Surviving the week, one positive comment at a time

The last two weeks at work have been a twee bit crazy. I came home pretty exhausted every night, but I did really love it. This week was a totally different game. I'd been working with upperclassmen mostly in the first few weeks. These kids, although they might not use the library a lot, they have at least been introduced to it and have an idea of what we have there. The freshman, however, are a whole different lot. Some of them may never have set food in a library. Some said they didn't even have a high school library. How do we get to them? I think everyone graduating from library school understands the stereotypes many people have of librarians. I feel like I've got the "librarians are old, cranky ladies" image beat. Seriously, after watching me bounce around the classroom, barely older than the traditional age students, how can you believe that? The biggest challenge for me is getting them to realize that it's ok to ask questions and that libraries are a place to come for help, to study, and has lots of great resources. And research doesn't have to be difficult. Last week a student asked me "isn't this like cheating?" He was referring to using Opposing Viewpoints to find resources. "It's like all here." I couldn't have been happier :) I love when they totally get it. It's just energizing!