If there was any question that I was asked most often during my ministry career, that was it. It was hard to explain how study, preparation and the other day to day activities could consume so much time.

I didn’t realize that moving into the library field I would still be asked that question. Granted, if you had asked me two years ago what a librarian did during the work day I would have been hard pressed to fill out an 8 hours slate.

But now I know. There is a lot that comprises my week.

I spend 23 out of my 40 hours each week at The Help Desk. I am the guy that people go to for any questions that they might have. Most of the time those questions are computer related or regarding services that the library offers. However, there is more to it than that.

I am the answer man. At the help desk people come to me with all kinds of questions. I have helped people with research papers, find long lost relatives, find arcane pieces of trivia and other pieces of information that they might need. Over the last few months I have become very familiar with reliable databases that can help me find information that Google alone cannot reach.

My favorite part of the desk time, however, is my Readers Advisory role. If you are looking for a recommendation for a book I am your guy. I love being able to point people in the direction of a good read that meets their tastes and interests. Looking for a Nick Hornby readalike? Here you go. Want a good book about the end of the world? I can hook you up.

The rest of my week is spent “off desk.” During this time I am fulfilling my other responsibilities which include:

–I do all book ordering for 200s, 500s and Inspirational Fiction. 200s is religion and 500s is science. I have a passion for both of those so that has been somewhat easy to get up to speed on. Inspirational Fiction? Not so much. The genre is so series oriented that there is a lot of familiarization that I have to do.

–I am the tax guy. I am responsible for procuring, stocking and keeping readily available all the tax forms that we supply.

–I handle donations. Our library gets a ton of materials that people leave behind. I sift through all of that and determine what we want to add to our collection.

–I will be hosting a book club that begins meeting in January. The flier we used to promote that is above. I likely will be starting at least one more because the first group is full.

–I plan and pull off monthly adult programming. For example, in January we will be doing a Madden Tournament the weekend before the Super Bowl and in February we will be doing an Academy Award Film Series.

That is just a taste of what I do all day. I absolutely love it.