November 26

Work Placement Day 11

Wednesday 18th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Returns IT Lesson T-Shirt Pegs / Journal LUNCH

Today was quite extraordinary! It started with a 6.5 kilometre run at 7 o’clock in the morning. I worked in Returns for an hour, getting to know one of the staff members I had only just met for the first time. Then I observed another IT Lesson with Ricky, and attached pegs to some T-shirts, a side project.

When I went down to the main street for lunch, Subway was no longer accepting dine-in customers. This was the first sign that Covid-19 was happening again. No matter … I took my lunch back to the park near to the cave garden and had a picnic of sorts.

I was feeling relaxed. Two and a half days to go, getting to know some great new people, and excited to tick off the next part of my studies. But when I got back to the office, all that changed very quickly. The Premier announced a statewide lockdown, starting at midnight! I had eleven hours to say goodbye, pack up my cabin, and drive back to Adelaide.

I made it with 3 hours to spare. Nothing is ever easy …

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November 17

Work Placement Day 10

Tuesday 17th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Story Time Story Time Re-shelving LUNCH Front Counter Children’s Services Meeting STEAM Club

Despite having a good sleep last night, I still felt tired today. It usually hits at about 2 o’clock! All I do is yawn!

Today we read Who Sank The Boat? for Story Time. What a classic by Pamela Allen! I felt more comfortable in my second session as many of the parents remembered me and I have been able to recall lots of the kids’ names. I also have a better idea of the procedures for set-up and pack-up.

Before lunch, I did an hour of re-shelving. Then, after lunch, I sat at the front desk with Rowan. No major happenings, and I got to show off my book contacting skills!

Instead of working on Literacy Kits, I sat in on the Children’s Services weekly meeting at 2 pm. I was tasked with packaging the Books in Homes bags. This will be my last project which will take a couple of hours on Friday. The team seemed very grateful for my help. It was also interesting to see the inner workings of a particular team within the library.

To finish off, I observed this week’s STEAM Club. Today, instead of using the Piper equipment, we made Kaleidoscopes. Then Krista brought out Little Bits, small pieces of circuitry that you can fit together and they result in a certain outcome. There were 3 kids at the session, and it was good to see how they used problem solving skills to work the circuitry. I have noticed that the sessions are very unstructured. Although I don’t know if kids actually really learn specific science and tech knowledge from the session, I think giving the participants time to tinker is great. And different to school, which is important!

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November 17

Work Placement Day 9

Monday 16th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Move & Groove Move & Groove Literacy Kits LUNCH Front Counter SRC School Visit Literacy Kits

Back to the beginning! Last week I missed Move & Groove because I was completing my induction. Each participant receives a scarf and an instrument, like a triangle, shaker, or xylophone. Then, just like Baby Bounce, the presenter follows a musical playlist, listening to the instructions and playing some games with the parachute. Once again, it was really cool to see all the big smiles on the children!

I spent forty minutes on the Literacy Kits before lunch, then went out for my next shift at the front desk with Matilda. When we started, she said how quiet it usually was from 1 o’clock onwards. Of course, there were lots of customers, and we even had to call the police when a young man with a disability refused to listen to his carer and threw a couple of things around the children’s cave. So much for a quiet shift!

After that, I went with Kelly and Terasa to their next Summer Reading Challenge school visit. We drove out to Mil Lel Primary School, a small school on the outskirts of town. With Terasa all dressed up as a fairy again, Kelly explained how the Summer Reading Challenge works, and I took some photos. It was a fun journey and interesting to see another Mount Gambier school.

At the end of the day, I had some more time to look at the Literacy Kits. I’m trying to find the contents for the kits but it is so easy to go down a rabbit hole searching for things that could go in!

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November 15

Work Placement Day 8

Sunday 15th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00
Returns & Re-shelving Returns & Re-shelving Returns & Re-shelving

Today I did 2.5 hours of returning and re-shelving. I even got to answer the phone twice!

As I don’t always get to re-shelve at school, I enjoyed the process. I got to see how the Mount Gambier Library categorises all of their resources. It was especially useful re-shelving in the children’s area.

I am wondering if I can change the fiction shelves in my library. At the moment, letters of the alphabet are broken down into mini sections, such as Ab – Al and Am – Az. This is not a flexible system, which is what I am aiming for. At the moment, if a shelf is full, books are going in the space at the top, which isn’t a good look. I am definitely going to get rid of the mini sections and try having A to Z. Of course, books will be in order within their letter, but it will be easier to move books around quickly if there is a unexpected influx of books at a certain letter, or during weeding processes.

I also liked how the library manages the books that have their cover facing out. I think this will work in my school library as well! I can’t wait to get back to school and get started!

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November 15

Work Placement Day 7

Saturday 14th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00
Journal / Literacy Kits Literacy Kits Literacy Kits

I’m coming in over the weekend to make up for the Monday I missed. I did 3 hours today. I spent most of the time in the office working on the Literacy Kits.

I also went for a walk down to the main street, searching for a souvenir shop that I thought might have didgeridoos that could be included in one of the kits. But I couldn’t find the shop that I thought was there. All I saw was an orange ute crash into the back of a van.

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November 14

Work Placement Day 6

Friday 13th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Aged Care Delivery Aged Care Delivery Literacy Kits LUNCH Returns SRC School Assembly Visit Lego Club

Yep … it’s Friday the 13th!

Today was super busy, with 2 off-site adventures! I started the day helping with the library’s home deliveries. Today’s deliveries were for the many Aged Care homes in Mount Gambier. The residents provide the library with a list of their preferences and an automated system chooses resources for them. The librarian then collects the selected books from the shelves, packages them together, puts them into named bags and takes a government car to deliver them. With Covid, library staff no longer enter the homes to interact with the residents. They used to have a volunteer who spent all day reading and talking with them, which sounds nice.

Since we had 2 people on the job, we had time to cruise around town a bit. Danni showed me all of the tourist hot-spots, and offered some local knowledge about different buildings and locations. When we returned, I had an hour to work on the Literacy Kits.

After lunch, I was stationed on Returns by myself, as another staff member had gone home. This gave me a good opportunity to practice using the library’s system.

Then, we dressed Terasa up as a fairy and drove out to Melaleuca Park Primary School to appear as guests at their assembly. We were there to promote the Summer Reading Challenge, where children can read over summer to win prizes. It was really interesting to visit one of the primary schools and have a quick look at their library.

To finish off the day, I helped out with Lego Club.

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November 14

Work Placement Day 5

Thursday 12th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Baby Bounce Baby Bounce Front Counter LUNCH Returns Literacy Kits Lego Club

Today was another very interesting day! I managed to get myself out of bed at 6:30 am to go for a run around the Blue Lake. It was a little cold but the lake is beautiful!

My library shift began with one of the children’s programs, Baby Bounce. Children aged 6 months to 2 years sit in a circle with their parent who guides them through actions and singing to a preset playlist. I wasn’t sure how I would go with this but it was amazing how much the babies smiled and made noises. They were clearly enjoying the session!

Either side of lunch I worked at the front desk and in returns. I even did some re-shelving this time. This is the bread and butter of the library so I really enjoyed both of these shifts.

I had some time to start working on the project brief for the new and renewed Literacy Kits before Lego Club at 4:00pm. Only three kids turned up, which was unusual. It was interesting to observe how this children’s program runs, how it sits alongside school-based Lego programs, and how they intend to expand the program next year.

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November 14

Work Placement Day 4

Wednesday 11th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Returns IT Lesson IT Lesson LUNCH Front Counter Literacy Kits Hub Meeting at Melaleuca PS

Today I started on Returns. This station involves answering the phone, processing returns and managing the books sent out to other libraries via Australia Post and homes via the libraries home delivery service. I enjoyed how similar it was to processing and re-shelving returns back at school – I picked up the process fairly quickly.

Next up, I observed a session for elderly people learning how to use an iPad. For some reason I found it very satisfying to see how excited the learners were when each next feature was introduced. One of the group members stayed behind for a long chat and he was really nice. I liked his loud laugh. I wonder if he doesn’t have many people to talk to at home, so he stays behind to feel social. The library provides that space for him, which is cool.

After lunch I spent some more time at the front desk. I even served a few clients who came to me for help with scanning documents and processing overdue books. I enjoy helping people and they were all very friendly.

From 2:00pm onwards, I worked with Kelly. To hit two of my professional goals, she thought I could assist by revamping the Literacy Kits ready to put out on display in the children’s area. I’ll be working on this project throughout the rest of the placement.

Finally, Kelly drove me to Melaleuca Primary School where a quarterly meeting is held at The Hub, a community space where agencies come together to provide services to nearby residents. It was interesting to hear what programs and services were being planned for next year, and having a quick look at one of the primary schools in town. The library attends the meeting to advertise their relevant programs and try to promote the library to those in lower socio-economic areas.

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November 14

Work Placement Day 3

Tuesday 10th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Staff Meeting Story Time Story Time Work Flow LUNCH Front Counter Local History STEAM Club

Today was exhausting, but I was glad to get started.

Story Time was great fun! The 2-5 year olds were very cute. We sung, danced, played games and read a story. It was very similar to teaching a Foundation class at school, but a little less structured, shorter, and with parents present, fewer behavioural problems to deal with.

Before lunch I had my first look at the LMS. In comparison to Oliver, there were lots of similarities and some differences. I just need a bit of practice to pick it up.

After lunch I sat at the front desk. Rowan showed me more things on the computer, demonstrated how to use the public photocopier and how to charge for certain services. The library seemed to quieten by the end of this hour block.

At 2:00, I had a tour of the local history collection and spoke to Danni, the lady in charge of the collection. This was very interesting as my parents used to live in Mount Gambier, so I was able to make some connections. I found it peculiar that there is no local history museum, so, besides the town’s local history group, who meet on an informal basis, there isn’t an authority collecting and cataloguing historical items for the town.

My final session was STEAM Club. Only 1 kid turned up so I had a go at using Piper, an American coding, circuitry and construction kit. I could immediately see how kids would be engaged by its components!

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November 14

Work Placement Day 2

Monday 9th November 2020

8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 5:00
Library tour & Induction EARLY FINISH

Today did not go as planned! I went back to my cabin early as I was still exhibiting some minor symptoms of a cold. I will have to make up the missed day, which means I will be in town a little longer. I’ll just have to make the most of it.

I did complete my induction paperwork and tour the library.

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