors, and Completed. This helps us keep track of everything going on since we do not work together most of the week.
Next, the students bring their books down to be checked in before they have library time. I check them all in and run reports for Susan that list all the overdue or lost books that the students need to turn in. While she is teaching I check over the books that have been turned in to make sure they are not damaged. I don't do this every week, however we have been noticing that some of the art and drawing books are coming back damaged.
After each class I help check out the students books and help them select new favorites. On Wednesdays we have 3rd and 4th graders who are my favorite age group. They love chapter books and are always looking for new things to try. Right now an entire 3rd grade class is obsessed with the Titanic! Today I had solve several fights over who gets to read the Titanic books next. This is pretty typical. If one or two things its cool then the whole class wants to read it.
After the classes leave for the day I started to decorate for Valentines day. I had our volunteers pull all the Valentines Day books for a display. The previous weeks I had pulled all the African American Titles for African American month in February. I have to stay on top of all the popular holidays and celebrations for the teachers and students.
Once decorating was complete I pulled the teachers requests for the week and requested books that we did not have from other libraries. I am not a fan of Inter library loans. We are a new school so we do not have our total collection built up yet. Sometimes a request form another school can deplete an entire shelf and leave our students without. I have to decide what to send and what to keep. Sometimes this can get a bit tricky when a certain school does not return books in a timely manner. They tend to not get as many requests filled!
Today started off typical but quickly nosedived into something from a Monty Python skit. Cue Val the Owl wrangler. ..
We had a fire drill today and as I was out with some of the students the nurse and I overheard them talking about a dead owl stuck in the Soccer goal netting at the playground. Another child said that it was alive and that after school they were going to come back and try to help it. RED FLAG!! If you have ever looked closely at an owl you know that they are built to kill. They have very sharp talons and a wicked beak. Since they use these tools to kill their prey you can imagine what they would do to a child's hands. Cue epic freak out..
The nurse and I decided to investigate and see if there was any truth to the owl rumors. As we rounded the building we saw a big brown lump of feathers all wound up in the netting. Then the lump moved! Anyone who knows me knows that I love owls and have a passion for animals. This would not be the first owl that I have rescued and more than likely not my last. This one happened to be a Great Horned owl.
The poor thing had his wings head and legs all tied up tight in the net and he was laying on his back. He was MAD! Hissing and clicking that nice sharp beak. I used to work at an Animal Museum and handled birds of prey for part of my job. I knew that I had to get him calm. One thing that keepers often do is cover the birds head to calm them down. I quickly shed my coat and attempted to cover his head. Bad choice he freaked out and nailed my hand with his foot. Ouch!
The nurse ran to get some wire cutters and another teacher helped me cover his head. Before I could get a hold of his legs he managed to grab my left kneecap and squeeze! HOLY OUCH!! Remember those talons? Yeah.. 4 of them made their way under my kneecap. Thankfully I was able to grab his feet and manipulate his muscles so he would let go. I may or may not have said a cuss word or two! Thankfully the kids were a ways away and the wind was blowing!
When we got the cutters I had another teacher help me cover his head while I held his feet with one hand and cut the net with the other. I did not feel any broken bones but he was tied down tight. Poor baby! It took us a bit because it was wrapped around his neck but finally he was free. I then pulled him out (still covered with my now bitten up coat) from under the netting and let him go.
He burst out of my coat in all his owl fury!! He hissed like crazy and jumped around. He was unable to fly which worried me. We pulled the soccer goal out of the way so he would not get tangled again. By this time my hand and knee were bleeding and I was under strict orders to get my butt to the doctor asap!! Mr. Owl scuttled his bum to the woods nearby hopefully to recover.
I wish that I had had gloves with me and a blanket. I would have wrapped him up and taken him to the Zoo for rehab. However, due to liability at the school it was best that I leave him be as long as he was out of reach from the kids.
My day ended with a trip to the Doctor to flush out 9 puncture wounds and to get a tetanus shot. You know.. a typical day at the library!
