Haleigh's Practicum Diary

Date: 6/26/26

Time Worked: 8:30am-5:00pm (approx. 8 hours)

Name: Haleigh Hare

Supervisor’s name: Marisa Bateman/ Taylor Brannan (Marisa is supervising my entire experience within the D.C. Public Library System, while Taylor is supervising me in this specific, Georgetown Neighborhood Library, branch)

Description of the Day:

Today was another productive day at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library, and I was excited to see that even more of the books I had placed on hold for my upcoming display had arrived. I began gathering them together in the staff room so I could start visualizing the final display. Because we were short-staffed, Taylor covered the circulation desk while I took responsibility for facilitating the Summer Craft program. The activity for the day was friendship bracelet making, and I prepared the meeting room by cleaning the space, creating a sign for the program, and arranging the supplies in a way that was both organized and inviting. Throughout the morning/midday, approximately fifteen patrons stopped in to make bracelets. It was rewarding to see families and children enjoy a simple, creative activity together, and I appreciated having the opportunity to independently manage another public program.

When the craft program concluded, I spent a significant amount of time shelf reading the picture book collection, making my way through the alphabet to the letter F. As I worked, I removed worn spine labels, identified a few books that had been labeled incorrectly, and reorganized materials into their proper alphabetical order. Later, Taylor and I relocated the board book shelving to a more central area within the children’s room and added an additional storage bin to improve accessibility. I then redistributed the books so that no single bin became overcrowded, recognizing that some letters, such as B, C, and D, contained far more books than letters near the end of the alphabet. To make the new organization more appealing and easier for families to navigate, I designed new bin labels using Comic Sans font paired with simple animal illustrations. For example, the A–F bin featured both an armadillo and a fox to reinforce the letter range visually. I also created a friendly sign encouraging patrons to return books to the correct alphabetical section after browsing. This project reminded me that thoughtful organization and clear signage can make a children’s space more welcoming, intuitive, and easier for both families and staff to use.

Pictured above is what I set up for the Summer Craft program. There were string, beads, and scissors available to patrons. I made the sign because I was solo in the Children’s Room and wanted people to feel welcome to go into the activity room.

Pictured above is the new and improved board books collection organization! World Language books are on the end-cap.

Pictured above are the labels for the first set of bins and their new labels.