DAY 6: History From The Shelves

I believe that part of the reason that I transferred to this degree is that I enjoy taking a book and browsing through it to read an excerpt that will give even a brief outlook on how they have lived their lives at that time. The pictures would come alive and play the scenario they have captured inside my mind. I thought that the only section I would only experience this was the Archives which is why I am looking forward to it. I didn't know that the Serials section would provide me a similar experience. 

JUNE 22, 2017 - THURSDAY

Ever since I started my internship at the main library, I have decided to travel to work with my bicycle. The upside is that I get to arrive early and the travel is always pleasant. The only downside is that I arrive at work sweating heavily. The fact that the Serials section is dry and hot does not help the situation. The librarians there even suggested that we wear more comfortable clothing. I am definitely putting that into consideration. 

One more thing, Tricia is back! She greeted us before she was oriented by Ma'am Judith on what we were doing. I forgot to tell you that we each have a shelf of our own to deal with which means we can't work close together this time. While we were going through the different books, we were talking to each other even if we were shelves apart. We were discussing different things and having fun while working. Maybe too much fun. A librarian reprimanded us for talking too loud while working. We were embarrassed of ourselves and kept quiet since then. 

While going through each material, I took the time to browse through each of them. What I found was a gem hiding in plain sight. Magazines and journals of different time periods were only an arms reach away from me. One of the magazines I particularly enjoyed was "The Corps", a magazine of the Philippine Military Academy that has published issues as far back as the 1940s. It was quite a treat to look through the life of cadets in training during the American occupation. My morning suddenly became better. I hadn't even noticed that it was already lunch time.

A Hidden Treasure!

 After lunch, we resumed our work. I can barely call it work because I was enjoying too much browsing through pages of history but I made sure to take note of their volume and issue no. and compare it to the inventory record. Ma'am Judith probably noticed that we were struggling to take a book, browse through it, sit down, record and do the whole routine again. She suggested that we take book carts and chairs to make it more comfortable. I turned on my portable fan and made my shelf my own personal space. 

I have to say that the book carts really does help because I am now able to take many books at once and place them there while I'm going through a single book. I enjoyed going through each serial, be it a journal or a magazine, each of them provided me with an idea of how it was to live during the American occupation, World War II and even the Marcos dictatorship. I can't help but affirm to myself that this is what librarianship is about. Making all of these wonderful materials which would otherwise be ignored or forgotten, available to the public. The profession, in a way, contributes to society by keeping the recorded memories of the past alive. 

Welcome to My Space!

By the end of the day, I was able to finish a quarter of the front-half of the shelf while Edward was able to go through the entire first-half. Maybe it is because I was taking too much time going through all of it that in effect, I was too slow with my inventory. I promised to be faster the following day because Ma'am Judith told us that we would be indexing tomorrow afternoon. 

Did I regret taking my time? No, because I was able to gain a wonderful experience and contemplate on the value of librarianship to society. 

Let's just hope I find a way to make it faster.

- Sam, That New Librarian