Working as a youth services librarian is not for the faint of heart. There are triumphs and heartbreaks, like with any job, but I still love what I do. I mean, in what other job do you get to work with kids, read books, and be a helper in your community?

Daily Schedule

The first thing you should know about the life of a librarian is that no two days are ever the same. My schedule shifts constantly, but there are always a few constants. Here’s what a typical Tuesday looks like for me:

• 9:00 AM – Arrive at work / check email
• 9:30 AM – Set up for Storytime
• 10:00 AM – Library opens
• 10:30 AM – Storytime (we stream this on Facebook, too!)
• 11:00 AM – Desk work
• 11:30 AM – Clean up from Storytime and playgroup
• 12:30 PM – Lunch
• 1:30 PM – Program planning
• 3:00 PM – Reference desk
• 5:00 PM – More program planning
• 6:00 PM – Head home

Most of my days are built around desk shifts and upcoming programs — which brings me to what those duties actually look like.

What I Actually Do All Day

Programs and Storytimes

In any given month, I’m running up to 10 programs and 3–4 storytimes. That includes our teen advisory group (Skillz Squad!), LEGO Lab, TinkerTots (a monthly STEM program for the 1–3 crowd), and a handful of other programs for different age groups.

Program planning is basically a year-round sport. We work on a 3-month cycle, which means I’m always planning at least one season ahead. Right now, my spring programs are in full swing — and my summer lineup is already booked. By March, I’ve got performers scheduled, supplies on order, and marketing in the works. It never really stops, and honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Collection Development

I oversee 10 different collections at my library, which keeps things interesting. My responsibilities break down into three areas:

Maintenance & Weeding — A well-maintained collection circulates better and makes better use of shelf space. Weeding is one of the hardest parts of the job (who wants to get rid of books?), but it’s essential. My general rule: if a book hasn’t circulated in a while, that space could go to something kids actually want to read. For non-fiction especially, I pay close attention to publication dates — outdated information does more harm than good.

New Collections — Part of the fun is building something from scratch. I’m currently working on getting Tonies/Tonieboxes and Vox books into circulation — both have been adventures in their own right, and I’ll probably do a deeper dive on those in a future post!

Ordering — This is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite part of the job. I love seeing what’s coming out. I hate how long it takes. With a smaller budget, I have to be really intentional about what I order, which means this spring I’m putting more money toward updating non-fiction and trimming elsewhere.

Marketing

At a small library, you wear a lot of hats — and marketing is one of mine. For every program, I create five versions of the advertisement: a full-page flyer, a half-page flyer, a Facebook post, a Facebook event header, and a digital sign slide. Every single one includes the same core info (program title, date, time, location, description, and library contact info), which keeps things consistent and actually makes the process faster once you get a system down.

No two days look exactly the same, but that’s honestly what I love most about this job. There’s always something new to plan, a collection to grow, or a kid to connect with a great book.

Are you a librarian or library worker? I’d love to hear what a typical day looks like for you — drop it in the comments below!