After the Christmas season, Day Creek Intermediate hired a new librarian to work alongside Mrs. Ratkovic while Mrs. Torres was out. Mrs. Haines, the new librarian, works hard and does a lot for students, but sometimes they might not even notice her work.

“One of the challenges I have is that I have to be stern but I don’t wanna be so stern. It’s finding that happy place where the kids can still feel really relaxed in the library, but not get up and walk on the ceiling,” said Mrs. Haines.

If you want to be a librarian like Mrs. Haines when you grow up, appreciation of books and organizing them is necessary.

“I guess you need to know your alphabet and I do go along and say ABC’s as I’m putting books away. You need to know how things are categorized which can seem sometimes overwhelming, but it’s not that hard. This [job] just requires a lot of organization and liking books helps,” said Mrs. Haines

Working with kids isn’t easy sometimes, as they make being a librarian tough.

“Finding a book in the bin that got inserted in the slot that the student knows is damaged or knows is late and then finding it and feeling like they were trying to put one over on us. That’s kind of a frustration. Kids that take advantage and don’t respect the books like they’re suppose to [is also stressful],” said Mrs. Haines.

For a librarian, each day is unique. Responsibilities and schedules can change while different classes come in and out throughout the day.

“Turning everything on, all the computers. There’s usually books from the previous after school library to put away, answering emails, and phone calls that come in, having a little coffee, and basically just cleaning up whatever – taking care of business from whatever was overflowed from the day before and then just getting ready for the kids to come in. It’s a great job being a librarian. Working in the library is great.”
Mrs. Haines does a lot for the students and sometimes all her work goes unnoticed. Being librarian can be difficult, but it pays off in the end. Next time you see Mrs. Haines, tell her thanks for taking care of our library.