GPL Blog

A Day In The Life of a Circulation Supervisor

Our circulation department is often the face of our library. Check out what Ali, our circulation supervisor, does on a daily basis!

8am: Good morning, Galesburg Public Library! Time to make the doughnuts! Does anybody remember that commercial? Ok, so we don’t make doughnuts, but we have books about doughnuts! Enough about doughnuts; I’m getting hungry. I arrive at work with bells on, and I turn all the lights on in the building to prepare for the day. Looks like the dehumidifier is full in the Circulation Department, so I make sure to empty it so our books stay dry. I turn on all of the circulation computers, and go out to the outdoor book drop to collect the materials that have been dropped off overnight and this morning. By this time, my fellow librarians in the department are buzzing about getting ready for the day. Next, I pull the daily pick list, which is a list of all of the items our patrons have placed on hold within the last 24 hours. Once we are finished with these tasks, it’s time to open the doors.

9am: We are open for business! I head back to my desk to check my emails. Our patrons are excited to check out their materials, and my staff is ready to assist them. Looks like I need to email a room reservation form to a local business who would like to use our upstairs meeting room next week.

10am: Our dropbox is starting to get a little full – time to start checking in some materials. This is something our department stays on top of all day. There are a lot of DVDs to check today to see if there are any scratches that need to be buffed out by one of our two DVD buffing machines.

11am: I check my email again and see that I have three online library card applications – time to make some library cards for our new patrons. Once I finish these, I send them out in the mail with a Welcome Packet so our new patrons can learn about all of the amazing services our library provides before they come see us!

12pm: Time for lunch! I think I’ll walk downtown today and support one of our local businesses.

1pm: Back from lunch – I find a note on my desk to call a patron that would like to get some more information about the Kilowatt meters we carry in Circulation that calculate electric usage in the home. A patron comes up to the desk to ask me what upcoming movie is being shown in the Sanderson Room upstairs – I check the online calendar to make sure that I am right: this month’s movie is Where the Crawdads Sing. We both laugh as the patron puts her book on the counter she is checking out – it is Where the Crawdads Sing!

2pm: I attend a meeting to discuss new technologies and furniture concepts for our new building. It is an exciting time here at the library as we are looking forward to providing new comforts and resources for the community. We unbox some sample chairs for the new library and set them out for our patrons to use and provide feedback about which chair they like best.

3pm: Book drop time! I grab the key to the outdoor book drop and take a cart outside so I can bring in all of the materials that have been dropped off since this morning and check them in. As I am coming back in I notice that the bulletin board needs updating. I unload the cart full of books for my department to check back in, then head out to the bulletin board armed with flyers and push pins. Looks like the Orpheum is showing some scary movies this month, so I take a mental note to put those dates from the flyer in my personal calendar. I need to update the bulletin board by the front entrance as well.

4pm: The work day is nearing a close, but before I leave for the day I need to prepare a list of things I would like my evening shift to complete. We need to begin working on an inventory of the DVD section, and it looks like our Western paperbacks need to be straightened up a little bit. And before I forget I make a note that we need to create some more Welcome Packets for our new library patrons as well.

5pm: Here comes the shift change! My evening shift clocks in and prepares to begin taking cart fulls of books out to the stacks to put away, but before they begin I touch base with them about this evening’s tasks I want them to complete. I take a deep breath and smile as I walk out the door for the day, secure in the knowledge that the evening shift is hard at work providing our community with the best services possible.