Tales of the Roaming Libarian April 3rd

Zeus, Odin and Confucius walk into a bar . . .

 

I have no idea what the punchline to such a joke might be, but somewhere there must be one. As I was Roaming today, I helped a student find his way to the mythology section (subclass BL). His English class writing assignment was to write a short story, and he decided to look to classic myths for some inspiration. 

We looked for Greek, Norse and Chinese mythology (and I suggested he check out Tolkien's mythology) and I can't say I'm surprised that we had more books analyzing these myths that we had books of the myth stories themselves. Still, we found a few collections of tales that could suffice to get him started. He seemed satisfied and I left him to select his stories.

Also on my Roaming adventure, I stopped to chat with a student who was studying flash-cards, and he told me he was learning Japanese from another student. We have many Chinese and Korean students, but few from Japan. Our modern languages department teaches Chinese, and we have a sizable Korean student group, but few students from Japan, so when  I took the student with me to investigate our Japanese language holdings, I was not much surprised to find that the PL 500-600's were pretty thin. Even without classes in the language, it seems to me that we should have at least a bilingual dictionary or two for a major language; so I promised the student that I would order some.He mentioned that he has plans to go to Japan to teach, and I recommended that he check the history section (Subclass D_ ) to gain some understanding of Japanese culture. I have long said that if you don't understand the past, you cannot understand the present. If he wants to meaningfully interact with modern Japanese society, he should have some knowledge of how it got to be the way it is. This is not a value judgement on Japan, just the truth that all societies develop organically, responding to events and movements from within and without.

While I was in the reading room, someone once again asked me to pose for a photo. 

 

Sure they did. This is Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress at the turn of the 20^th century

 

      It occurred to me after these two encounters that part of the broader point of Roaming the library is to learn what it is that the students want. I think it is unlikely for a student to approach one of our service desks and make a book request uninvited. We have a form on our web page where students/staff can request books, but it is hardly something we advertise heavily. A student would have to think to themselves "gee, I wish the library had this book I want to read" and then go to the web site and find the link. Possible, but not likely.

     However, with the librarians making the first contact while our Roaming, the students have an opening to make these requests. I will incorporate into my plan for interaction with students to ask them 'what books/resources do you know of that we don't have?'

Right while I was typing up that last sentence another idea came to me. I should have a plan for what I'm going to say, in general, when I interact with students while Roaming.

We can develop a sort of script, which should include:

• an 'elevator speech' about why we are Roaming
• why I stopped to speak to them in particular
• I should know the collections well enough to tell them “books on that are found here, here and here”
• a few questions to prompt conversation
• the trusty 'are you finding what you're looking for?'
• what do you think of the (area where they are studying)?
• Mention a resource that will be helpful to study of the subject
• a good closer/exit line; which will include how to gain assistance in the future – LibChat, email, the various service desks.
  

    I am surprised by how much these blog posts have helped me with the Roaming Librarian program.