Why I Love Being a Librarian

Kat here! It's my birthday today, and I have decided that, instead of fixing problems, I'm going to celebrate and be super happy. Let's talk about why we love our jobs!

Now, I'm in the Children's Room, so my daily life is different from someone who works at the Reference Desk all day, but...

I love recommending books to people, and I especially love when they come back and talk to me about what they read and what they liked.

I love it when people get so excited about a book that they INSIST you read it.

I love programming, running storytimes and craft projects.

I love it when the little ones are so proud of their paper hand-turkeys that they run and show anyone they can find what they created "all by myself!"

I love helping people download ebooks and audio books, and making things accessible to those who haven't been able to use them before, or who can't always get to the library.

I love putting out coloring pages and having patrons of all ages sit and relax and enjoy their time together.

I love it when people visit the library who haven't been here lately, and showing them all the new things they didn't know we had to offer (Video Games! Blu-Ray discs! Downloadable magazines!)

I love it when I can tell somebody that we can get a book that we don't own for them through inter-library loan, and it'll only take a few days, and they get surprised and happy.

I love it when I get a really good reference question, and can spend some time digging into information that I never would have otherwise known.

I love it when the teens roll their eyes at me but don't leave, because they secretly think I'm cool (for an old lady), even though they wouldn't admit it.

I love it when I get all the books put away and edged and they look so inviting and wonderful for the 5 minutes before someone goes through them and they get the well-loved look again.

I love it when the books are messy because you just know somebody has been enjoying their time with them.

I love it when little ones get excited about reading a book and have to be told four times that it's time to go because they're so lost in the story.

I love it when little ones hug their books as they leave.

I love it when kids are so into reading that they don't stop when it's time to go, and their parents steer them by the shoulders so they don't run into something while walking.

I love it when you get someone talking about a book they love and suddenly their whole face lights up.

I love it when people who are "totally computer illiterate!" get their work done and find out it's not so scary after all.

I love it when a book comes in that fits into multiple categories and I get to dig into Dewey and decide where to put it.

I love it when I overhear, "oh! There's a new display!" because I know people appreciate the effort we put into them.

What do YOU love? Tell me here in the comments, on our Facebook page, or on Twitter!