My First Days at the Chrysler!

Greetings from the Jean Outland Chrysler Library! I am Rebecca, the new Library Assistant. I graduated recently from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History. However, my goal is to one day be an art librarian. What a perfect place to start! As the new assistant I figured I would tell you all about my first couple weeks here.

On the first day, I woke up that morning, did my usual routine, and started to put on my makeup when I realized my entire face had broken out in hives! I rushed to the local pharmacist and asked what could help reduce the swelling on my face and not make me drowsy. He assured me that Claritin would work - it even said “non-drowsy” on the box. I would find out later that this was not true. I finally pulled myself together and made it on time for my orientation with the Human Resources Manager. I was with two other girls and she started explaining what it would be like working here. Thank goodness she has a really good sense of humor or I would have been a fidgety, nervous wreck the entire time.

Once in Jessica’s company, I was finally able to relax. Jessica was my former boss at the Hoffheimer Art Library on the ODU Campus, so I knew I’d be okay. She was also the one who inspired me to pursue librarianship! We ended up going to lunch and she filled me in on some things about the Chrysler Library. During lunch she explained to me that she would be out on Friday and that I would be opening and closing the Library by myself. Nerve-wracking, but doable. Back at the Library, we briefly went through what my responsibilities were, a tour, and the assistant’s manual. Then she prepared me for the upcoming Friday. I picked up the routine with relative ease and that Friday went surprisingly well.  A couple of students came in that day and I helped them with research, which is my favorite thing to do. I met some of the staff and told a couple of museum goers about the Library. The rest of the day I read Legacy, which is the well-written and entertaining history of Walter P. Chrysler Jr. and the Chrysler Museum. So, despite my apprehension, the second day was not bad at all.

A week later I got to go to my first staff meeting with Jessica. This meeting was really pleasant: everyone stands in a big circle and updates the other departments on special events or nice things a group of people or someone in particular has done. I think it’s important to recognize the nicer parts of people’s work experience, especially in a museum of this size. After the staff meeting Jessica gave me a tour of the education department and the break area, where we could get coffee and water. Once back in our library she showed me our little eating area, which looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. Jessica explained that because she had been so busy she was never able to use the area. That’s when I came up with the clever idea to make Jessica and me a Library-Survival-Kit. This kit consisted of:

A coffee maker, coffee, creamer – help us get our morning jumpstart

A box of emergency chocolate – for those especially stressful days

 Power bars – for when we are hungry and it’s not lunchtime yet

 Mints – so we don’t frighten patrons away with coffee breath

Sparkling lemon water and straws – for a refreshing drink during the day

 

The rest of training has gone really well. I have had many small victories from processing my huge pile of mail and putting one gigantic cart of books away, to organizing the periodical section.  I am beginning to understand how complex a librarian’s job is and why assistants are absolutely necessary. I have learned so much in my first couple weeks - from my daily tasks and special needs, to mind-boggling ideas and questions about the library within a museum. I am still slightly overwhelmed by all of my responsibilities, but that’s balanced with a huge sense of excitement about everything else I am going to learn and experience here.

So far, I am absolutely taken with this place and am convinced I have the coolest job in the world right now. Why is this job so awesome? First, I am working with some of the most exquisite publications ever produced. Second, Jessica and I act as the medium between information and people, which is absolutely necessary for any institution and the surrounding communities to develop and function. And finally, I am also working at the internationally known CHRYSLER MUSEUM!