I’m frequently asked by people across all sectors of my life what I do between spring and fall semesters. Contrary to baffling myth: I don’t read books all day. Note: all of this might not be typical for anyone else who works in an academic library.
But if you do know of someone who makes a living by reading books all day, have them contact me…
Firstly! There are classes in the summer. My library is a shared service with another college, which means there at least two pools of students, staff, and faculty, who occasionally need me for small or big things. Small might be: “I can’t log into my library account, can you tell me what I’m doing wrong?” Big might be: “I’m looking to revamp a whole curriculum, can you help me find etexts to replace years’ worth of print materials (and save students money)?”
Community members have needs in summer, too. Last year I helped people locate grants for community projects and reunited a mechanic with a book he had used and adored in the 1970s.
As a solo librarian, (with one staff member) I am responsible for all administrative things in addition to my teaching and learning/research. So preparing and sharing budgets and statistics, serving on consortia and committees, and making decisions around database subscriptions and collection development still occur in summer.
As do requests that look ahead. Summer is when many faculty ask for help preparing for the next term. This could be: “I’m working on a book and can’t find where I originally downloaded this article from ten years ago.” Or, “Can you create a lecture that I can show to my asynchronous online students two weeks from now?” And there are big and small tasks there, too.
There’s also good ol’ maintenance. Summer is when we want to get the space spruced up for a new batch of inhabitants. Updating signage, décor, and weeding projects tend to happen in the summer. Other things that get maintained in summers: all my LibGuides, recorded lectures, little pockets of my own sanity.
Summers are when I try to schedule in webinars, workshops, and other professional development curiosities that I don’t always have time for when semesters are in full swing. Campus event planning, interdepartmental collaborations, and circulation don’t stop because foot traffic does. Plus, by June, other people are starting to slink back to campus. Ready or not, the next semester is always twisting on the horizon.
Pre-fall life starts to seed itself. Orientations and tours happen! Recruiting future student workers, writing letters of recommendation, withering from the oppressive heat, are all reliable summer activities for me. New this year? Blogging.
Thanks for asking.