Practicum Log #27: Shadow Day at Cedar Park Public Library

Mrs. Jane leading the toddler group in a song at the Cedar Park Public library.

Thursday, July 18, 2024 from 9:00-2:00 PM

At the advice of my supervisor, Emily Thorpe, I reached out to two area public libraries for a shadow day as part of my practicum experience. I had a shadow day with Georgetown Public on July 3rd, and I did another shadow day with Cedar Park Public on this day. I emailed the director, Julia Mitchke, who connected me with Marisa Frantz. Marisa set up a day with the children’s librarians. When I arrived at the library, I met Marisa in person, and she gave me a quick tour of the library. Marisa talked about the need for expansion and Cedar Park getting a new library facility. They will be moving there in the fall! I was honestly surprised at the current size of the Cedar Park library. Coming from Georgetown, a city that is similar in size to Cedar Park, I expected the libraries to be comparable or the the Cedar Park library to be on a branch system seeing how small the facility compared to my city library. I’m excited they will be in a bigger space.

After my tour, Marisa introduced me to Mrs. Jane, the story time director. Mrs. Jane conducted three story times with babies then toddlers, then preschoolers. I helped with set up and clean up. I talked with parents and kids, and I participated in the singing portion. Mrs. Jane is an excellent story time director, and all of the patrons seemed to love her. Many of them complimented her when I talked with them. After the story times and clean ups, I had lunch in the staff lounge, which was obviously set up to be a down time place for introverts to recharge. The librarians on staff were all quietly eating and reading. I thought this was super interesting and rather funny. In comparison, the Georgetown office staff and office space area was loud and boisterous in comparison with laughing and talking going on often. After my lunch, I spent an hour at the children’s information desk and talked more with Mrs. Jane and Stephanie. They helped patrons find what they needed, get set up with a library card, answered reference questions, etc. Overall, I enjoyed my day at Cedar Park Public, and I got to see another side of librarianship that I hadn’t seen behind the scenes before.

Full Schedule: l will be working 10:00-2:00 from May 28th to June 7th, M-F online. (The campus is undergoing some construction and all of the librarians are working from home.)

Then, from June 10 - July 19th, I will be working 1:00-5:00 on campus at Southwestern University. I will more than likely finish by July 12th, but I'm adding a week for wiggle room. This should lead to 128 hours.