Library Maintenance

Location: Walt Disney Magnet School

Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2012; 6-8 p

This was my fourth visit to the Disney Magnet School, making it the project that I had done more times than any other.  While all the previous ones had been with Laura as the volunteer leader, this one was with Lauren and I had not worked with her before.  We chatted in the lobby and while a lot of people showed up, we found out that most of them were first timers, making me a veteran - something that I deviously used to my advantage. 

We proceeded to the library and Lauren explained that since Non-Fictions take the longest time (didn't I know that), we should focus on those first before moving to the Fictions.  Plus, if we found any books that were out of place, we were to correct that.  Then she asked us to proceed.  People made their way to collect the books for re-shelving and I saw some new folk pick up a stack of fictions.  I mentioned that Lauren wanted us to handle the non-fictions first and the poor things complied.  This not only left me with fictions, but also empty aisles.  I told Lauren that since there were a lot of volunteers in non-fiction section, I was going to start shelving fictions.  She looked suspicious, but since what I had said was accurate, agreed with my assessment.  It took four visits, but I was finally free of the Dewey!

UConn: For hours, I used to sit by the window and read

I put books on a cart and took them to the fiction section.  As I started shelving them, I came across many books that I had read as a child.  I have written about my relationship with libraries previously, but it is not just libraries that gets me excited about books.  Growing up, I used to spend hours looking at books sold by street vendors or in small book stores.  One of my favorite stories is when I was a new student at University of Connecticut.  One of my friends was visiting for the weekend and the next day we got up early and went for a drive.  Storrs, where UConn is located, is an extremely beautiful place.  This was a wet and misty fall day and we came across a very small township, one of those villages with one main street.  We parked and were exploring, when we found an old book store.  It was small; chock full of books and very narrow aisles.  We spend hours there, looking at books and even bought a few.  My friend left that afternoon and I told my roommates about the book shop that we had visited.  The funny thing is that I spent many more years at UConn, but as much as I tried I could never find that place again, as if it was my own Brigadoon. 

My thesis is now a part of the library

Katie, the head librarian was playing holiday music which really added some character to the evening. It also   reminded me of another holiday season from long ago when I was in Hartford and exploring a book store listening to holiday songs.  There really is something about books that sets one off on a nostalgic journey.  I had been back at UConn several times since graduating, but never visited the main library. Since I wrote about that special room in the library where I used to sit in the corner and read, I wanted to see the place again. On a recent trip I went back and visited that room and everything seemed like it had happened only yesterday.  I even went down to the vault in the basement where I used to go and read old thesis’ and found that my own was now a part of that collection.  Circle of life does move us all in turn.

There were a lot more fiction books than we had anticipated and we were not done by 8 pm.  Lauren told us to leave the rest on the cart and Katie thanked us for our time.  Now that I have done multiple projects with Chicago Cares, this may be the one that I will probably not return to.  I keep complaining about the hard work, but the reality is that we do not interact with anyone during this task and I really enjoy that part of volunteering.  Having said that, I will definitely sign up for this project if I am free on a Tuesday evening.    Many a time people assume that a project is too big or too small for them.  That is never the case.  Every small deed matters, though you may never know how. 

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do” – Helen Keller

And neither will I.