Practicum Log (Summer 2026)

 Introduction:

    My 8-hour increments will be divided between 2 4-hour workdays on Mondays and Tuesdays from 4pm-8pm, and full 8.5-hour shifts on Fridays from 9:30am to 6pm. I will note any exceptions and/or special circumstances.

My supervisor for all entries will be my practicum's host: Roanoke Public Library's assistant director, Alicia Holston

Log #1: 5/18 & 5/19: "A Steady Start"

I had done a lot of volunteer work at this library prior to starting this practicum, so wearing into my duties and activities was easy. They had me doing a lot of shelving and straightening. It had been a while since I'd done any work at the library, so this slower start was likely to help me get back into practice.

I mostly did this work in the kids' section, as that's the area that gets the most activity. Something I hadn't been asked to do prior until now was take damaged books to the staff area. One of the circulation clerks, Su handles damaged resources, so I take them directly to her, or give them to Alicia if Su isn't here. I'd found a couple, all in the kids' section.

This is one of the damaged books I'd found. It's an Early Board book meant for babies.

Log #2: 5/22: "Start of the Series...Check"

The circulation clerk I'd mentioned, Su had me start working on a bigger project beyond what my volunteer experience entailed. She logged me into the library's online catalog and it's resource management software, Koha so that I may start a series check for the library. What that means is that I'll be scouring the shelves for serialized chapter books to make sure no volumes are misplaced, unowned, etc., and make a note of any issues accordingly.

I started with the kids' section, as that's where a lot of books go missing or just get mismatched. Su showed me how to use Koha's advanced search feature to help me search for items that should be available, and how to check if they're withdrawn, overdue, etc. It was daunting at first, but I eventually got comfortable using the software and was able to effectively search with it alongside the online catalog to help me carry out my task.

Here is an image of me using the Koha system in question. As an example, I was perusing the library's collection of volumes from the Magic Tree House series of kids' books.

Log #3: 5/25 & 5/26: "A Shift Half-Full"

That Monday was Memorial Day, so the library was obviously closed, but I'm still counting this would-be 8 hours as a full 8 hours for the sake of consistency. It's still worth mentioning, as it created a clever opportunity to make up those lost 4 hours early on, which I'll mention when relevant.

But onto Tuesday. Su had me resume the series check. I made a lot of progress but couldn't quite finish the kids' section. This was due to both time and the fact that the laptop she's got me using doesn't have the best battery life, so I had to find something else to do.

Something the library does have is what's called the Formal Book Shop. It's a shelf of books near the service desk where weeded resources are offered for purchase at tiny prices, as a way of supplemental income. Problem is that it's often woefully unorganized, so Alicia and Su asked me to help reorganize it a little.

This is the Formal Book Shop in question. A chaotic assortment of genres and formats line it's shelves, so keeping it intuitively organized is a herculean task, as it entirely depends on what resources happen to get weeded.

Log #4: 6/1 & 6/2: "The Series (Check) Continues"

At long last, I've completed the series check for the kids' section. It got easier as I got more comfortable with using Koha and knowing what I was looking for. Now I move on to Middle Grade literature. It's clear to me this series check will likely be the bread-and-butter project of my practicum.

But I also got to help check books back in at the circulation desk. We have an external and internal book drop from which book returns are collected and checked back in. Some of the returns were from other libraries within our local consortium, were already on hold, etc., so I had to label those and help get them in their appropriate spots.

Here's me at the check-in computer behind the service desk. After collecting resources from the book drops, I brought them here to be checked back in. The book in my hand has been labeled as to be returned via courier to the Keller Public Library.

Log #5: 6/5: "Event Prep"

So for a little over the first half of the day, I resumed my series check with the Middle Grade literature. I managed to get really far, partially because every section that's not the kids doesn't tend to get messy often. But the big focus of today was getting ready for an event going on tomorrow: the Living Library.

The Living Library is an event we hold regularly, and it's basically us hosting a variety of performers the entire day. I got to help with the setup and was given directions as to what I'd be doing tomorrow. This event is the make-up for my lost hours for Memorial Day I'd mentioned, as it'd be an 8-hour shift on a weekday not normally on my set schedule.

Here's a large seat I had to help move for the event prep. Other tasks included moving chairs into a conference room we'd use as a command center, setting up those ribbons you see underneath the screen, etc.

Log #6: 6/6: "Living Library"

So today was the big day. Some of the performers had to be moved to different locations at the last minute, so for much of the first half of the day, I was redirecting patrons to those new locations so they didn't get lost. But as was directed of me yesterday, I was partially in charge of helping a visiting orchestra quartet settle into their venue.

After that, I mostly did some regular library work in the background. We had a lot of teen volunteers helping with the event, so there wasn't a whole lot else for me to do in the front of the house. I was a little disappointed I didn't get to do more, but those teen volunteers probably needed/wanted the work as much as I do, so it'd be wrong of me to take it from them.

Here is a photo of the Living Library event in its early hours. You can make out one of the performers, a mime, in the background interacting with a girl in pink. It had a really big turnout that I was sadly too busy to snap a picture of.