Two Jobs and Three Clasps

Posted May 25, 2015 by Samantha Quiñon

This past week I started two new jobs. Well one is not that new, it’s the same library assistant position I had during the Spring Semester, but now my hours have been doubled and I have a few new responsibilities. As I write this, it is Memorial Day Weekend, and for the first time, I’m the senior staff person on duty. No managers today; no one will bail me out or make a tough decision for me if there is any sort of incident. It’s really not a big deal on a slow weekend like this, but it’s nice to know my managers think I’m competent enough to handle things. I also was invited to co-author a libguide with another librarian, which is basically a set of webpages with useful resources and for patrons on a specific subject. Many jobs I’m interested in applying for after graduation prefer applicants with experience in patron instruction and creating digital resources, so I’m excited to be able to eventually put this on my résumé.

The other new position is a summer-long internship at the State Library of Massachusetts, where I will be cataloging a collection of books donated by Governor Deval Patrick when he left office. I will also be doing original cataloging for a collection of Carnegie publications for the Special Collections department. So far, the internship has been very challenging (but enjoyable and absorbing). I have a lot to learn, so it’s fortunate my boss has seemingly infinite patience.

One small part my internship experience is, however, slightly annoying: any bra I wear sets off the metal detector when I go through security to enter the building (the Massachusetts State House). Following this, a guard pulls me to the side, and I have to stand spread eagle while he passes a hand-held metal detector over me. Upon concluding that I am not a threat to the state, the guard tells me to “wear a lighter clasp next time.” And then I usually quip something like, “I need three clasps. You don’t want to see what two looks like.”

The awkward nature of these encounters is actually pretty funny when I think about them later.  In fact, I don’t think I blushed at all last time it happened.