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MyRCPL.com
Whether you're new to RCPL or a seasoned veteran, surely you have a story to tell. Help us launch our new domain www.myRCPL.com by sharing your favorite memories, quirks and light-hearted anecdotes about your library.
What's in it for you? A chance to win great prizes. Everyone who posts by 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 21 qualifies for the drawing! Winners will be announced later in the week, before the public launch of myRCPL.com.
Have a picture that says a thousand words? E-mail it to lbliss@myrcpl.com and check out other submissions at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myrcpl/.
42 comments:
Pleased Newbee!
As one of RCPL's newbees (roughly 2 months under my belt), I have to say that I am continuously surprised and thrilled at the friendliness and consideration from all library employees! I came here from a company where it was common to go a whole day without speaking to anyone and the change is so wonderful. It never fails: everywhere I go, there's a smiling face, a helping hand and a minute to ask "How's it going?". Thank you all for making RCPL a truly wonderful place to work!
Almost six years and counting . . . It's nice to work for an organization that makes a difference in people's lives. As a mom, it's amazing to watch my son enjoy books and the library even more than I did growing up. Now if I could just come up with a good explanation of why he cannot come to work with me EVERY day!
I have been at RCPL for almost a year now and I don't think there is any place that I would rather work! I am so lucky to have such an amazing job and wonderful coworkers. When people ask me about my job I always respond, "I absolutely LOVE it!" Thank you to everyone for making each day so special!
Every day as I make my way through the maze of stacks either on my way to a class or meeting or in search of a particular resource, I will inevitably glance up and catch the title of a random book and think, “Wow – I have to read that!” After two years, I now have a long (and ever growing!) list of must-reads. It is truly fulfilling to work for an organization that provides such a wealth of information – I am constantly inspired!
My RCPL is my mom reading to me, while trying to lean as far back as possible without tipping over in those awesome bright purple and teal chairs that were shaped like a person and found at the Northeast Regional Branch during the late 80's/early 90's.
My RCPL is a Sunday afternoon holed up in a corner of the Main Library working on an Emily Dickinson research paper that of course was due the next day.
My RCPL is coming to work every day ready to share the importance of what this library stands for and means to the community.
My RCPL is looking forward to coming to work every morning...after 14+ years. My RCPL has THE best staff and THE best collection in the whole world.
Although it has been a little embarassing at times I have enjoyed being the official "Mascot" for Staff Ed day the last two years. I'd really like to thank Jane Freeman for her tireless work on the costumes. It's given me a chance to inject my sometimes off center sense of humor at work and I've appreciated it.
I've been here for a few years now and the one thing I like most about My RCPL is the staff. Everyone is so friendly, usually saying "Hello" when passing in the hall or having a smile on there face. It's nice to come to work everyday knowing that if I can't figure out how to do something, I can always ask someone else who can help me. I in turn, try to help others anyway I can or point them in the right direction. It helps the day go along better when you work with such a nice and caring staff.
My RCPL was my first job as a professional librarian 15 years ago. When I walked into the old RCPL building at 1400 Sumter Street the first thing Frank Hite and Carol Roberts showed me was the model of the new building then under construction at 1431 Assembly Street. They wanted me to know that RCPL was moving out of the cramped and worn building and into a great new building very soon. About a year later, we did move and the new building has been a wonderful place t work ever since but I'm so glad I had a chance to see and experience the before. Being in the smaller space with a smaller staff allowed me to get to know several people better than I might have otherwise. Being at RCPL through such a big transition and growth period has been exciting and very rewarding. Little did I know when I decided to take the job 15 years ago that I had landed in such a great spot in a great library. Life is good at My RCPL.
My most interesting RCPL moments involve either the 2nd floor men's bathroom or too much fun at Tiskit. None of those moments can be publicly recalled.
One of my most pleasurable memories was showing Diane Kresch, our 2005 SED speaker, around downtown Columbia early the morning of SED. She was very curious to see the Confederate flag but was delighted to see Strom Thurmond's statue with Essie Mae's name freshly etched into the granite. I was so pleased to be representing RCPL for her. She was an inspiration.
Once, several years ago, an eight year old boy asked if we had any jobs. He wanted it for his grandmother because "this looks like a good place for old women to work". I do believe he is right! Young ones, too.
Working with Rod Franco for Staff Ed entertainment has also been an experience that I will remember!
MyRCPL started with me parking in the director's parking space on my first day of work in the summer of 1973. I have been allowed ever since that unfortunate beginning to grow and possibly mature as a librarian that truely enjoys working with the public. I get a kick out of telling people where I work and listening to how much they love their RCPL. And my kids loved those chairs at Northeast, too!
On the first Saturday of the first week working for RCPL our branch was very busy---as patrons were being helped by other staff I noticed a patron had walked in so I smiled and said: Welcome to St Andrews--- May I help you---the patron promptly burst into LOUD Sobs and tears!!! I thought what did I get myself into???!!!!! (I was initiated by the Branch's "Cryer"--everyone knew her but me!
What I actually got myself into is a wonderful place to work with a great GREAT staff and support system---THANK YOU RCPL
On the first Saturday of the first week working for RCPL our branch was very busy---as patrons were being helped by other staff I noticed a patron had walked in so I smiled and said: Welcome to St Andrews--- May I help you---the patron promptly burst into LOUD Sobs and tears!!! I thought what did I get myself into???!!!!! (I was initiated by the Branch's "Cryer"--everyone knew her but me!
What I actually got myself into is a wonderful place to work with a great GREAT staff and support system---THANK YOU RCPL
Once upon a time, a cute little girl with curley hair and frecles asked if I speak Spansih. I told her," No, but I speak Chinese. Tell me what do you speak?" She proudly replied to me, "I speak normal!" A decade has past, but we still exchanged secret smiles everytime she visited the library.
Let us introduce Jade Lavinia Andrews. Her name was chosen by vote of our children patrons at St. Andrews Regional Library. She has had many hugs and several sessions of plastic surgery for her eyes. We are convinced that the tooth fairy comes at least once a week to retrive her lost teeth! She has served us well as our Summer Reading Club mascot for 2006-2007. Guess who will be the next?
Years ago a patron used to come to Periodicals at least two times a week to look at the "USA JOBS" (or something like that)microfiche. He did this for at least two years!! Well one day the department received a beautiful vase of flowers! Our job seeker had finally found a position and sent us flowers to thank us. I think that was one of the nicest things that has happened since I've been here.
When I started at St. Andrews almost seven years ago it was mid June and the summer reading club was in full swing. I remember being a little overwhelmed at first by the hectic pace (and that was back before we had the SRC for teens and adults too!) but it was so much fun seeing all the kids come in for their reading records and prizes. The highlight of that first summer was awarding my daughter Lily (then just 3 years old) her very own reading medal. She was so impressed that I worked for the library - and that I got to hand out the medals!
I've been here since 1984 and have worked both with the public and behind the scenes. One of my favorite things that happened was when I was training to work at a branch. I had 2 weeks at NE and during that time a father came in frantically looking for a book that his daughter had loved, but had been returned. All he knew is it was blue and had a bunny on it. The librarian found it for him and a much relieved father left in a very happy mood.
Since my office is behind closed doors, I usually do not have the opportunity to interact with the patrons in the library. So when a boy walked up to me during the recent evacuation and handed me his telephone, I wasn’t sure what to think. He kept telling me that it was his mother. It finally dawned on me that his mother needed reassurance from a library staff member that her son was all right. I just happened to be the first person he saw with an employee badge. I spoke with his mother and reassured her that every one was fine and that the evacuation was a safety precaution. She had just dropped him off at the library to work on a school project. I stayed with him until a relative came to pick him up. I am reminded on a daily basis of how important the library is to the community and how lucky I am to work for such a wonderful organization.
Angela @ the Blythewood Branch said ...
My RCPL is not the big, beautiful Main Library in the heart of Columbia but all its many branches (9 and counting)! To be able to bring the same "downtown" service to a rural community 25 miles away via requests and the website - now that is truly fulfilling!
One of our frequent patrons visited the library today and joked that everyone's name is RCPL. That got me thinking about another meaning of those letters: Really Cute Personal Librarians.
J Surginer (NM)said:
When working at SH, a very beautiful lady asked me to help her two children find books. Afterwards, she and I conversed. Suddenly, a once hearty conversation became moments of silence; then, tears began to roll down her face. Puzzled I asked what was wrong? Through her quiet tears she said, "I can't read." With a smile, I was so pleased to offer her a book on tape (now she, too, could enjoy the world of books).
It is awesome to be able to inform and stimulate others.
My RCPL not only provides a world of information but it also plays a vital role in decreasing technical discrimation by allowing everyone to have free accessibility to computers, books on cds/tapes and other materials.
How cool!
A Carter/Main said:
My favorite moments at RCPL have always involved children. I love to hear their indescribable sounds of delight and wonder waft up from the Children's Library into the Circulation work room, and am always glad to be associated with the passing on of a good story! I also love to see the pride and confidence with which they present their choices at checkout. It is one of the best ways I know to get a truly uplifting glimpse of the future.
Ahhh...great to see so many comments about the old people chairs at the NE branch. Most folks don't know that the NE branch has an attic - when I worked there from 2002-2005, I often ended up in the attic checking for leaks in the heating and air system (it could have it's own blog!)and one of the old purple people chairs was up there gathering dust. I have no idea if it's still there ... I'm pretty sure the heating and air leaks are still there, though (right, Jacki?)
I have a funny story about coming to work at RCPL. I applied for a job as a substitute in the old building, right before the move from the old building to the new one. My feelings were kind of hurt since I didn't ever hear from them ...until ONE YEAR LATER! That has to be a record. Gerda Kahn called me up out of the blue one day and asked me if I was still interested. Of course I was!
I came to the Main Library for an interview with Gerda, walked in and was introduced to another lady who was sitting in at the interview - I listened carefully, but all I heard was one name - what I thought was her first name -Sarahlinda. If you remember Gerda and her southern accent, you might be laughing already. I could barely concentrate on the interview since I was sitting there wondering what the lady's last name was and how I was going to write them both a thank you note without having "Sarahlinda's" last name.
After the interview, I stopped at the Information Desk in a panic, and asked the volunteer for help locating her last name. The poor volunteer spent forever looking through the staff phone list to no avail since there was no one on the list with "Sarahlinda" as a first name.
I left and wrote the note just to Gerda, and almost 14 years later, I am still loving working here. Of course, I found out soon after I started as a sub that "Sarahlinda" was really Sarah Linder and that was just the way Gerda talked. I had a good long laugh with Frances Long about that as she was training me on the circ desk.
The staff here rocks! I love getting to see everyone at Main everyday. I miss my old buds at NE and SH, and I love it when the branch folks come to Main for training and stop by to visit.
Thanks to you all for being so much fun to work with!
I have worked five years for RCPL. And in those five years, I have seen toddlers go to kindergarden, middle schoolers advance to high school, and high schoolers go off to college. All of whom continually visit and use the library. I feel a sense of pride because I know that they will all be life-long library users that will pass on from generation to generation.
A woman came in recently to apply for a library card. When we had finished with the preliminaries and I explained that she could check out two items that day, she looked around our little building and asked, "Where's the next level?" Blythewood may be one of the smallest branches in "my RCPL" system, but that's just what I like about it. On any give day I can wear a multitude of hats: storyteller, shelver, reference person, readers' advisor, computer guru, circulation clerk and more. It's always a challenge.
By the way, as the wife of a military retiree, the eight years I've spent here is double my tenure at any other job. I worried that I would get bored being in one place too long, but I happily contemplate "putting in my 20" and retiring from RCPL.
I have many wonderful memories of RCPL (and they continue). I began working here in August of 1985 and it wasn’t long before I joined the group who ate their breakfast in the Staff Room on the second floor of the Sumter Street Building. Janet Baldwin, Paul Bright, Robert Owen, and Carla Steele were some of the regulars. Janet and Robert did most of the talking and they kept us entertained. A lot of camaraderie was experienced sitting around that table. Our “break bunch” consisted of Janet Baldwin, Mary Murray Black, Margaret Dollfus, Helen Law, Lillian Smalley, Ruth Truesdale, Kittrell Tucker, Dagmar Wunderlich and me usually . We shared a lot of laughter, discussed many books, etc. This group, and many others, will always have a special place in my heart.
This is an incident that comes to mind that might bring a smile to some of the employees as they think back. One day we discovered a frog on the third floor. It was as startled as we were, I’m sure, and it kept hopping around. You would hear someone say, “It is under Dagmar’s desk!” and then, “It is in Paulette’s office”. Operations was called and they responded that they did not do spiders, snakes or frogs. The problem was solved when someone told our Gayle Sneed about the visitor. She knew exactly what to do and our excitement was soon over. She captured the fellow with very little effort and released him outside.
Sarah Graham said...
I actually grew up using RCPL's resources, and still remember trying to carry a stack of books high enough to reach my chin back to my mother's car without dropping them. Usually, I managed.
Now I am working here, and am most grateful to be able to try to involve children and teenagers in the joys of reading. I'm currently reading The Midwife's Apprentice aloud to a group of middle schoolers, and was so happy yesterday to hear one of them say, "This is really getting good!" That is what I think the library is all about--inspiration. Hearing a child who never checks out a book become that interested in a story is quite a reward.
Marilyn Whitaker
RCPL means having my first real job...and well, my only real place of employment for almost 24 years! I started my junior year in high school. I grew up here. I went through the death of my mother, my marriage, and the birth of my child here. RCPL means family.
RCPL also means wonderful experiences. I work with the best groups of people in the world. I started out at what I call "A little library hole in the wall" to a beautiful building about 5 times it's size. We were not automated then either. I have seen lots of amazing changes, and I have been about to make lot of patron laugh,take big signs of relieve and say the words "Thank You" over and over again. I have taught them how to do things they have never done before or given them the means to learn. I have learned a lot myself too. I Love RCPL. I spend most of the time out of my day here, and I love it. It means a lot to be able to feel good about your job and where you work. RCPL means a great deal to me.I have enjoyed all of my opportunities of growth, and experiences.
Marilyn Whitaker
Remember when I said we were not automated? Picture this...
A lady with 25 books.
We had date due slips(T-Slips) with sequencing numbers that had to be placed in each book, just as before. The catch was you had to take a picture of it first along with the card from each book, and the patrons PAPER card. This was done with a little machine. There was a button to push to take the picture, so you set up with the T-Slip behind the book card, and the patron's card on the other side and take a picture twen-n-n-nty-five times! Oh and then when the books were returned, you had a big book that you had to use to crossed the T-Slip numbers off. I am not even going to tell you about what happen if the T-Slips were missing, or how items were found to be overdue!
Thank God for technology and a company called Dynix!
Oh, how I remember those people chairs at Northeast.
They were sort of shaped like a laid back letter N with the head and knees sticking up and the butt and feet on the floor. Every few months, a too large patron would sit on a knee and break it. I would get the chair at Main and pretend I was performing knee surgery. Peel back the skin (fabric cover), graft new bone and cartilage (fiberglass), sometimes I had to insert steel rods to strengthen the joint. Closing was done with a zipper.
...wistful sigh...
Get Research Ready - One of our favorite memories from the GRR 2006-2007 school year program was a comment made by Ms. Sonny Lucas, a teacher from the Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School.
At the end of the workshop she turned to her students and said, "This is as good as it gets!"
Apparently, her class had been to a workshop at a library in another county just the day before.
We're guessing we "blew their socks off" with our workshop here at RCPL.
After presenting to nearly 1000 students this school year (908 to be exact) we greatly appreciated that pat on the back!
I started out as a St. Andrews Branch patron back in the old building years ago when I was a child. I remember sometimes strolling over to the "adult" section and looking at all the other books that I wasn't ready to read yet. Looking back now, it seems like one person could have read everything in the building in a single year if they had simply applied themselves. Years later I got my very first job there. The question I ask myself now is: when did I find the time to shelve books on Saturdays when I had to cut the grass, poison the ants, clean the bathrooms, mop, and vacuum???
MyRCPL is the place that Margie Richardson (in 1981) signed my Summer Reading Program (The Magical Mad Hatter....yeah!!!) certificate and some twenty years later I ended up working for the very same person. Thanks Margie!
I feel so fortunate to work at RCPL. I've been here 6 years working in the Finance Office a/k/a Business Office. Coming from a branch library in Macon,Ga, where I worked for 6 years, working " behind the scenes" was a welcomed change for me!
Paulette Rowell(Business Manager) made me feel welcome even before I got here. She made sure I received an invitation to the party the Friends gave to the staff on the Friday night before I started here on the following Monday.
My husband joked "Wow, they sure threw you a great Welcome Party!"
Even on "fair to partly cloudy" days I'm so glad to be here and part of the RCPL family!
I am so proud to be a part of RCPL, both as an employee (yes, a great place to work with great people!) and a patron. We have so much to be proud of with the resources and programming that we offer to our community! I can never read all the books I want to read and always have a stack "in waiting." It is so rewarding to be able to help someone find what they are looking for and send them along with both of us smiling!
When I moved to Columbia in 2005, I remember seeing RCPL for the first time and thinking,"that would be a great place to work." Somehow I knew this without even setting foot inside the building. Almost two years later, I am happy to have my first position as a librarian at RCPL. RCPL represents many new beginnings for me. This is the first public library I've worked in and I enjoy having entertaining stories to go home and tell my friends.
Some time ago a patron came to periodicals to find a plan for a cradle made out of wood. He was making it for his first grandchild. We looked in the good ole "How to do it Index" and found one. About three months later he came back to the library with a picture of the cradle he had made with the baby asleep inside. After such a difficult search for the plans, it was nice to see such a nice result!!!
I cannot let this opportunity go by without thanking the person who first hired me at RCPL. ..In the late 80's I was working at a preschool. I had always wanted to work in a library (I was one of 4 people in the library club at Battery Creek High School). Well I answered and an for a librray clerk at the Devine Street Branch and got an interview. Unfortunately just before the interview I picked up a nasty, nasty cold from the little darlings. I didn't want to got to miss the interview so took my chances and went. Anne Bagwell sat through the sneezing and all the other things that go with a cold along with barely being able to hear me because I had lost my voice , and gave me the job. I am so grateful to her because not only was she a great boss, but she gave me an opportunity to do a job that I always wanted to do. Thanks Anne.
When I was training as a sub in my first job here at RCPL, Margaret Claypool was going over Horizon with us. She looked familiar to me, and she mentioned that I looked familiar to her, and she asked, "Were you a little blonde girl at Landmark Square?" I went to her storytimes when I was a little girl! I don't know if she was pleased or horrified to know I grew up to be a librarian!
As a mother of two now older children RCPL meant the children's room for books. In the Sumter Street building it was the nicest place to sit down and let my children roam and look for books. Since they were getting older as the new building came along we started to spend more time in finding science fair projects, criticisms, and reference works for information. For me it was always new fiction and the health and home books on the 3rd floor.
RCPL also means fulfilling a long ago plan to become a librarian. I was a business major who just happened to find a job in the USC Business Library and worked there for three of my 4 ungraduate years at Carolina. I decided then that I wanted to become a librarian. I got married and had children and it took me away from my plans. After my children were older I decided to see if I really wanted to be a librarian. I came to work here part-time and found out more about the library school program and I talked with a few librarians who were very positive about their jobs. So 20 years after graduating from college I could check off becoming a librarian as completed on by life list of things to be accomplished and my very big mid career change. Iris Abney
A few years ago a little girl walked into Film&Sound looking for some movies. I helped her find the items and she seemed rather pleased. As she was leaving she stopped by the desk to say thanks and slyly slipped a piece of blue scratch paper by the computer. I use those scraps of paper all the time and they often find their way home with me and end up on my floor or in the trash. Not this one. On one side of the paper she had written in her best second grade print “I Love The Library!” On the other side it read “You Rock!!” That small note from that little girl has a special place on our refrigerator at home. It’s not often you get that kind of response from just doing your job. Yea, that does Rock!!
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