"Wow, I wish I got paid to read books all day"

is one of those ridiculous, random statements that people who have no clue what librarians do all day are likely to make. Usually, there is a tinge of jealousy to it. And like most jealousies, it has different sources. Sometimes, it is said with a touch of venom : "Wow, I wish I was paid to read books all day...(because unlike you, I actually work for my paycheque)" and sometimes with a hint of wistfulness : "Wow, I wish I was paid to read books all day...(how can I get that gig because it's pretty close to my idea of heaven)" Sadly, I always have to correct these people. I, too, wish I was paid to sit around and read all day.

However, if I was in the mood to get under the skin of those who think I do nothing vbut relax all day, I might be tempted to say that I do, in fact, get paid to surf the internet and play on computers.

The library here still has very few books, 326 currently in the system with probably another 400 or 500 to go, so I spend the majority of my time searching for ways to supplement this. I look into books to order. I try to figure out how to order them. I do some cataloguing. And I've been working on a way to set up a website to supplement our lack of resources. We still only have roughly 170 students, a small minority of whom are above a "Dick and Jane" literacy level. I spend maybe 10 minutes a day checking books in and out; the rest of my time interacting with them is spent yelling at them to start surfing in English. Information literacy instruction of any kind will only come when they have a rudimentary level of literacy.

So. Lot's of computer time. Not a lot to do otherwise, which isn't to say that I'm not working alot, just that I'm mostly on computer. The reason I bring this up is that we've been having power outages in the area. This really hadn't affected my professionally too much. Usually, they happen at night, and worse comes to worst, I have to close down early because the library suddenly becomes pitch black. However, the city turns the heat on tomorrow (fingers crossed) and there has been all kinds of mojo to get this in place. And that involved turning the power off for the last few days.

There's been the usual lack of running water, no shower, dirty dishes, unflushed toilet nonsense, but in some strange way that I'm not sure I'm happy about, I think I'm adjusting to this. What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that I had absolutely NOTHING to do. I shelved a few books Monday morning, and that was that. I couldn't really close the library. People actually do read, and the last thing I want to do is discourage the kids from taking out books, but I really had no other reason to be here. Well, that and the fact that it's currently warmer in the library than it is in my apartment. So, if only for a day and a half, I did it. I lived the dream.
I got paid to read.

And let me tell you...it was pretty damn cool.